AT&T Preps NFL Network Ad Blitz Aimed at Cable

Telco Singles Out Time Warner Cable, Charter and Suddenlink in 17 Markets

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 12/14/2007 1:41:00 PM

AT&T on Sunday Dec. 16 plans to run full-page ads in 20 daily newspapers, touting the telco’s carriage of NFL Network and pointing out that cable operators in those local markets don’t offer the network.

The three cable operators targeted by the campaign are Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications and Suddenlink Communications. AT&T highlights the Dec. 29 matchup on NFL Network between the as-yet-undefeated New England Patriots and the potentially playoff-bound New York Giants.

The ads’ headlines read, “AT&T Advanced TV Shows NFL Network,” followed in smaller type by “[Local cable operator] doesn’t.”

For example, an ad set to run in Sunday editions of the Dayton Daily News and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel singles out Time Warner, which – like several other cable companies – has refused to carry NFL Network as part of regular programming packages.

“Will the Patriots go undefeated? Will the Giants be the spoiler? Either way it’s a chance to watch history in the making,” the ad copy reads. “That is, if you have NFL Network.”

The AT&T campaign is primarily aimed at Time Warner. The ads will be placed in newspapers in 12 markets where the cable company provides service: Los Angeles; San Diego; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Milwaukee; Green Bay, Wisc.; Kansas City; Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio; and Beaumont, Waco and Wichita Falls, Texas.

The NFL ads will also run in three Charter markets (St. Louis; Reno, Nev.; and Traverse City, Mich.) and two Suddenlink markets (Abilene and Amarillo, Texas).

The dispute between NFL Network and Comcast has taken a particularly nasty turn, with the cable operator suing the National Football League to stop the NFL from urging Comcast subscribers to drop their service.

AT&T spokesman Brad Mays declined to say how much the cable-targeted campaign will cost. Currently the campaign is scheduled to run only on Dec. 16.

The AT&T ads include, in fine print, a notice that the game “may be broadcasted on local channels in certain other markets.”

A year ago, Time Warner Cable sued DirecTV over newspaper ads the satellite operator ran listing eight NFL Network games that it claimed would be unavailalbe to cable subscribers. Time Warner argued that the claim was false, because all eight games on the NFL Network would also be available over local broadcast networks. DirecTV agreed to stop running those ads.