Game On

DISH Network ratcheted up its NFL Network drive this week, launching a national advertising campaign aimed at cable and tagged, "Football Playing 24/7 at DISH Network." Ironically, one of the first national ads from DISH appeared in a DC-area daily newspaper. Not only does DC operator Comcast carry NFL Net, but sources say the MSO is close to signing a deal to show the 8 regular season games on some level of service this fall (recall that Comcast was actually in the running for the rights to those games last year). DISH’s national ads feature NY Giants running back Tiki Barber, while local market ads feature local players (Drew Bledsoe in Dallas, a Time Warner market, and Rams QB Mark Bulger in St Louis, a Charter market). DISH, the first cable rival trying to capitalize on the NFL Net-cable spat, launched IWantFootball24-7.com and a sweeps to the NFL Pro Bowl in HI. The ads tout 10 months of DISH for $24.99/month after mail-in rebate. This past weekend, DISH had NFL stars signing autographs at retailers (Cfax, 8/18). — Meanwhile, the L.A. City Council passed a resolution Fri urging the FCC to force Time Warner to keep NFL Net on its recently acquired L.A. systems indefinitely. Under the FCC’s order, TW would be able to stop carrying the network Sept 3. The resolution passed 7-1, with former Adelphia exec Bill Rosendahl providing the nay vote.