Charter Communications has agreed to modify disclosures in its ad campaign after once again receiving a warning from the National Advertising Division. 

This time, it’s regarding Charter’s recent commercial claim that Verizon customers "will save over $1,500 in their first year if they switch to Spectrum Mobile."

The commercial features two couples, "George and Heidi" with Verizon, and "Dan and Tina" with Spectrum, both stated to have two lines, unlimited data and nationwide 5G. George and Tina are told they pay "way too much" and decide to switch to Spectrum.

On February 21, the NAD, the self-regulatory program run by nonprofit advocacy group BBB National Programs, "concluded that while Charter may compare the pricing of two plans at different “tiers” within the carriers’ offerings, in this context, it must be clear that the lowest tier Spectrum Mobile plan is being compared with a plan that is not Verizon’s lowest tier plan."

"In addition, NAD considered whether the advertising omits material information, specifically, the requirement that one must have Spectrum Internet to take advantage of the offer for Spectrum Mobile." said the recommendation. "NAD determined that the disclosure that Spectrum Internet is required is not clear and conspicuous."

In its advertiser statement, Charter said that "while it 'disagrees that its existing disclosures were insufficient' it 'will comply with NAD’s recommendations to improve the disclosures it includes with its savings claim for Spectrum Mobile.'"

The claims at issue were challenged by Verizon Communications, Inc.

The National Advertising Division has once again slapped the wrists of both top U.S. cable companies, Comcast and Charter Communications, for TV commercials that disparage emerging fixed wireless access (FWA) home internet services from T-Mobile and Verizon. 

On Thursday, the NAD said that it had determined that Comcast made false claims that Verizon 5G Home is “ineffective, slow, unreliable and prone to subpar performance due to congestion” in Stink Eye, a 60-second radio commercial, and Life With Verizon, a 15-second TV spot. (The NAD put out this statement.)

Comcast said in its own statement that it will comply with the NAD's recommendations. 

Earlier, the NAD put out another statement, claiming Charter’s “Game Time” and “Move Out” spots inaccurately disparage T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. 

The NAD said Charter should “discontinue the express claim, ’Whereas 5G Home Internet is known for slow speeds during peak times and unreliable connections.’ ”

Also, the group said Charter should “avoid conveying the message that T-Mobile home internet has a reputation for slow speeds and unreliable connections during peak times.” (The NAD did, however, validate a claim made by research company Ookla that 20% of T-Mobile FWA customers get shorted their listed internet speeds during peak usage hours.)

Charter also agreed to abide by the self-regulatory body's determination. Charter released this statement to Next TV: “Charter will comply with NAD’s recommendations and we welcome NAD’s recognition of our right — with certain modifications — to distinguish our internet service from T-Mobile’s by touting product differences that provide meaningful benefits to consumers.”

T-Mobile and Verizon have attracted more than 7 million customers in just over two years for new super-inexpensive services that tap 5G cellular for home internet use. The two companies now control 6% of U.S. broadband market share, with AT&T just ramping up its FWA service.

Conversely, Comcast and Charter now control the fastest growing consumer wireless services in America.

The whole cats-and-dogs-living-together arrangement is resulting in a lot of wild claims being made in ads.

Last November, or example, Comcast was told by the NAD to take down or modify Xfinity Mobile ads that disparage T-Mobile's wireless service.

That came determination came around the same time that Comcast started running other TV spots accusing T-Mobile of turning its customers into "vampires," with an allegedly congested FWA network that forces users to get their work done in the wee hours. 

Responding to a complaint from Charter Communications, the National Advertising Division has recommended to Google that it "discontinue" its claim that YouTube TV is "$600 cheaper than cable." 

"The price calculation underlying the challenged claim includes the cost of two set-top boxes per household for 'standalone cable' services. The NAD found, however, that this comparison is not a good fit for the challenged claim comparing YouTube TV’s pricing to 'cable' generally since cable providers like Charter offer streaming options that may not require a set-top box," NAD said in a statement. 

