• by Wayne Friedman , April 26, 2010

After their long, sometimes bitter battles, DirecTV and Dish Network are playing strange bedfellows in the interactive advertising arena.

Under an advertising effort called the Advanced Satellite Advertising Platform (ASAP), the two big satellite TV distributors are looking to ramp up their interactive deals by jointly pitching big TV marketers and media agencies to buy up a two-week campaign, showcasing long-form interactive advertorial content where a marketer gets a specific channel.

Some of these interactive elements might include product information, photo galleries, games, and request-for-information offers. DirecTV will run the marketer's messaging and content on its 115 channel position; Dish will offer its deal on channel 99.

Together, DirecTV and Dish account for over 30 million subscribers. But while DirecTV and Dish are teaming up together to give marketers scale, they are negotiating separately. In 2009, DirecTV -- according to reports -- closed 60 interactive campaigns, hoping to almost double that effort in 2010.

The two TV satellite companies will also measure the special media buy through their own third-party research companies -- Dish with Rentrak, and DirecTV with Kantar Media.