Thread: NBC Exec No Fan of Dish Network’s Ad-Skipping DVR

I knew this was coming when they announced the feature last week. I see Dish in more programming disputes...

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/cab...ping-dvr-27248

Addressing the media and advertisers in New York during the network’s annual upfront presentation of new programming for the 2012–13 primetime season, Harbert called Dish’s “Auto Hop” DVR a threat to the ad-supported TV ecosystem.

“This is an insult to our joint investment in programming, and I’m against it,” Harbert said.

Bowed last week by the Englewood, Colo.-based satellite TV operator, the “Auto Hop” function allows Dish subscribers — using its proprietary Hopper HD DVR — to skip all commercials for most recorded primetime HD programs shown on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC when viewed the day after airing.

Im surprised it took this long!

I mean, I get that it really adds nothing new, FFW'd easily does the same thing. But just coming out with a blatant feature to skip their ad revenue, I mean cmon.

They just need to come up with a channel that is all commercials all the time. LOL

Discovery CEO warns Dish Network against skipping ads

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-574...news&tag=title

During a panel here at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's annual tradeshow, Zaslav told CNN's Erin Burnett that the new feature Dish Network introduced recently on its Hopper DVR, which skips advertising during shows that are recorded from broadcast TV could disrupt the industry in a negative way. He said the model is unsustainable since content owners need the advertising revenue to help pay the cost of the content they offer.

"Charlie Ergen and Dish are a distributor of content," he said. "They need us to reach homes with our content. And if there is not going to be advertising fees, then there needs to be a lot higher subscriber fees."

The new Hopper DVR users an ad erasing technology that is embedded in the device. Once turned on, the technology will erase all the advertising that has been recorded on TV shows that air over broadcast TV channels. So far, Dish has limited the technology to broadcast TV channels only.

The new technology is seen as a technological advancement for consumers because it no longer requires them to fast-forward through commercials that have been recorded on their DVRs. But advertisers and content owners, such as Zaslav's Discovery, say they feel they are under attack.

Im sorry, but as many Dish disputes there have been about programming, they were plain dumbass's to go and bring out a blatant feature like this. They shoulda just left it to fast forwarding or skip.

Disney CEO: ‘Great’ TV Programs Can’t Exist Without Ads

The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger is the latest media executive to weigh in (sort of) on Dish Network’s new Auto Hop commercial-skipping DVR, which allows subscribers to skip ads on primetime network shows.

Speaking May 22 on Fox Business Network, Iger appeared to suggest litigation may be pending when he sidestepped talking directly about the new technology. The CEO said he would leave it to Disney’s legal team to issue an official statement on the Auto Hop.

Dish’s Auto Hop only works on recorded primetime network (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) shows in high-definition. It does not work on live TV broadcasts.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/dig...hout-ads-27336

http://gizmodo.com/5913132/dish-netw...nd-by-networks

LOL

We knew Dish Network's new Hopper DVR seemed too good to be true. Or too good to not be sued into oblivion, at least. Now comes news that FOX is suing Dish over the Hopper, and Dish is suing, well, everyone.

A few minutes ago, the New York Times' Brian Stelter confirmed and tweeted the news:

Shots fired in the war over Dish Network's auto-ad-eraser. Dish is suing the networks and at least one of the networks, Fox, is suing Dish.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 24, 2012

"The fight is over a subtle but key question: Whether TV distributors can cut out commercials on consumers' behalf, or if consumers hold that power alone with their fingers on the remote.

Since May 10, Dish has been advertising a digital video recorder service called "Primetime Anytime" that gives consumers access to the last eight days of prime-time programming from the four major broadcast networks - ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox - with the commercials stripped out. The service, available to Dish's top-tier subscribers, uses technology called "AutoHop" to deliver the programming ad-free.

In a suit filed Thursday in a Los Angeles federal court, News Corp.'s Fox says Dish's service is unauthorized and violates a licensing agreement between the two companies.

It says the service is a form of unlicensed video-on-demand because the recordings are kept on a portion of the DVR's hard drive that is controlled by Dish. Fox only licenses its regular programs to Dish for playback on VOD on the condition that fast-forwarding of commercials is disabled.

If the service isn't stopped, it "will ultimately destroy the advertising-supported ecosystem" that underpins TV shows, Fox said.

Dish maintains that the service is "user-enabled" and that it is fundamentally no different from how consumers use DVRs today. It filed its suit in a New York federal court.

"Viewers have been skipping commercials since the advent of the remote control," said Dish's senior vice president of programming, David Shull, in a statement. "We are giving them a feature they want and that gives them more control."

Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal and CBS Corp. also filed suits against Dish on similar grounds on Thursday."

Full article at Seattle Times

NBC, CBS Join Fox Litigation Against Dish’s Ad-Skipping DVR

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/leg...ping-dvr-27357


I'm still all for this is really being no different than ffwding thru commercials. But once again, retrans fee's are a minimal part of what pays for tv shows, the ads are a big part. For Dish to add this feature and advertize it was idiotic. Leave the ffwd because it is accepted, the hop adds very little to the service, but in turn will make future retrans fee's tougher. Why a company who already has these issues with negotiations would carry on with this, no idea.

End of the day, even if Dish wins the suit, Fox and those guys own the content so they can choose to charge what they want as retrans contracts come up for renegotiation.