The NAD's action comes 15 months after Next TV also kicked the tires on Google's claims. In May 2022, as YouTube TV ads festooned the NBA playoffs, Google declared that its virtual MVPD service -- which hadn't bumped its price yet to the current $72.99 a month -- was a full $750 cheaper than cable TV on a yearly basis. 

We also determined that Google's claims were made based on outdated, monolithic data and didn't take into account migration of cable TV services from pricey leased set-tops to over-the-counter OTT devices. 

For its part, NAD said Google also isn't taking into account the "dynamic and competitive" of the current pay TV market, one in which its vMVPD might not have, say, the necessary regional sports networks available to make it so directly "comparable" with whatever cable TV service it's being sized up against in various regions.

In short, yes, there are still millions of U.S. customers overpaying for cable TV subscriptions laden with hidden fees and bloated equipment lease charges. But operators including Charter are now offering cheaper, skinnier alternatives that rely on BYO devices ... that certainly don't cost $50 more a month than YouTube TV. 

In any event, Google said it “unequivocally disagrees” with NAD’s decision and its “interpretation of ‘comparable’ offerings." Google said it will appeal the NAD decision because it “believes that consumers broadly understand the difference between traditional cable and streaming and that they do not interpret ‘cable’ or ‘standalone cable’ offered via a ‘cable box’ as encompassing streaming services, regardless of who provides them.”  

In the latest round of ultimate fighting, broadband wireless advertising edition, score one for T-Mobile.

The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs, the ad self-regulatory review body, has advised Comcast to modify or drop comparative wireless savings claims it makes in an ad for its Xfinity Mobile service. Comcast says it will comply with that and other NAD recommendations, which are to drop or modify its "Unlimited data for $30/line" claim in the ad and modify the ad to make sure consumers don't think Infinity is less expensive than T-Mobile "regardless of how many mobile lines are purchased" or, specifically, that it is cheaper when four mobile lines are purchased. T-Mobile had challenged the ad claims.

The ad was featured in a print mailer, an online (Google), and on TV featuring singer Becky G and animated characters from The Bad Guys film.

Also: Cox's 'Gig Speeds Everywhere' Ad Upheld

One issue NAD had with the $30-per-Line claim was that it was subject to throttling after 20 GB of use, which NAD said was not clear in the Google ad. Neither, it said, was the fact that the price is only available to Xfinity Mobile customers who are also subs of Comcast's Xfinity wired broadband service.

In its response to the decision, Comcast said it "agrees to comply with NAD's recommendations," though it did not say whether that would be modifying or discontinuing. "It also said it appreciated that NAD hewed to the FTC's .com disclosures guidance regarding search engine ads and space-constrained ads.

Broadband companies regularly challenge each other's ad claims before NAD.

Back In August, T-Mobile agreed to drop a home internet price claim that NAD said was unsupported, though in that case T-Mobile said it did not agree with the decision. ■

The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs has concluded that quite a few of Google Fiber's ad claims of superior performance over cable internet service are off base, though it said some general claims are defensible.

That is according to a just-announced NAD mixed decision following a challenge by cable ISP Charter Communications to Google’s claims about its service compared to cable internet-service providers in its footprint.

Also: Did YouTube TV Back Off From Its Specious '$750 Cheaper Than Cable' Claim?

The NAD recommendations are just that, but Google Fiber said that while it disagrees with some of the conclusions, it will follow them.

While NAD said there was a reasonable basis for certain general speed claims, it said Google should discontinue “quantified” speed claims — that upload speeds were up to 77 times faster, for example.

NAD pointed out that while a reasonable consumer could conclude it was an apples-to-apples comparison of “comparable metrics,” Google was actually comparing Google Fiber’s top potential speed for its 1 and 2 Gigabit-per-second tiers to the median speeds of lower tiers from Charter and other cable ISPs.

NAD also said Google should drop claims of superior reliability or knocks on the cable competition as “unreliable and prone to outages.”

“Google Fiber is a strong supporter of self-regulation and will respect NAD’s recommendations,” the company said.

