Reviewed by Peter Berk, President and Chief Media Strategist, Berk Marketing · Last updated 26 August 2026
Satellite TV advertising
Two providers are left, they carry hundreds of channels between them, and they sell national reach or a single market. We buy it for advertisers, not for the satellite companies, and we say so when it is the wrong medium.
No cost, no obligation. Or call (866) 747-4707 and speak with Peter Berk or one of his Berk-trained partners.
Satellite TV advertising is the purchase of commercial time delivered to homes by the two remaining satellite providers, DirecTV and DISH Network. Many providers came, merged and went over the years, and the business has boiled down to those two. Each offers hundreds of channels, the major networks plus a long list of specialized ones covering every entertainment niche imaginable. Because the signal arrives by dish, the footprint takes in remote homes as well as urban ones.
Like other TV advertising, satellite shows your commercial to the whole country through a national network buy, or only to viewers in a particular area through a local spot. You can buy individual channels, but the most cost-effective route is usually a bundle, or cluster, of channels grouped around somewhat like-minded viewers. A lifestyle cluster, for example, groups home, food and travel channels, and is aimed mostly at upscale women — ask the seller for the current channel list. Prices stay competitive because the satellite firms have to compete for their share of the advertising pie.
The problem
A satellite proposal is easy to make look impressive. Hundreds of channels, familiar logos, a big total impression figure. What it leaves out is the part that decides whether the money works.
Not sure who else is advertising in your category? We will run a competitive monitoring report for you at no charge, through our strategic partner Hybrid Media Services, and show you where your competitors are running before you commit a dollar. In many cases nothing shows up at all, and that is worth knowing too.
Get the ReportHow it works
Satellite is not one product. It is a national feed, a set of locally inserted positions inside it, and local broadcast programming alongside both. Knowing which you are buying is most of the job.
| Piece of the buy | What it is | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Two providers | After years of arrivals, mergers and exits, US satellite television comes down to DirecTV and DISH Network. | Two rate structures to compare instead of twenty, which is why the same brief goes to both. |
| The national feed | Each cable network sends one national program feed to every distributor carrying it, satellite included. | A national buy places your commercial in that feed and reaches satellite homes countrywide at once. |
| Local ad insertion | The provider replaces designated commercial positions inside that feed with its own ads before the signal reaches the subscriber. | This is how a national channel carries a commercial only homes in your area see. It is behind every local spot. |
| Local-into-local | One category used to be missing: local shows from your city’s broadcast station, like the 11 o’clock news. Both providers now offer local-into-local service in virtually all markets. | Local morning shows and newscasts are reachable through satellite, not only cable and antenna. |
| Market-level geography | Locally inserted inventory is sold by area, a whole market or a defined piece of one. | Good for a city, metro or region. Not built to isolate a neighborhood or a few ZIP codes. |
| Channel clusters | Bundles of channels that attract somewhat like-minded viewers. A lifestyle cluster groups home, food and travel channels, aimed mostly at upscale women. | Weight spreads across related channels for less than buying them singly. Usually the most cost-effective structure. |
| Remnant positions | Inventory unsold as the schedule closes. Priced to clear, released on short notice, preemptible if a full-rate advertiser takes the slot. | A cheaper way onto the same channels if dates can move. Wrong if a specific week must run. |
| The commercial | Nothing airs until a finished spot is cleared and delivered in the provider’s format. | Scripting, voiceover and editing are handled in house, so creative is part of the plan, not a later invoice. |
Terminology varies between the providers and the rep firms reselling their inventory. Ask which of these you are buying before you sign.
Ways to buy
Your spot runs in a cable network’s national feed and reaches satellite homes everywhere at once. The simplest route to countrywide video, and a natural companion to national radio.
The provider inserts your commercial into its own positions so only viewers in a chosen area see it. Useful when the offer is regional, service areas are limited, or one market needs extra weight.
Local broadcast programming delivered to satellite subscribers in virtually all markets, morning shows and local news included. It puts locally produced shows inside a satellite plan.
Channels grouped around a shared audience. A lifestyle cluster carries home, food and travel channels, aimed mostly at upscale women. Buying the group costs less than buying each channel.
You can buy one channel on its own. Usually the least efficient route, and worth it only when that channel lines up unusually well with your customer.
Positions unsold as the schedule closes, priced to move and cleared on short notice. Same channels, lower cost, no promise the spot survives a full-rate buyer. Same logic as remnant radio.
Costs
There is no published rate card for satellite TV, and any agency showing you one is showing you fiction. The same channel, week and spot length can price very differently depending on the items below.
We will not quote a number before we know your geography, dates and flexibility. Anyone who does is quoting their inventory, not your campaign.
Want to know what your budget really buys on DirecTV and DISH before you commit? Tell us the market, the dates and the offer.
Get the ReportIs it right for you?
If satellite is wrong for you, we say so and point you toward other television, local radio or streaming. We would rather lose an order than place one we expect to fail.
