Chairman of NBC no fan of auto hop
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Ya, I saw a couple of their other headlines relating to Dish sounding a little sensational so I looked to see who owned them... oh look at that. Tribune Company of Tribune Broadcasting fame who own 1 ABC and 7 FOX stations that would be affected by this feature... hmmmm.
EDIT: So here's what more he had to say when he opened the NBC Upfront presentation this morning to a room full of reporters and ad folks:
http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/nbc...rks-dvr-ad-blaster-an-insult-to-tv-ecosystem/
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Why would they do something so tedious, when electronic markers are embedded into the programming?
I'd think it could result in the opposite. If a large portion of DISH subs are shown using auto hop, their subscribers are worth less to advertisers and that could be used to justify higher fees to DISH while increasing the same fees at a lower rate for other providers.
So, using that logic we should all disable our skip forward buttons on every DVR in America, including TIVO....
How about what I do... I will start a recording and then go watch something else while I get about 30 minutes into the recording and then start watching it from the beginning, at that time I start blasting through commercials. Don't have to wait for 1am.
Doing the same thing with PTAT recordings. Doing it with Dancing With the Stars....
So, using that logic we should all disable our skip forward buttons on every DVR in America, including TIVO....
Uhh, no. Totally different logic. Just about every provider has skip fwd/skip back. Skip fwd/skip back aren't there specifically JUST to skip commercials. DISH is the first to completely skip commercials. With skip fwd/skip back, you are still seeing advertising as it is zooming past it. With Auto Hop, commercials are not seen at all. Before Auto Hop, content providers generally accepted the fact that people with DVRs have skip fwd. Or if they didn't accept it, they didn't do a whole lot about it. If they really didn't like it, it would've been gone years ago. However with Auto Hop, things are taken a step further, and now the content providers have an excuse to complain about the functionality. Then, when inevitably DISH has to remove this feature, they might reconsider going after the DVRs next, since they have leverage. However I think removing skip fwd will be a lot harder for them, since as previously stated nearly all providers have this functionality these days.
3HaloODST said:
Sorry, but their excuse for complaining is non existent. DVR viewers who time shift skip the commercials anyway (the vast majority of them anyway). Autohop has to be enable by the user at the start of each viewing, and even then they can watch commercials if they so choose by jumping back.
This is a convenience for the viewers, but not a game changer for advertisers. I think it is far from inevitable that Dish will have to remove this feature.
Well I think your logic is right, however I am thinking about this from the content providers' POVs. I say it's inevitable because when contract negotiations come up the CPs will be either demanding more money, demanding that DISH remove Auto Hop, or drop their channel from DISH's lineup. Not saying that it's right but the big CPs will be the only winners here, IMO. As great as Auto Hop is, I still think it's going to be more trouble for DISH than it is worth, considering that it's only saving a few button presses, but causing lots of legal issues. I hope I'm wrong on this, but I'm just being a realist here.
The 'auto hop is manual' doesn't hold much water IMO. I don't see how anyone can rationally say this is not a game changer for advertisers that a growing number of DISH subscribers with 1 button press can skip all of the advertisements in a program.
Fox says they are "still evaulating" whether or not they will take legal action, and wondered openly why DISH would endanger a relationship that they have with their company that provides so much content to their service.
Add Fox to the list, 1 day later:
Upfronts 2012: Fox isn't happy about Dish's ad-zapping Auto Hop
(LA TIMES)
NEW YORK -- Add Fox Networks Group Chairman Peter Rice to the growing list of television executives upset about satellite broadcaster Dish Network's new Auto Hop commercial-skipping feature.
"It seems a strange thing to do," Rice said about Dish's new feature, which allows users to literally black out commercials from shows that are broadcast on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox and then watched at least one day after their original airing.
Peter RiceWhile consumers with digital video recorders can fast-forward through commercials of recorded shows, the Auto Hop takes it a step further. The screen goes black when a commercial break appears and a few seconds later, the program returns. The service can't be used on live programming, such as a sporting event, that has been recorded.
With more than 14 million subscribers, Dish Network Corp.'s new technology is of great concern to the networks and advertisers.
