News
Network Execs Blast Dish's Ad Zapper
By Swanni 

Washington, D.C. (May 15, 2012) -- NBC and Fox network executives yesterday blasted Dish Network's new 'Auto Hop' commercial zapper, saying it's an "insult" and an "attack."

The feature, which was added last week to Dish's new Hopper HD DVR, allows viewers to watch the playback of a network show without ever seeing the commercials. (Auto Hop works with the set-top's 'PrimeTime Anytime' network recordings. The Hopper automatically records all primetime shows on ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS.)

Unlike the Fast Forward button on a DVR, Auto Hop automatically removes the commercial without the viewer doing a thing.

"I think this is an attack on our ecosystem," NBC Chairman Ted Harbert told reporters yesterday at an NBC promotional event in New York. Harbert added that it was an "insult to our joint investment in programming."

Peter Rice, chairman of the Fox Entertainment Group, also had harsh words for Dish enabling the Ad Hop, saying "it seems to be a strange thing (for Dish) to do," writes the Los Angeles Times.

However, the executives stopped short of saying that they would sue Dish for installing the Ad Hop on Hopper HD DVRs. The hesitation may be industry disagreement over whether the suit would be successful. DVR pioneer ReplayTV offered a similar ad-skipping feature more than a decade ago and the networks sued. But the case failed to get a final adjudication because ReplayTV went out of business.

Now the ad-skipping controversy is back and Dish, headed by the highly litigious Charlie Ergen, would be a more formidable opponent than ReplayTV.

There's also the possibility raised here last week that Dish is merely using the Auto Hop as leverage in future carriage negotiations with the networks. The satcaster could offer to remove the ad-skipping feature in return for lesser fees to carry the networks.

The 'retransmission' disputes between TV providers and programmers has gotten increasingly testy in the last few years due largely to the programmers demanding more money to carry their channels.