# State of the art blimp to carry D* HD message to fans at World Series in Boston



## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

This is an official press release from D*.I tried to post a link,but an error message kept coming up about disclaimers,so I gave up on posting the link.This is on D*s site,listed in the Investor Relations section.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I'll be looking for it tonight.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

Here's the link:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1066587&highlight=


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

Lord Vader said:


> Here's the link:
> 
> http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1066587&highlight=


Thanks.  I have posted several links on here in the past.I don't know what was up with this one in particular,but it wouldn't let me post it earlier.


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

Wow that is pretty cool


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## JeffTex42 (Sep 14, 2007)

I'd like to hear how loud the boo's would be if they put a Peyton Manning commercial up on it. :lol:


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

JeffTex42 said:


> I'd like to hear how loud the boo's would be if they put a Peyton Manning commercial up on it. :lol:


Trust me very loud and I bet someone would try shooting it down.


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## mluntz (Jul 13, 2006)

That explains the new $4.99 HD access fee! :lol:


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## CTJon (Feb 5, 2007)

Hope the weather cooperates. There will be some rain. It would be a shame not to be able to clearly see that screen. Of course the sat detractors would say that it is another thing that doesn't work in the rain on D*.


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## CTuser (Oct 16, 2006)

I saw it fly over Hartford this morning. It had a large digital screen and they were advertising over 70 HD channels.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

Big old thing moving down on crowd blaring "Make some room!"


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## jahgreen (Dec 15, 2006)

Steve Robertson said:


> Trust me very loud and I bet someone would try shooting it down.


Nah. They'd shoot it down only if it broadcast something about the Yankees.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

I'm always amazed at the ways marketing people can find to spend huge sums of money.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

You mean waste huge sums of money.

I doubt even one customer will say "Gee, I will go with DirecTV" because of a blimp.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

tonyd79 said:


> You mean waste huge sums of money.
> 
> I doubt even one customer will say "Gee, I will go with DirecTV" because of a blimp.


And there is no one that will ever go out and buy Beer because of their advertising?

It is not so much... "I am going to run out and buy it"... it is more of to get it into their heads... to get people looking and thinking about it, so when the time comes...

Short of "sale prices" that is the gist of almost all advertising.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

tonyd79 said:


> *You mean waste huge sums of money.
> 
> I doubt even one customer will say "Gee, I will go with DirecTV" because of a blimp.*


It's not too unlike subliminal advertising, if it's not that outright. While the blimp may not get one person to run right out and get DirecTV and all the necessary HD equipment, how much you wanna bet it gets at least ONE person's curiosity piqued?

Kinda like, "Wow! Cool. What's that? I'll have to check that out."


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## Pink Fairy (Dec 28, 2006)

Exactly. I wish I could see the thing - and put that LCD in my house somehow


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## Milominderbinder2 (Oct 8, 2006)

Lord Vader said:


> It's not too unlike subliminal advertising, if it's not that outright. While the blimp may not get one person to run right out and get DirecTV and all the necessary HD equipment, how much you wanna bet it gets at least ONE person's curiosity piqued?
> 
> Kinda like, "Wow! Cool. What's that? I'll have to check that out."


That is exactly it. They need to create a "presence."

- Craig


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

So would the blimp be an epitome of HD-Lite? !Devil_lol :kickbutt: 




I kid, I kid.


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## dtv757 (Jun 4, 2006)

does any one have any pix or do we have to wait till tonights broadcast to see the blimp???


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## HDTVFreak07 (Sep 12, 2007)

dtv757 said:


> does any one have any pix or do we have to wait till tonights broadcast to see the blimp???


I'm not so crazy about baseball but the blimp I gotta see. So, I'm setting my DVR to record the game so I can just fast forward until I see the blimp before becoming satisfied.


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## Pink Fairy (Dec 28, 2006)

~pouts~ They have the world series tonight on the screen at my work..I have yet to see a blimp.


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## cdizzy (Jul 29, 2007)

I think they started the coverage with a camera shot from it.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

Yup, and in that shot was a logo of DISH as one of the sponsors.


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

i just turned on the game a little bit ago... i haven't missed the blimp yet, have i?


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## cdizzy (Jul 29, 2007)

I haven't seen it yet.


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## HDTVFreak07 (Sep 12, 2007)

I sense a new anticipation going on now! :lol:


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## sean10780 (Oct 16, 2007)

cdizzy said:


> I haven't seen it yet.


I haven't seen the blimp either, but it seems directv has other camera's there, looks like they have a home run cam as well. Talk about knowning how to market.