Comparison
| Satellite (DirecTV / DISH) | Cable TV | Streaming / CTV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it reaches the home | Satellite to a dish, so urban and remote homes are served alike | A wired network, so coverage stops where the wire stops | An app on a connected TV, over the household’s internet |
| Who you reach | Subscribers to the two providers, including rural homes cable never reached | Households inside the operator’s wired footprint | Households that stream, including cord-cutters |
| How your ad gets in | The provider swaps designated positions in the national feed before it reaches the subscriber | The operator inserts into the same feeds at system or interconnect level | An ad server drops the spot into a stream, one impression at a time |
| Geographic control | National, or local by market through provider insertion | Local by system or interconnect inside the operator’s territory | National down to fine geography, targeted per impression |
| Usual buying unit | National network, cluster rotation or local spot | Local spot on a network within the operator’s zone | Impressions, generally priced on a CPM basis |
| Local broadcast shows | Available through local-into-local in virtually all markets | Carried on the operator’s channel lineup | Only where the broadcaster or service streams it |
| Room to negotiate | Remnant and preemptible positions are commonly available | Negotiable, though the range varies widely by operator | Marketplace pricing that moves with live demand |
| Where it struggles | Not built for one neighborhood, and cord-cutters are not in it | Coverage ends at the edge of the build, leaving rural gaps | Frequency is hard to control and inventory quality varies |
None of the three is automatically cheapest. It depends on where your buyers live, how tightly you must target, and how flexible your dates are. We compare all three, streaming included, before recommending any.
Why Berk Marketing
Berk Marketing represents advertisers, not stations or media companies, and holds no inventory. The channel list starts from who reaches your customer, not from what someone needs to unload.
Peter Berk has worked in radio since 1978, including roughly two decades on the station side at KCHS-AM New Mexico, KKAL California, KABC and KMPC Los Angeles, and 91X San Diego as general sales manager. He knows how sell-side proposals are built because he built them.
Certified Radio Marketing Consultant, certificate no. 589, issued by the Radio Advertising Bureau on December 2, 1980. Berk Marketing was founded in 1999 to buy media for advertisers rather than sell it.
Every proposal is scored against the same ten-point standard, ours and our competitors’ alike. That is how a satellite plan gets compared honestly against cable, streaming or radio rather than defended because we wrote it.
The standard media commission built into the buy, split with Hybrid Media Services on most campaigns. No separate retainer. We do not earn more by talking you into a bigger schedule than you need.
Big Lou Insurance has run national radio and SiriusXM through this office since 2011, selling term life insurance to people aged 50 to 60 with health issues. Campaigns last that long because the buys are honest.
How we work
Who buys from you, where they are, what the campaign has to produce and what you can spend. If satellite is not the answer, we say so here, before anything is spent.
Options across DirecTV and DISH: national feed against local insertion, cluster rotation against named channels, fixed positions against remnant. All of it scored against the ten-point standard, alternatives outside satellite included.
The same brief goes to both providers so they compete. While rates are worked, scripting, voiceover and editing happen in house, so the spot is cleared before the first position is confirmed.
Schedules confirmed, affidavits checked, response monitored through the flight. Weight moves toward what works. Nothing is placed without your approval.
FAQs
The purchase of commercial time delivered to homes by satellite rather than by cable wire. In the US that means DirecTV and DISH Network, the two companies left after years of mergers and exits. Between them they carry hundreds of channels, and you can buy nationally or locally, one channel at a time or in clusters.
DirecTV and DISH Network, the two majors left after many providers came, merged and went. Each has its own inventory, cluster structure and pricing, which is why the same brief goes to both so they compete. See the DirecTV advertising and DISH advertising pages.
Yes. Alongside national network buys, satellite sells local spot advertising that reaches only viewers in a particular area. Both providers also offer local-into-local service in virtually all markets, bringing programming such as morning shows and the late news to subscribers. The limit is scale: it works at market level, not one neighborhood.
Every cable network sends out one national program feed, and certain commercial positions in it are made available to the distributor. Before the signal reaches your television, the provider fills those positions with ads chosen for the area that subscriber lives in. That is why two households watching the same channel at the same moment see different commercials.
Clusters are bundles the providers assemble from channels that attract somewhat like-minded viewers. The Lifestyle Cluster includes HGTV, Travel, Food Network and A&E, aimed mostly at upscale moms. Buying the cluster spreads weight across related channels for less than buying them individually, normally the most cost-effective way to use satellite TV.
Remnant is inventory still unsold as a schedule closes. Rather than let the position air empty, the provider clears it cheaply to an advertiser who can move fast. There is no fixed remnant rate. Price depends on how much is left, how close the air date is, how in-demand the channel and daypart are, and how flexible you are. The trade is preemption: a full-rate advertiser can take the slot.
Sometimes, not automatically. Satellite prices competitively because the providers must compete for their share of the advertising pie, and remnant brings the cost down further. But cable can be sharper in a tightly wired metro, and streaming when you need precise targeting. We price all three against your geography and dates first.
No. Scripting, voiceover and editing are handled in house, so the spot is produced and cleared as part of the campaign rather than billed as a surprise afterward. If you have finished creative that meets the provider’s specs, we will use it.
Through the standard media commission built into the buy, split with Hybrid Media Services on most campaigns. No separate retainer, no consulting fee. Our pay does not change with the medium or provider we recommend, which is why we can afford to tell you when satellite TV is the wrong buy.
Keep reading
Tell us who you need to reach and what the campaign has to do. We will price it across DirecTV and DISH, compare it against cable, streaming and radio, and say so if something else is the better buy.
Or call (866) 747-4707. No obligation, and no pressure to buy through us.
Tell us who you want to reach and what you want to accomplish. No obligation, and nothing is placed until you approve it.
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Berk Marketing represents advertisers, not radio stations or media companies.