The Biden administration has put its thumb on the scale for fiber-to-the-home buildouts with the tens of billions of dollars it is putting into broadband subsidies, so it is important for cable ISPs to defend their turf and keep the proper perspective on their relative merits. ■

The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs, the ad self-regulatory body, has advised Comcast to drop a host of claims about its "unlimited" and "best price" advertising for its Xfinity 5G mobile plans. Comcast said it would comply.

The claims were challenged by T-Mobile.

Those claims are:

1.  “Unlimited 5G”
2. “Break free from the big three” carriers and “get the best price for Unlimited 5G”
3. “[G]et the best Unlimited price”
4. “Xfinity Mobile now has the best price for Unlimited 5G”
5. “Switch to Xfinity Mobile and get the best price for Unlimited”
6. “Get the best price on Unlimited data”
7. “Get Unlimited 5G for $30/mo per line”
8. “Get four lines of Unlimited 5G data for just $30/mo each with our new pricing”
9. “Get 4 lines of Unlimited 5G data for just $30/line/mo”
10. “The more lines you add, the more you save with our new plan pricing.”

NAD said the "unlimited 5G" claim delivers the specific message that customers get unlimited data at 5G speeds when customers only get access to 5G speeds up to 20 GB of data, after which the data is limited to 3G speeds. And while Comcast does "sometimes" include a disclaimer about "reduced speeds after 20GB of use," NAD said that does not cure the misleading initial claim because it is like saying "unlimited" service with a disclaimer that it is not unlimited.

As to the "best price" claims, NAD said that the message that a four-line plan costs less than the four-line plan of its competitors was unsupported given that the price was $30 per line and T-Mobile had a promotional price of $26 per line for its service. NAD said that issue might be cured by a caveat that Comcast was excluding promotional pricing from the comparison.

Comcast said it can come up with an "appropriate" disclaimer that will "make clear to consumers the basis of comparison (including comparisons which exclude temporary promotional pricing) and will comply with NAD’s recommendation in future advertising.”

Cable and telecom operators regularly challenge each other's ad claims before NAD. ■

T-Mobile has agreed to pull ads making claims that the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs (formerly the Better Business Bureau), have determined were not supported.

The move is a bit like closing the closing the barn door after the team of horses has gotten out, since both ads debuted during CBS’s Feb. 7 telecast of Super Bowl LV to a huge audience and have been airing ever since.

Also Read: Verizon Agrees to Drop Certain Ad Claims

The two ads featured GOAT quarterback Tom Brady and singer Gwen Stefani in the now familiar format of conversations that get garbled, presumably on the networks of T-Mobile competitors, to humorous and embarrassing results.

NAD can only recommend, not mandate, such actions.

T-Mobile said it “is disappointed by NAD’s conclusion that consumers may take away a negative message from its humorous commercials,” but agreed to pull them anyway.

Wireless and wired broadband companies routinely counter-complain against one another over various service claims.

In the ongoing tit-for-tat marketing messaging battle between AT&T/DirecTV and Charter Communications, the National Advertising Division announced Thursday that it has recommended that DirecTV halt using certain ad claims about its satellite TV service, including those about its “worry-free” reliability.

DirecTV said it will appeal the NAD’s findings.

NAD, a unit administrated by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, said its findings stem from Charter’s argument that DirecTV’s worry-free service claims are “not puffery and is not true,” and that the ads falsely imply that DirecTV satellite TV signals don’t go out in the rain.

Charter’s specific challenges focus on marketing messages such as: “99% worry free signal reliability,” and “Will my signal go out? No! DirecTV’s high-powered satellites deliver 99% worry-free signal reliability so you can access the best entertainment.”

NAD said DirecTV had argued that the claim “99% signal reliability” had previously been reviewed by NAD, which had found the “99% signal reliability” claim to be supported. However, NAD said it concluded that the challenged “99% worry-free signal reliability” claim was a different claim that conveyed a similar but slightly different message. 

Additionally, NAD said Charter provided survey evidence showing that nearly 20% of DirecTV’s customers identified loss of service as the aspect of satellite TV service that they liked least, while, in another question, 62% said they had “lost service due to rain” during the past year.

The NAD recommendation and the DirecTV’s plan to appeal follows a string of other marketing-related spats between DirecTV and Charter.