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## Pink Fairy (Dec 28, 2006)

I dont like sports, but this game seems interesting.


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

sean10780 said:


> I haven't seen the blimp either, but it seems directv has other camera's there, looks like they have a home run cam as well. Talk about knowning how to market.


yeah... i've seen a directv 'diamond cam' and a 'tracker cam'


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

I saw it!!! FIRST!!! lol


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

OK that blimp shot was cool!


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

very cool btw... i wanna see that in person...


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## sean10780 (Oct 16, 2007)

Wow cool. I want one of those. LOL


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## jazzyd971fm (Sep 1, 2007)

Not bad at all; not too bad at all.

They should have the game broadcast on it; that would be cool & distracting too !!!!!!!


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

So far, yes. It was on about 10 mins. ago. I'm sure they'll show it again.


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## jtn (Oct 18, 2007)

Sponsored by DirecTV. Watching it now looks fantastic.


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## JeffTex42 (Sep 14, 2007)

So who's going to be 1st to post a screenshot of the blimp?


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## Directvtoyou (Oct 12, 2007)

I like how they say the shot is in hd, but it looks like crap.. but fox looks like crap in general.


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## dtv757 (Jun 4, 2006)

yea i saw the plimp but it needs to say something else beside "call 1800-D* to switch" i think it should say something releated to the 70 HD channels. or like someone mentioned above a feed of the game on fox HD would be cool.


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## JLucPicard (Apr 27, 2004)

okietekkie said:


> Exactly. I wish I could see the thing - and put that LCD in my house somehow


But with only 33,600 pixels, you'd have to sit in your neighbor-across-the-street's living room for a half-way decent picture! :lol:


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I was impressed, it looked like the most technologically advanced blimp display I've seen yet.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Were the Dish Network commercials running on the Blimp's screen?


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

I wonder if Charlie was trying to find his old blowup Pig (from the E* cable pig ads)so he could fill it with helium to counter the blimp


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Dish was one of the sponsors of the game. I got a chuckle when one of the first two ads was for Dish Network. Both marketing departments appear to be in overdrive at spending dollars. I guess it is getting to be the Comsumermas Season.


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## GutBomb (Jun 17, 2004)

What a waste of money. Just sticking your logo on the fence in the stadium or buying some screen time (which they did in the "sponsored by" camera angles) would have cost them less and got the same result of "getting the name out there."

Some marketing person is creaming his pants over such an awesome blimp but in the real world it doesn't get them anything.

I didn't even get what was so cool about it. The commentators were saying "Yeah it's got a great HD screen on it, after the game I hope to take it home with me" but it's not like they were playing video on it. There was some text that said "switch to directv, call us now"

I guess maybe I missed when it actually had something cool on it.


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## wmschultz (Jul 18, 2006)

According to the Press Release it can only fly for 6 hours. I guess regular season AL games are out of the question for next year.


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## celticpride (Sep 6, 2006)

The 3 times i saw the blimp during the game it only had the call1-800 directv message,I was disapointed because i wanted to see them pushing the 70 HD channels,since new england is comcast territory.


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## dtv757 (Jun 4, 2006)

THE 2007 WORLD SERIES is sponsored by Directv...  
"the champion in HD sports"








http://i24.tinypic.com/o6w4qv.jpg

and what you all have been waiting for ... the DirecTV HD STARSHIP. 








http://i24.tinypic.com/2w6a3r7.jpg


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

Milominderbinder2 said:


> That is exactly it. They need to create a "presence."
> 
> - Craig


Yeah, cause no one knows who DirecTV is....


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## jtn (Oct 18, 2007)

I think it's okay to have the blimp (like the good year blimp :lol: ).


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## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

If you are a Rockies fan, the best part of the game last night was the blimp.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

tonyd79 said:


> Yeah, cause no one knows who DirecTV is....


That's not the point. Many people don't *know *DirecTV has launched all these new HD channels.


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

Preview of "24" from the D* blimp during the middle of the 7th. This should be cool.


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## sean10780 (Oct 16, 2007)

DCSholtis said:


> Preview of "24" from the D* blimp during the middle of the 7th. This should be cool.


I think this will be really really cool.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

Really, really, really cool.


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

Well since they didn't show it from the blimp. I'm waiting for some smart ass to start up a thread saying D* lied about that too. :lol:


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## braven (Apr 9, 2007)

I fell asleep before the 7th inning. Anyone catch the 24 preview?


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## MikeR (Oct 6, 2006)

UFO sightings in Connecticut..


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## jtn (Oct 18, 2007)

DCSholtis said:


> Well since they didn't show it from the blimp. I'm waiting for some smart ass to start up a thread saying D* lied about that too. :lol:


They should have gotten backup from the Good Year Blimp. :lol:


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

braven said:


> I fell asleep before the 7th inning. Anyone catch the 24 preview?


They didn't show the broadcast from the blimp, but what they showed looked kind of cool.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Cox, Comcast, TWC and Echostar have joined forces with Goodyear to bring suit against DirecTV, claiming:

1. The DirecTV blimp does not have digital tuners as required by the FCC. Nor, does the display meet the required resolutions to truly be called "HD".

2. DirecTV has falsely advertised the vehicle as a "starship", when in fact, it's incapable of interstellar travel.

On a related note, several hundred residents of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are upset because DirecTV's retention department would not provide them with their own Starship at a reduced price.

More news as it develops.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

You forgot the part where James Long chimes in that DISH has *two * of their own blimps while D* has just one.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

Ken S said:


> Cox, Comcast, TWC and Echostar have joined forces with Goodyear to bring suit against DirecTV, claiming:
> 
> 1. The DirecTV blimp does not have digital tuners as required by the FCC. Nor, does the display meet the required resolutions to truly be called "HD".
> 
> ...


:up: :rolling:


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

Lord Vader said:


> You forgot the part where James Long chimes in that DISH has *two * of their own blimps while D* has just one.


!rolling !rolling !rolling !rolling !rolling !rolling


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## mchaney (Aug 17, 2006)

DCSholtis said:


> Well since they didn't show it from the blimp. I'm waiting for some smart ass to start up a thread saying D* lied about that too. :lol:


I heard one of the parts in the light panel/display came from a company that does a lot of business for Comcast and that Comcast forged some data packets to take the display offline at a critical moment. They thought that'd be OK since they sell products used to drive equipment that emits light... so they *must* have rights to control all such devices. 

Mike


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

mchaney said:


> I heard one of the parts in the light panel/display came from a company that does a lot of business for Comcast and that Comcast forged some data packets to take the display offline at a critical moment. They thought that'd be OK since they sell products used to drive equipment that emits light... so they *must* have rights to control all such devices.
> 
> Mike


You mean that old lady failed to hammer those data packets out too?!! Damn her!! :lol:


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

MikeR said:


> UFO sightings in Connecticut..


I wonder if any sightings will be reported in Colorado?  Gametime coming up in about an hour.


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## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

I have never seen a blimp in Colorado. I think the winds and the altitude keep them away from the mountains.


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## jtn (Oct 18, 2007)

Phil T said:


> I have never seen a blimp in Colorado. I think the winds and the altitude keep them away from the mountains.


Maybe it's a modified special blimp for harder weather conditions. :hurah:


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

Phil T said:


> I have never seen a blimp in Colorado. I think the winds and the altitude keep them away from the mountains.


Good points Phil.Considering the way D* has been aggresively promoting the new HD channels,who knows?


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## Guttboy (Sep 9, 2007)

I was at Game 3 in Denver...never saw the blimp...maybe because there was WAY too much beer at the game! OR...my RF remote turned it off...LOL


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

Anyone watching the Dallas/N.Y. Giants NFC Playoff game today?The blimp is making the rounds in Dallas for the game.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

Maybe it should've been in Indianapolis searching for the Colts. Looked like they didn't show up.


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## eandras (Feb 16, 2007)

Lord Vader said:


> Maybe it should've been in Indianapolis searching for the Colts. Looked like they didn't show up.


It was busy looking for the Cowboys - Go Giants


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## Pink Fairy (Dec 28, 2006)

Blah, now the only team I would be excited made it to the SuperBowl would be the Packers.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

eandras said:


> It was busy looking for the Cowboys - Go Giants


As much as I dislike it, the Packers are going to wipe the field with the Giants, whose win today was nothing less than an anamoly.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

The blimp is making its rounds in Hampton/Atlanta,GA for the Kobalt Tools 500 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

The DirecTV blimp is flying over Yankee Stadium at the 2008 MLB All-Star Game tonight.


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## Dolly (Jan 30, 2007)

And it looked great :sunsmile: But a 15 inning game :eek2: At least the American League won again


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## purtman (Sep 19, 2006)

Lord Vader said:


> As much as I dislike it, the Packers are going to wipe the field with the Giants, whose win today was nothing less than an anamoly.


How about Corey Webster? I still can't get enough of this win.


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## ITrot (Aug 14, 2006)

Did anybody else hear Joe Buck say that D* will have over 130 HD channels by the end of summer when talking about the blimp?


