News
Could DIRECTV Start Ad-Zapping, Too?
By Swanni
Washington, D.C.
(June 12, 2012)
--
DIRECTV CEO Mike White revealed yesterday that his company owns
a DVR technology similar to Dish's controversial Auto Hop which
enables HD DVRs to automatically skip commercials during
recorded playback.
That's according to an article by Reuters, based on White's
comments to the Reuters Global Media and Technology summit in
New York.
White said DIRECTV purchased the ad-zapping technology from
Replay TV five years ago. (Replay TV, which is no longer in
business, was an early DVR pioneer along with TiVo in the late
1990s.) However, the DIRECTV CEO said his company has not
deployed the ad-skipper because it doesn't think it would be a
big selling point with subscribers.
"We haven't chosen to use
it. It's not clear to me there's a raging
demand from consumers for it," said White,
according to Reuters.
Dish's Auto Hop, which was added last month
to the company's Hopper HD DVRs, is already
the subject of a heated legal battle between
the satcaster and the broadcast networks.
The Auto Hop, which zaps commercials during
network shows in primetime, is being
challenged in court by the networks who say
it violates their copyright. Dish has sued
the networks, asking for a ruling that would
prove the feature is legal.
Reuters writes that White said DIRECTV will
closely monitor the Dish/network legal
battle as well as how consumers react to the
feature, a possible hint that DIRECTV could
launch an ad-zapper in the future. ____________________________________________________________________________
