The Pac-12 Networks yesterday rolled out an advertising campaign against DirecTV with the hopes that it will pressure the satellite company to sign a carriage deal for the suite of channels. The campaign will be tailored to each Pac-12 university with messages that document what DirecTV subscribers are missing. The Colorado message features a picture of an animal, with the words: "Buffaloes on DirecTV" alongside a picture of a CU football player with the words: "Buffaloes on Pac-12 Networks." The campaign will run on TV, digital, print and outdoor. S.F.-based ad agency BarrettSF produced the creative (John Ourand, Staff Writer). In Seattle, Bud Withers wrote, "It's the most organized salvo yet by the league against DirecTV, coming some 17 days after commissioner Larry Scott made the impasse a prominent part of a short state-of-the-conference address at the Pac-12 football media day in Los Angeles." DirecTV "has been dug in now since the Pac-12 Networks inception." Pac-12 schools "will be joining the campaign shortly, with statements from their athletic directors and coaches advising a switch from DirecTV to the 50-plus carriers who have Pac-12 Networks" (SEATTLETIMES.com, 8/12). In San Jose, Jon Wilner writes if DirecTV "wasn't willing to deal with the Pac12Nets last summer, when USC -- the biggest brand in the league's biggest market, which happens to be DTV's home market -- was the preseason No. 1 and had the Heisman Trophy favorite ... then DTV is not going to budge this summer." But the Pac-12 "has no choice but to ramp up the pressure." DirecTV is "taking a ridiculous stance in claiming the Pac12Nets are too expensive for customers while it charges a reported $3.40 for the Lakers Channel, but the folks who run DTV aren't stupid." DirecTV is "a very, very well-run business" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 8/13). Watch the TV spots for the conference's 12 schools.
