• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, August 19, 2008

In a move that at one level brings competitors together, a rep firm owned by three large cable operators will begin selling time on DirecTV. National Cable Communications has a deal to take over national spot sales for regional sports networks carried on DTV in nine markets.

The deal also calls for NCC to meld those DTV-carried networks into cable interconnects in those markets, giving NCC wider reach to sell to advertisers in a single package.

Spot cable firm NCC is jointly owned by Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable, all of which compete with DTV for customers.

"Combining DirecTV's audience with our cable interconnects expands our reach and strengthens our targeted offering," said NCC President Greg Schaefer. "And ad agencies benefit from the single point of contact we will provide both locally and nationally. Combining wired cable with satellite is a major breakthrough for the advertising industry."

The markets covered in the arrangement include Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and Boston.

In addition to representing the three MSOs that own it, NCC represents Cablevision, Bright House Networks and other cable operators.

MSOs are placing an increased emphasis on generating ad dollars as a growth driver, with Project Canoe and other initiatives.