Last month, NAD recommended that Charter discontinue a version of the MSO’s “Monsters: Charades” commercial that includes the claim: “TV that cuts out in the rain is evil. Spectrum is reliable.”

That recommendation, which Charter is appealing, stemmed from a challenged lodged by DirecTV. 

RELATED: NAD Urges Charter to Discontinue Version of ‘Monsters’ Ads

In late 2016, the Better Business Bureau's ad review arm advised Charter to stop using broadcast ads that made what it said were "unsubstantiated” claims about the impact of the AT&T-DirecTV merger on customer service. Those ads featured comedian Kevin Nealon as Captain Telstar, the commander of an orbiting satellite TV quarters that was made to look woefully out of date.

RELATED: Charter Ads Take Jabs at Satellite TV

The National Advertising Division (NAD) announced that it has recommended that Charter Communications discontinue a version of the MSO’s “Monsters: Charades” commercial that includes the claim: “TV that cuts out in the rain is evil. Spectrum is reliable.”

DirecTV, the nation’s largest satellite TV provider, challenged the Charter ads that went before NAD for review. Watch a version of the "Charades" ad below that centers on claims that rain can contribute to poor satellite TV reception:

NAD, an investigative unit that is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, also targeted language in the ad that states “Satellite TV Bad. Spectrum Good,” and also recommended that Charter stop an earlier commercial in its "Monsters" ad campaign in which the Grim Reaper states that his family’s satellite dish “went out in the rain, again.”

NAD noted that Charter, to support its claim on rain fade issues, provided a survey of DirecTV and Dish Network customers supporting the premise that rain fade is not a rare occurrence for satellite TV customers, and that it’s a source of frustration for them. Further, NAD noted that 62% of those surveyed acknowledged experiencing some lost service due to rain in the past year, and that 42% of those that experienced some lost service due to rain found that it occurred “frequently” or “almost always.”

Based on that evidence, NAD said it determined that the message conveyed by a revised version of the commercial – that occasional outages due to rain and other inclement weather are a consumer relevant occurrence – were supported.

“However, NAD found that the voiceover and text appearing at the end of the commercial – ‘TV that cuts out in the rain is evil. Spectrum is reliable. Satellite TV Bad. Spectrum Good’ – conveys a broader, unsupported message that satellite television service is highly unreliable in inclement weather and/or does not work in the rain,” NAD added. “NAD recommended Charter discontinue the claim in the context in which it appeared.”

Charter told NAD that it will appeal NAD’s decision and issued this statement:  

“Charter appreciates NAD’s conclusion that its nationwide survey of over 800 satellite customers about their experience with lost service due to rain supports the message communicated by its commercial that service outages due to rain are a consumer relevant occurrence for satellite television customers. Charter, however, strongly disagrees with NAD’s recommendation that it permanently discontinue an alternate version of the commercial that depicts a satellite television customer saying that his family lost service in the rain ‘again’ … .”

DirecTV, meanwhile, said it will file a cross-appeal of NAD’s determination that messages conveyed by a revised version of the commercial – occasional outages due to rain and other inclement weather are a consumer relevant occurrence – were supported.

The ad fight is the latest in a recent string between cable operators and satellite TV competitors.

In late 2016, the Better Business Bureau's ad review arm advised Charter to stop using broadcast ads that made what it said were "unsubstantiated” claims about the impact of the AT&T-DirecTV merger on customer service. Those ads featured comedian Kevin Nealon as Captain Telstar, the commander of an orbiting satellite TV quarters that was made to look woefully out of date.

RELATED: Charter Ads Take Jabs at Satellite TV

Earlier that year, NAD asked Comcast to stop making claims in two ads, including this one holding that its customers had access to four times more unique TV shows and movies on demand than DirecTV.

Related: NAD Asks Comcast to Drop 'Unsupported' Ad Claims

The National Advertising Division, a unit administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, announced last week that it has recommended that AT&T modify advertising in a way that clarifies the availability of AT&T Fiber, an FTTP-based product that delivers gigabit speeds.

