Hoping to build its customer base and broaden the gap between it and rival DISH Network, DIRECTV Group Inc. (DTV) has launched a customer referral program that provides each current and new customer $50 in bill credits.
The DIRECTV deal is notable in that its incentive is a bill credit, as opposed to cash back, gift cards, consumer electronics and rebate checks, and hence lighter administrative and logistical lifting for the satellite TV provider.
Under the referral program, which is similar to one launched by VoIP provider Vonage late last year, each current DIRECTV customers gets a $50 credit for each referred customers. The referred customers receive the same size credit as well.
DIRECTV is running the offering for about another month (March 3). It’s unclear if the referral deal will be extended beyond that, as is commonplace with promotional offers of all sorts for seemingly all residential services.
New customers must have their referring parties’ account numbers to begin the process and can either order via toll-free number or online.
The satellite TV operator, whose services are already resold by AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q), won away AT&T from its deal with DISH Network last weekend.
With AT&T adding a year to its long-stated landline U-verse TV goal and cutting capital spending by $2 to $3 billion this year, as opposed to 2008, continuing to resell satellite TV is a logical step.
Verizon and Qwest had been reselling DIRECTV well before AT&T as their primary of secondary TV service, and as part of the FiOS provider’s non-fiber residential triple-play service bundles.
