Reviewed by Peter Berk, President and Chief Media Strategist, Berk Marketing · Last updated 7 September 2026
DirecTV Advertising
DirecTV is a satellite television service with a wide range of channels and programming. We plan, negotiate and place satellite television schedules, including remnant placements, and we will tell you plainly when the money belongs somewhere else.
No cost, no obligation. Or call (866) 747-4707 and speak with Peter Berk or one of his Berk-trained partners.
DirecTV is a satellite television service provider that offers a wide range of channels and programming options to its subscribers. DirecTV advertising means placing commercials inside that programming, reaching viewers who are watching their favorite shows, sports events, movies and other content. It is a way to engage viewers and build brand awareness through targeted commercials, and advertisers can work with DirecTV or its advertising partners to plan, create and execute a campaign.
Berk Marketing is an independent media buying agency on the other side of that table. We represent advertisers, not stations or media companies, and we hold no inventory. The network list, the geography and the daypart mix on your plan start from who actually reaches your customer, not from what somebody needs to clear this month. We negotiate the schedule, produce the commercial in house and help track response.
The problem
A DirecTV proposal is easy to make impressive and hard to evaluate. The number at the bottom means nothing until you can see what is being bought. These are the gaps we find most often in proposals sent to us for review.
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
Every satellite schedule is assembled from the same handful of decisions. When a proposal is confusing, it is usually because one of them was left unstated. Here is what we insist on seeing in writing before anything is approved.
| Element | What it means | What the proposal should show |
|---|---|---|
| Geography | Whether the schedule runs across the full footprint or is confined to a defined region, market group or zone. | The exact coverage being sold, written out, not the phrase “targeted” on its own. |
| Networks | Which channels the commercial can appear on. Satellite carries a wide range of programming, and the spread within one package can be enormous. | A named list, or a clear statement that the buy is a rotation across an unnamed group. |
| Programming | The content the spot sits inside: sports events, movies, series. | Any programming promised, and whether that promise is guaranteed or aspirational. |
| Daypart and rotation | The hours the schedule can clear in. A wide rotation is cheaper because the seller decides when it runs. | Stated hour ranges and the share of spots in each, not just “ROS”. |
| Inventory class | Fixed placement, or preemptible and remnant placement that can be bumped when a full-rate buyer takes the slot. | Which class you are buying, the spot length quoted, and what happens to a preempted spot. |
| Flight | Start date, end date and how the weight is spread across the weeks between. | A week-by-week schedule, so thin weeks are visible before you sign. |
| Production | Scripting, voiceover and editing of the commercial itself. We do this in house. | Production separated from airtime, so you can see what each is costing you. |
| Response tracking | Confirmation of what ran, and how you will know whether it moved anything. | The documentation you receive, and the tracking method agreed before launch. |
If a seller will not put a row of this table in writing, that is information too. It usually means the answer is less attractive than the pitch.
Targeting
Satellite reaches subscribers across the country from one buy. For an advertiser selling nationally, that is the appeal: one schedule, one set of creative, one negotiation instead of market-by-market assembly.
When you serve only part of the country, everything hinges on how tightly coverage can be drawn and whether the seller will state it. We get the offered geography defined in writing first.
Subscribers watch a wide range of channels. Choosing networks decides which slice of that audience your commercial sits in front of, and it is the line most proposals leave blank.
Sports events, movies and series each attract a different viewer in a different state of attention. Live sports is priced differently from a weeknight movie for exactly that reason.
Timing spots for when your customer is most likely to be tuned in is much of the value of a buy. A wide-open rotation costs less because you handed that decision to the seller.
Unsold inventory placed close to air at a lower rate, in exchange for flexibility and the risk of being bumped. It is the common route to affordable satellite placement, and it has to be labelled honestly.
Costs
We publish no rate card for DirecTV, because there is no honest single number to publish. What a satellite schedule costs depends on how much certainty you are asking for. Every item below is a lever, and most are yours to pull.
Anyone quoting you a firm DirecTV rate before asking about your geography, your flight and your tolerance for preemption is quoting the inventory they need to sell, not the buy you need.
Tell us who you need to reach and what you want to accomplish. Nothing is placed until you approve it.
Request a Free Media PlanIs it right for you?
If satellite television is the wrong medium for your business, we will say so before you have spent anything. See is radio right for my business for the same question asked about audio.