RELATED: AT&T Expands Fiber to 17 More Metros

The recommendation follows a challenge lodged by Charter Communications, which complained about several AT&T Fiber ad claims, including: “With internet this fast, it must be the future,” “Internet speeds twenty times faster. Introducing AT&T Fiber,” “Speeds 20x faster than the average cable customer,” “Internet 1000,” and “AT&T has the largest fiber network.”

In coming to its conclusion, NAD said it considered whether the advertising at issue implied that AT&T has upgraded all, or substantially all, of its network to deliver fiber-to-the-home services, or that AT&T Fiber is available to most customers in the areas where the company offers residential broadband service.

AT&T, which is appealing the NAD’s recommendation, countered that consumers understand that AT&T Fiber has limited availability because ads include qualifying language such as “coming soon” and “introducing.”

NAD noted that in previous cases that limited service availability “is a material fast that must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed to consumers. Given that AT&T offers internet service using other technology, the decision states, it is especially important that AT&T communicate the limited availability of its AT&T Fiber.”

NAD’s recommendation is for AT&T Fiber ads to be modified to make clear that AT&T Fiber “is more unavailable than available.”

Regarding AT&T’s claim that AT&T Fiber is the largest FTTH network, NAD suggests that the company discontinue using that claim or modify it to “make clear that it refers to fiber across AT&T’s network, not to its fiber-to-the-home network.”

NAD backed its recommendation by finding that a coverage map on AT&T’s web site “did not reasonably communicate the message that AT&T Fiber was generally available in an area designated on the map.”

As for the “Internet 1000” ad claim, NAD said the “name itself is expressly false,” as AT&T discloses that max download speeds for AT&T Fiber is 940 Mbps.

NAD noted that AT&T “strongly disagrees with this recommendation” in part because the “coming soon” statement clearly communicates that the advertised service is not yet available and thus, additional limited availability disclosures are unnecessary, contradictory and confusing.”

Charter, meanwhile, said it would NAD’s finding that AT&T can advertise AT&T Fiber services on a market-wide basis in markets where the service is not yet available to 20% (or more) of the marketplace,” and NAD’s finding that AT&T can advertise that customers will receive a “gigabit” or “1000 Mbps connection” with AT&T’s “Internet 1000” tier of service, so long as it discloses that the service delivers speeds up to 940 Mbps.

Comcast has agreed to comply with a decision by a panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) recommending that the operator stop using certain claims in advertising that Xfinity delivers “delivers the fastest internet in America,” and the “fastest in-home WiFi.”

The NARB recommendation follows an initial challenge by Verizon Communication brought before the National Advertising Division (NAD) last year.

RELATED: NAD Challenges Comcast’s ‘Fastest Internet,’ WiFi Advertising Claims

In the decision, NARB noted that Comcast and Verizon offer consumers different tiers of service based on the maximum Internet download and upload speeds provided, and that making claims about being the “fastest…can be subject to a number of reasonable interpretations by consumers.”

NARB also noted that Comcast’s claims as providing “America’s fastest internet” were based on crowdsourced data from Ookla for the period January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015. The panel didn’t question the accuracy of Ookla’s data, but agreed with NAD that the data was “not a good fit for an overall claim,” as findings showed, for example, an edge for Comcast with download speeds, but not for upstream speeds.

RELATED: Comcast, Verizon Fios Tie as Fastest ‘Major’ U.S. ISP: Study

However, Comcast can still use Ookla data so long as it clearly communicates what the data represents, avoids any statement or implication that the data demonstrates that XFINITY provides faster internet speeds than competing ISPs, and appropriately distinguishes between download and upload speed.

Regarding ad claims about providing the “fastest in-home WiFi” claims, the panel noted that they were based on tests that only established faster router performance.

Comcast, in its advertiser’s statement, said while it disagreed with certain of panel’s findings, it agreed to comply with NARB’s decision, the organization said.

“Comcast will take NARB’s recommendations into account in developing future advertisements, and expects NAD and NARB will hold all advertisers to the same standards when making similar claims,” Comcast said in a statement in the NARB announcement.

