DirecTV is one of the most recognizable U . S . brands . Its mounted satellite dishes , like weather vanes jutting out from a rooftop , remain ubiquitous on many an American home , a sign that quality programming — maybe even NFL Sunday Ticket , which DirecTV held the exclusive U . S . rights to for almost a decade — entertained those inside . It ’ s a little curious , then , that for a company so well-known , one of its latest national ad campaigns , which promotes DirecTV as available satellite-free , features pigeons voiced by two less familiar actors : Steve Buscemi and Henry Winkler . Brad Pitt and George Clooney they may not be , but in the ever-morecrowded and competitive streaming space , hiring Hollywood talent has its benefits . It can only get you so far . The recognition of DirecTV , whose inception has a tenuous link to Howard Hughes , is unquestioned . It ’ s a brand that is as much at home in homes
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as it is in commercial spaces : hotels , restaurants , bars , retail shops and many other venues , even prisons , with their captive audiences . The responsibility for spreading the B2B DirecTV gospel is with Doug Eichler , SVP of DirecTV for Business , who , prior to his now 30 years with the company , was a social worker . That changed in 1995 when he joined what was then a startup , working in the call center before bouncing around to other departments . He remembers it as great training . “ You had to resolve customer issues as the company grew ,” he said .
Now , his customers are anything from a strip-mall nail salon to the 7,000-plus-room Venetian Las Vegas . Every roughneck on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is watching DirecTV and when Air Force One is in flight , it ’ s how the president stays abreast of the news — or catches a ballgame . And while YouTube TV is now the exclusive home of NFL
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Sunday Ticket for residential , the package is still distributed in commercial venues through DirecTV .
IN MY ROOM Hotel entertainment has come a long way from the days of roadside Day-Glo signage promising “ Color TV ” or , if luckier , “ Free HBO .” Detritus from the past now , but , back in the 1960s and 1970s , hotels and motels were at the vanguard of TV technology . Eichler likes to tell of his grandparents ’ road trips through Michigan and seeking out accommodations boasting such amenities . “ Hotels are such a great case study of how technology has evolved ,” Eichler said .
In today ’ s hyperkinetic technology menagerie , TV is taken for granted ; if it ’ s even called that anymore with the panoply of apps , streaming options and devices and ability to watch what you want , when you want , commercials be damned .
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What is clear , is that the moment a hotel guest walks into his or her room , the focal point remains the TV , wallmounted or stationary , and what it can do once it ’ s flipped on . Eichler calls it “ turning on the glass .” And though guests know they are in a hotel , as it relates to their entertainment , they want it to feel like home . Eichler uses his sister ’ s family as an example . As he related it , when they travel , his sister wants to watch Real Housewives , her husband live sports , while the kids are glued to their iPads . One room , two beds , one TV , multiple portable devices . “ Customers are looking for an at-home-like experience and something that ’ s seamless ,” he said , “ where each does what they want to . Hoteliers have started to take it in that direction when you see the strides that have been made by some of the brands to bring together streaming and live TV content . We ’ re pulling those solutions together .” |
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