Rice, who was speaking with reporters on a conference call Monday to announce Fox's fall schedule, noted that broadcast networks such as Fox are the largest content providers to pay-TV distributors such as Dish, and wondered why Dish would risk alienating that relationship. As for whether the network will consider some sort of legal action to try to derail Dish's new commercial-zapping offering, Rice said Fox is "still evaluating it."
On Sunday, NBC Broadcasting Chairman Ted Harbert also expressed frustration over Dish's Auto Hop, calling it "an attack on our ecosystem."
The NBC executive took it a step further Monday during the network's presentation of its fall schedule to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall. After talking in great detail about the billions NBC and its parent company Comcast Corp. have spent on sports programming, such as the National Football League and the Olympics, as well as hundreds of millions on comedies and dramas, Harbert called the Auto Hop an "insult" to that investment.
"Just because technology gives you the ability to do something, does that mean you should? Not always," Harbert said.
Dish's new technology, which was announced last week, is only offered for use on broadcast programming, not shows from cable networks. A Dish spokesman said there was no technological reason that Auto Hop wouldn't work on cable but that it was being offered for use only on broadcast shows because those are most popular with Dish customers.
This is not the first time such a technology has been launched. Several years ago, a service called Replay did virtually the same thing. The broadcast networks sued and won on copyright infringement grounds.
A Dish spokesman said the satellite broadcaster "believes that consumers deserve a choice when it comes to television viewing and Dish’s Auto Hop feature is all about choice. Viewers have been skipping commercials since the advent of the remote control; we are simply making it easier.”
...and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before ABC and CBS join in...
Upfronts 2012: Fox isn't happy about Dish's ad-zapping Auto Hop
(LA TIMES)
NEW YORK -- Add Fox Networks Group Chairman Peter Rice to the growing list of television executives upset about satellite broadcaster Dish Network's new Auto Hop commercial-skipping feature.
"It seems a strange thing to do," Rice said about Dish's new feature, which allows users to literally black out commercials from shows that are broadcast on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox and then watched at least one day after their original airing.
Peter RiceWhile consumers with digital video recorders can fast-forward through commercials of recorded shows, the Auto Hop takes it a step further. The screen goes black when a commercial break appears and a few seconds later, the program returns. The service can't be used on live programming, such as a sporting event, that has been recorded.
With more than 14 million subscribers, Dish Network Corp.'s new technology is of great concern to the networks and advertisers.
Rice, who was speaking with reporters on a conference call Monday to announce Fox's fall schedule, noted that broadcast networks such as Fox are the largest content providers to pay-TV distributors such as Dish, and wondered why Dish would risk alienating that relationship. As for whether the network will consider some sort of legal action to try to derail Dish's new commercial-zapping offering, Rice said Fox is "still evaluating it."
On Sunday, NBC Broadcasting Chairman Ted Harbert also expressed frustration over Dish's Auto Hop, calling it "an attack on our ecosystem."
The NBC executive took it a step further Monday during the network's presentation of its fall schedule to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall. After talking in great detail about the billions NBC and its parent company Comcast Corp. have spent on sports programming, such as the National Football League and the Olympics, as well as hundreds of millions on comedies and dramas, Harbert called the Auto Hop an "insult" to that investment.
"Just because technology gives you the ability to do something, does that mean you should? Not always," Harbert said.
Dish's new technology, which was announced last week, is only offered for use on broadcast programming, not shows from cable networks. A Dish spokesman said there was no technological reason that Auto Hop wouldn't work on cable but that it was being offered for use only on broadcast shows because those are most popular with Dish customers.
This is not the first time such a technology has been launched. Several years ago, a service called Replay did virtually the same thing. The broadcast networks sued and won on copyright infringement grounds.
A Dish spokesman said the satellite broadcaster "believes that consumers deserve a choice when it comes to television viewing and Dish’s Auto Hop feature is all about choice. Viewers have been skipping commercials since the advent of the remote control; we are simply making it easier.”
...and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before ABC and CBS join in...
Again, this only available the day after this programming airs, I don't know anyone who watches dvr'd programs who doesn't skip the commercials unless they want the time to leave the room for something...