The National Advertising Division announced that it is recommending that Comcast discontinue certain claims made in advertising that the MSO “delivers the fastest Internet in America” and the “fastest, most-reliable in-home WiFi,” as it appears in certain contexts in print and TV ads.

NAD, a division administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, said the ad claims made by  Comcast were challenged by broadband and TV rival Verizon Communications.

Comcast disagreed with the NAD’s decision and is appealing the complaint to the National Advertising Review Board, NAD said.

Update: Comcast also responded with this statement: "We are disappointed with NAD’s decision and are appealing it. The fact is just last week Ookla announced its “Speedtest Award” and, for the second year in a row, named Xfinity the provider with “America’s fastest Internet."  Per that report, Comcast was identified as the U.S. ISP with the fastest download speeds, while Verizon was tops in upload speeds. 

NAD said the following claims were representative of the basis of the inquiry:

- “XFINITY from Comcast delivers America’s fastest Internet according to 60 million consumer tests run at Speedtest.net. Faster than the competition. FiOS just can’t keep up.” “Based on 2015 Speedtest.net testing. Speedtest.net/awards/us. Actual speeds vary.”

-“XFINITY Internet delivers the fastest, most reliable in-home WiFi … WiFi claim based on November 2014 study by Allion Test Labs, Inc.”

-XFINITY “Fastest in-home WiFi speed 725 Mbps” … “WiFi claim based on November 2014 study by Allion Test Labs, Inc.”

-FIOS “in-home WiFi speed  . . . 610 Mbps” … “WiFi claim based on November 2014 study by Allion Test Labs, Inc.”

-“Unsurpassed HD picture quality” … “HD picture quality claim based on November 2012 study by Marketing Systems Group.”

-Verizon is “eliminating its traditional home phone service in certain markets.”

-“Verizon is discontinuing its copper-wire based home phone service.”

“At issue in this case is whether there is a good fit between Comcast’s unqualified fastest internet speed claim and its supporting evidence: crowd-sourced data (and an “award” given by the third party which collected that data),” NAD said.

On that note, NAD said it determined that Comcast’s reliance on Ookla’s speed test and its methodology “wasn’t a good fit for the purposes of substantiating Comcast’s overall superior speed performance claims.

Additionally, NAD said that Comcast offers a range of speeds tiers at different prices, “Comcast’s advertising does not limit its claims to a particular tier.”

As for WiFi speeds, NAD said Comcast provided a “reasonable basis” for those claims, but recommended that Comcast “expressly modify future claims to make clear that only users of 5GHz (or dual) band devices would experience the superior performance claimed.”

The 4K era has barely begun, but it’s already become a point of contention between pay TV rivals.

The National Advertising Division announced that it has recommended that DirecTV modify or discontinue certain advertising claims tied to its 4K programming and wireless set-top capabilities following a complaint lodged by Charter Communications.

DirecTV currently offers a selection of 4K titles for its Genie platform and on Samsung and LG UHD TVs. Sports Video Group reported recently that DirecTV expects to launch a live 4K offering in early 2016. DirecTV also offers customers a wireless whole-home HD-DVR option.

NAD said it recommends that DirecTV tweak or stop some pricing claims, wireless claims and claims that “suggest that all of DirecTV’s programming is available via 4K technology.”

NAD, an investigative division of the ad industry’s system that is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, noted that DirecTV said it plans to appeal the NAD’s findings to the National Advertising Review Board.

DirecTV “supports self-regulatory process and appreciates NAD’s efforts in reviewing the challenged advertising.  However, DIRECTV disagrees with NAD that the advertising subject to review had the potential to convey any misleading impressions regarding DIRECTV’s service. Accordingly, DIRECTV will be appealing the decision to the NARB,” DirecTV said in its advertiser’s statement, according to NAD.

Charter’s complaint centers on DirecTV’s ad campaign – Hannah and Her Horse – that features Sports Illustrated model Hannah Davis and a talking horse.

Per NAD, Charter’s beef had to do with a series of claims about  DirecTV’s services, including:

-DIRECTV has 4K, the best picture format available.

-DIRECTV is wireless.  So you can put your TVs anywhere without having to look at ugly wires and boxes in every room.

