Reviewed by Peter Berk, President and Chief Media Strategist, Berk Marketing · Last updated 19 September 2026
Direct response television
DRTV is television bought for a countable result: a call, a web visit, an order. Berk Marketing plans, negotiates and places it for advertisers, holds no inventory, and tracks every network on its own number.
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Short answer. Direct response television is bought differently from brand television. The commercial asks for a response and gives one way to respond, the airtime is bought for efficiency rather than prestige, much of it as preemptible or remnant inventory at a fraction of the rate card, and every network and daypart carries its own tracking number so the schedule is adjusted on results, not on impressions. Berk Marketing has bought direct response media since 1978 and places national TV for clients today, with a lot of it on cable news and business channels. The practical entry point depends on the networks in the plan; we will tell you what it is for your offer before you commit to anything.
What you are buying
Direct response television is one label for three different products with different creative, different costs and different measurement.
| Format | What it is | Works best when |
|---|---|---|
| Short-form spots | :60 and :120 commercials rotated across cable networks and broadcast dayparts, usually bought as preemptible inventory. | You have a clear offer, a memorable phone number or web address, and a product that can be explained in a minute. |
| Long-form (infomercial) | 28:30 programs bought in fixed blocks, usually overnight and weekend, with a demonstration and a repeated call to action. | The product needs to be shown working, the price point is high enough to carry the production, and you can fulfil at volume. |
| Sponsorships and integrations | Billboards, segment sponsorships and host mentions inside news, business and lifestyle programming. | You want the credibility of the program more than reach, and the audience matches the offer closely. |
Most of the DRTV we buy is short-form on national cable, because that is where a modest budget can build frequency against a defined audience and be measured the next morning.
How it is bought
A brand campaign buys audience: gross rating points against a demographic, at the rate card, in the programs the advertiser wants to be seen in. A direct response campaign buys response: the cheapest airtime that produces a call or a visit at an acceptable cost, wherever that turns out to be. The two are priced, placed and judged on different things, and a seller who quotes you a brand schedule for a direct response offer is selling you the wrong product.
The mechanics follow from that. DRTV airtime is largely preemptible, meaning the network can bump the spot for a full-rate advertiser, which is exactly why it costs a fraction of the rate card. You are refunded or credited for anything that does not run. The creative carries a unique phone number or URL per network, sometimes per daypart, so the post log and the call log line up and the next week’s schedule moves money toward what worked.
The core of most national DRTV plans. Older, engaged, decision-making viewers who watch for long stretches and respond to financial, insurance, health, legal and precious metals offers. This is where a lot of our clients’ TV runs.
Daytime, early fringe and weekend broadcast, plus lifestyle cable, for broader consumer offers. More reach per spot, less concentration, and a different creative register.
Money
There is no published rate card for preemptible inventory, and the number that matters is cost per response, not cost per spot.
We do not quote a fixed percentage saving, because nobody honestly can. What we can show you is what each network cost, what it was negotiated from, and what it returned, network by network, so the second flight is planned on numbers rather than on a proposal.
Production is separate from media and we handle it in house: script, voice, edit, and the tracking numbers built into the creative before it airs. You approve everything before anything runs.
Fit
Proof
Westminster Mint has used television to drive leads through Berk Marketing since 2016, with a lot of it on FOX Business, promoting prices on gold and silver coins to an audience that watches business news for exactly that kind of information. Xtermite has run local television alongside radio in San Diego since 2000. Both are on the testimonials page or coming to it.
Direct response is where Berk Marketing started. The direct response agency page covers how the same discipline is applied across radio, SiriusXM and television.
Worth knowing first
We work with advertisers who have not already been quoted directly by a station, network or platform. We are not in the business of taking clients away from sellers, and once an advertiser has been quoted directly, our ability to negotiate that inventory on your behalf is limited.
The consequence lands on you rather than on us. If DRTV is on your list and you have not spoken to anyone yet, that is exactly when this is worth a call.
We will run a competitive monitoring report at no charge and with no obligation. It shows which stations, networks and channels your competitors are on, at what times of day, how many spots, and it includes the actual audio or video of their commercials.
In many cases nothing shows up at all, and that is worth knowing too.
Get the ReportQuestions
Regular, or brand, television buys audience at the rate card in programs the advertiser wants to be seen in, and is judged on reach and frequency. DRTV buys the airtime most likely to produce a measurable response at an acceptable cost, much of it preemptible inventory at a fraction of the rate card, and is judged on cost per call, visit or order. The creative is different too: one offer, one way to respond, repeated.
There is no published rate card for preemptible national inventory, and the cost that matters is cost per response, which depends on your offer as much as on the airtime. What moves the media rate is covered above. We give you a written plan with each network priced before you commit, and production is quoted separately.
Usually not. Long-form works for products that need to be demonstrated and can carry the production cost. Most direct response advertisers do better with :60 and :120 spots on cable news and business channels, bought for frequency and tracked per network.
It means the network can bump your spot for a full-rate advertiser. That is why the airtime costs a fraction of the rate card. You are refunded or credited for anything that does not run, and the post log shows exactly what did. The risk is only to advertisers who need fixed air times, and they should not buy DRTV.
A unique phone number or web address per network, and often per daypart, built into the creative before it airs. The call log and the post log line up, and money moves toward the networks that responded. Without that, the second flight is guesswork.
No. We represent advertisers only and hold no inventory, so there is no network we are obliged to recommend.
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Berk Marketing represents advertisers, not networks, stations or streaming platforms.