Comparison
| DirecTV | DISH | Cable TV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Satellite service carrying a wide range of channels. | Satellite service, structurally the same buy. | Delivered through regional wired systems, not by satellite. |
| Footprint | One schedule can cover subscribers nationally. | One schedule can cover subscribers nationally. | Coverage follows the systems serving each area, so national reach means assembling pieces. |
| Geographic targeting | Depends on what the seller will define and commit to in writing. | Same question, different seller. | Geography is built into how systems are sold, which is why local advertisers often start here. |
| Network choice | Wide lineup, so the named network list is the decision that matters. | Wide lineup as well. Ask for the list, not the label. | Lineup varies by system, so confirm what is carried where you buy. |
| Remnant availability | The usual route to a lower rate, in exchange for preemption risk. | Same trade, same thing to get labelled. | Also discounted when unsold, on the same flexibility-for-price trade. |
| Best suited to | Advertisers selling across a wide area who want one negotiation instead of many. | The same advertiser, which is why the two should be priced against each other. | Advertisers whose customers sit in specific areas. |
We hold no inventory in any of these three, so this table costs us nothing to write honestly. More detail on each: satellite TV advertising, DISH advertising and TV advertising.
Why Berk Marketing
Berk Marketing represents advertisers, not stations or media companies. We own nothing and clear nothing. The network and daypart list starts from who reaches your customer, the only starting point that serves you.
Peter Berk spent roughly two decades on the station side, at KCHS-AM in New Mexico, KKAL in California, KABC and KMPC in Los Angeles and 91X in San Diego as general sales manager, before founding Berk Marketing in 1999 to buy for advertisers.
Certificate number 589, issued by the Radio Advertising Bureau on December 2, 1980. An old credential, and a long habit of treating media buying as a discipline rather than a sales job.
Compensation is the standard media commission built into the buy, split with Hybrid Media Services on most campaigns. There is no separate retainer and no fee for a plan or a recommendation.
Every proposal is scored against the same ten-point standard, ours and a competitor’s alike. It is the fastest way to see whether a plan commits to anything or only sounds like it does.
The person evaluating networks, negotiating the rate and reviewing the results is the person you talk to. Scripting, voiceover and editing are handled in house, so the message and the buy are built together.
How we work
Who you are trying to reach, what you sell, what you want to accomplish and what you can spend. If satellite television is the wrong answer to that brief, this is the call where we say so.
A written plan with geography, networks, dayparts, inventory class and flight broken out, with satellite quoted against the alternatives where appropriate so you can see what each buys.
We negotiate the schedule and produce the commercial in house, including scripting, voiceover work and editing. Nothing is placed until you have approved both the buy and the creative.
The schedule runs, delivery is confirmed against what was bought, and response is monitored so effectiveness can be measured. What we learn goes into the next flight, not into a congratulatory report.
FAQs
DirecTV is a satellite television service provider offering a wide range of channels and programming options to its subscribers. Advertising on DirecTV places your commercial inside that programming, reaching viewers watching shows, sports events, movies and other content. Advertisers can work with DirecTV or its advertising partners, or through an independent buyer like Berk Marketing.
That depends on what the seller will define and commit to in writing for your buy, and it is the first thing we pin down. Satellite reaches subscribers across the country, so the question is how tightly coverage can be drawn. If you serve a small area and the geography cannot be narrowed enough, we will tell you a national footprint is mostly waste and look elsewhere.
Whichever ones the proposal names, which is the point. A wide lineup only helps if you know which slice you are buying, so we ask for the network list in writing rather than accepting the word targeted. A rotation across an unnamed group is a legitimate way to buy at a lower rate, but it should be labelled as one.
Remnant is unsold inventory placed closer to air at a lower rate, in exchange for flexibility and the risk that your spot is preempted when a full-rate buyer takes the slot. It is the common route to affordable satellite placement. The problem is not remnant itself, it is remnant sold at fixed-placement prices without saying so.
There is no single honest number. The rate moves with geography, network selection, programming, daypart, spot length, flight and above all how much certainty you want. Fixed placement in live sports costs what it costs. A wide rotation on remnant inventory bought with flexible timing is a different order of money. Tell us the budget and we will show you what it realistically buys.
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.
Yes. Commercial writing and production are done in house, including scripting, voiceover work and editing. Keeping creative and buying together matters, because the length you buy, the programming it sits in and what the spot says are the same decision made three times.
We represent advertisers, not stations or media companies, and we hold no inventory. Compensation is the standard media commission built into the buy, split with Hybrid Media Services on most campaigns. There is no separate retainer and no charge for a plan or a recommendation. Because we do not own airtime, we gain nothing from recommending satellite over anything else.
Yes, at no charge. If you are considering DirecTV or radio, we will run a competitive monitoring report for you through our strategic partner Hybrid Media Services. It shows which stations and networks your competitors are buying and how heavily they are running. In many cases nothing shows up at all, and that is worth knowing before you spend a dollar. Request a free competitive report.
Keep reading
Tell us who you want to reach and what you want to accomplish. We will come back with the geography, the networks, the inventory class and the flight written out, and an honest answer about whether satellite television is where your budget belongs.
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.
Ready to plan your TV buy?
Berk Marketing represents advertisers, not networks, stations or streaming platforms.