-Say goodbye to messy cable wires and boxes. 

-Enjoy entertainment wirelessly on every TV in your home.

-Wirelessly power up to 8 TVs with just one Genie HD DVR and Wireless Genie Minis.

-DIRECTV customers can get a free Genie HD DVR upgrade.

Here’s one of the ads about DirecTV’s 4K offering that is subject to the complaint:

NAD said it also considered whether the challenges claims implied that “most of all of DirecTV’s programming is available in 4K,” and whether subs can get the provider’s 4K content and wireless service for $19.99 per month, and that DirecTV “has eliminated the need for wires and set-top boxes.”

The key issue, NAD said, was the quantity of DirecTV content that’s available in 4K, and concerns that the ads could “reasonably convey” that DirecTV offers a substantial amount of content in 4K format.

While agreeing that DirecTV should be able to promote the benefits of its 4K offering, “the advertiser offers only a small number of movies in 4K and not general programming.” NAD recommended that DirecTV tailor the claim by either specifying the number of movies or shows provided in 4K or “otherwise indicate that only a small amount of programming is currently available in 4K.”

NAD also recommended that DirecTV remove the message that 4K programming and the wireless service feature are included in the $19.99 price, and that the operator discontinue the “free” upgrade claim. 

In response to a challenge posed by the parent company of Cablevision Systems, the National Advertising Division said it has determined that Verizon Communications has “provided a reasonable basis” for TV ads claiming that FiOS Quantum TV subs can do things like record up to 12 shows at once, watch TV “on the go,” store up to 200 hours of HD and watch recordings in other rooms.

The NAB said Cablevision contended that TV ads from Verizon entitled “Why Not?” that feature comedian Craig Robinson made false and misleading comparisons between Verizon’s FiOS TV and the MSO’s Optimum TV platform. In the ad (watch a 30-second version here), Robinson tells his young nephew that his provider “can’t” record a certain number of shows at one time, save “every single cartoon,” and pause what he’s watching in one room and resume it in another room.

FiOS Quantum TV is Verizon’s new top-end video platform. Introduced last April, FiOS Quantum TV is anchored by the Arris-made Verizon Media Server, a whole-home DVR with six tuners and 1 terabyte of DVR storage that can be paired up with client devices on the home network. The Premium version of FiOS Quantum TV ties together the functions of two VMSs, giving customers access to 12 tuners and enough storage to record 200 hours of HD video, according to Verizon. The Premium-level set-up allows customers to watch or record up to ten shows at once. The Enhanced FiOS Quantum TV tier uses just one VMS. FiOS Quantum TV is matching up with Cablevision’s Multi-Room DVR, a network-based offering that, following an upgrade last April, is now capable of recording up to 15 shows at the same time.

The NAD held that the issue in this case was whether the net impression of the challenged commercials, taken as a whole, reasonably conveyed, as Cablevision argued, a comparative superiority message regarding the DVR service offered by FiOS Quantum TV and providers of other DVR or related services such as Cablevision.

“With respect to the 30-second commercial, NAD determined that consumers were unlikely to take away a comparative superiority message that Verizon offers features that other DVR service providers or DVR providers cannot provide,” the NAD said, but recommended that  Verizon discontinue the “reasonably conveyed (but inaccurate) message that with FiOS Quantum TV DVR service a subscriber can ‘save every cartoon’.”

For its part, Verizon stated to the NAD that it “respectfully disagrees” that humorous statements made by Robinson “would communicate anything about Cablevision's services,” or that any reasonable consumer would take the cartoon-recording claim literally, but said it would consider the NAD’s recommendations in future ads. 

Update: Cablevision issued this statement: “Verizon has not been truthful to consumers in its advertisements, and Cablevision is gratified that the NAD recommended that Verizon discontinue its latest false and misleading claims. Cablevision’s DVR product records 15 shows simultaneously, which is more than Verizon’s DVR product, and it was wrong for Verizon to claim otherwise in its ads. In addition, Cablevision is pleased that the NAD has recommended that Verizon discontinue certain claims that overstate their DVR product capabilities.”

Administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation.