Competition Report: DirecTV Casts Its Shadow Over Cable at Circuit City

Cable World, Feb 21, 2005

By Mavis Scanlon

The Union Square Circuit City in Manhattan is as good a place as any to get a feel for satellite's prominent retail presence. Earlier this month, DirecTV's 15-foot-long HD display literally overshadowed Time Warner Cable's end-of-the-aisle, 5-foot-wide display promoting its HDTV service. DirecTV's display, topped with the company name in large cut-out letters, took up half an aisle.

In addition to highlighting its Total Choice package ($39.99 for 125 channels) and its incessant dig at cable --"compared to cable, DirecTV gives you a whole lot more for less"--DirecTV was promoting its $99 DVR and its $299 HD receivers. Customers also could check out programming lineups on a computer screen. The current special offer included three free months of HBO and Cinemax with a one-year commitment.

Time Warner Cable's display sported its familiar logo and served as a backdrop to a big-screen Samsung HDTV set. There was scant evidence of the cable/Samsung/INHD promotion that ended in early February other than easy-to- miss small promo cards displayed close to the floor. A cardboard cable/Samsung sign sat on another large-screen HD set in a different aisle, but that, too, was overshadowed by a far larger DirecTV sign promoting $165 in savings with the purchase of a DirecTV HD receiver and a Samsung set.

Posing as a curious consumer, I asked a salesperson which channels I'd get in New York City with a DirecTV HD box. "All the DirecTV cable channels," she said. Note to all marketers dealing with big retailers: Insist that salespeople get better training and learn about the differences between cable and satellite.

A poster promoting Road Runner service near the down escalator leading out of the store drove home the sense of missed opportunities--in Time Warner Cable's flagship market, no less.

[Copyright 2005 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]