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## dtv757 (Jun 4, 2006)

yea i heard him say that.. it threw me off as well when i heard it...   

when will D11 be ready... ??

i thought the HD screen on the starship could show live video? they should have used that feature to show a replay or something cool about D*, 

use it more to advertise SuperFAN.. 

like jo buck could say.. "and now for our DIRECTV strike zone channel game recap, we turn to the DIRECTV HD STARSHIP." 

and from here show the game highlights live from the starship.. 


idk just an idea.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

It's been awhile since I have seen the blimp on TV.
It is flying around Wrigley Field in Chicago tonight for the Dodgers @ Cubs NLDS game,currently on TBS HD.
I wonder if Earl is taking a spin in it.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

I see the blimp is in Philly tonight for Game 1 of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Phillies.  
FOX showed a quick shot of it during the bottom of the 7th inning of the game tonight.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

The blimp is back in Boston tonight,providing the overhead views of the ALCS game on TBS.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

What ALCS game???


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

It was over my house last week on its way to the Phillies game. Pretty darn cool!


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

It is providing overhead views of the Broncos @ Pats game on ESPN tonight.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

The World Series isn't in Boston this year.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

n3ntj said:


> The World Series isn't in Boston this year.


This is true. :lol: 
But,the blimp has been hanging around the Boston area for the past couple of weeks,providing overhead views of the ALCS on TBS,and the MNF game last night on ESPN.
Who knows,perhaps they will head over to Philly for some of the World Series coverage coming up on FOX.


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## carlsbad_bolt_fan (May 18, 2004)

Yeah, the message will say "REBOOT YOUR HD-DVR'S OR WE'LL DO IT FOR YOU".:lol:


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## DC_SnDvl (Aug 17, 2006)

carlsbad_bolt_fan said:


> Yeah, the message will say "REBOOT YOUR HD-DVR'S OR WE'LL DO IT FOR YOU".:lol:


you got to it first. I was thinking that the blimp might reboot durring the game.


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## erickufrin (Oct 2, 2008)

I saw the blimp at Miller Park in Milwaukee for the Brewers NLDS game 3!! 

GO BREWERS!! :grin:


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## erickufrin (Oct 2, 2008)

Pink Fairy said:


> Blah, now the only team I would be excited made it to the SuperBowl would be the Packers.


WOOT!!


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## Ashtonian (Jan 31, 2007)

Steve615 said:


> This is an official press release from D*.I tried to post a link,but an error message kept coming up about disclaimers,so I gave up on posting the link.This is on D*s site,listed in the Investor Relations section.


Boston? that was last year


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## bslowey (Dec 27, 2005)

The title says Boston, because this thread was from last year.

This year the blimp will be in Philly. Not much to see from the sky in Tampa. (dome)

GO PHILS!!!!!!!!!!


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## sunking (Feb 17, 2004)

Lord Vader said:


> It's not too unlike subliminal advertising, if it's not that outright. While the blimp may not get one person to run right out and get DirecTV and all the necessary HD equipment, how much you wanna bet it gets at least ONE person's curiosity piqued?
> 
> Kinda like, "Wow! Cool. What's that? I'll have to check that out."


Ok, so lets spend tons of money on a super duper blimp that is supposed to impress people. To impress them we'll make sure lots of pictures appear on their TV of our super blimp. These people either:

A. Have directv, see a really neato blimp, and possibly say, 'Can I have my HD fee back so I can at least spend it on food or something useful. I bet it won't be on a blimp.'

B. Don't have directv, or HD, and see an otherwise impressive super duper blimp on there crappy TV. Their reaction being, Directv can't even make a nice looking blimp, why would I ever change to them.

C. Have HD on cable/etc and see a really neat looking blimp and go, 'Wow, what a nice looking blimp. My cable HD is awesome'.

D. And finally. Everyone will say at some point, 'Unless it bursts into flames like the Hindenburg stop showing the stupid blimp and go back to the game. Nobody really cares about blimps anymore unless its Black Sunday.'


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

carlsbad_bolt_fan said:


> Yeah, the message will say "REBOOT YOUR HD-DVR'S OR WE'LL DO IT FOR YOU".:lol:


That would be funny..

The message on the D* blimp should be "How many actual HD channels (no, not "options") does your cable company really offer? D* has well over 100 HD channels. Do the math." :lol:


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

The blimp is making an appearance in Nashville today.
Providing overhead views of the Packers @ Titans game on the FOX network. 
BTW,this has been a good game,alot of defense going on,as I expected.


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