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CBS chief Leslie Moonves raised the stakes in broadcasters’ fight with Dish Network this morning in an appearance at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference. Dish’s Hopper DVR — which can automatically skip over ads in recorded network TV shows — “can’t exist,” he says. If the company continues to promote it then “we will just not be on Dish.” CBS invests millions on episodes of some shows and can’t “have the people at Dish say we can pull out the ads.” CBS and the other major broadcast networks are suing Dish, alleging that the Auto Hop DVR feature infringes on their copyrights. Dish chairman Charlie Ergen says the technology simply automates what DVR owners can already do with their remote controls.
Les Moonves Vows To Drop Dish Network If It Keeps Pushing Ad-Zapping DVR
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How is this any different than the 30 skip button I already have? Is he gonna take away my fast forward button, too? Ah, Les…
huge difference. 30 second skip is not targeting specific content within the broadcast. With 30 second skip you can even jump through parts of the broadcast too.
With AutoHop, Dish is basically getting the DVR to modify the display of the original broadcast by removing commercials. These are copyrighted broadcasts, so who knows what’s really legal there.
30 second skip, that is…
And more people will learn how to pirate television
Programmers don’t “drop” operators – it’s the other way around. CBS would “pull” their signal.
Nothing says “My business needs to be disrupted” quite like saying a service “can’t exist”. Innovate, don’t litigate Leslie.
It seems like DISH is making more enemies with television network than friends. First it was WE network and now one of the big three, CBS. Networks thrive on commercials and sponsors. That is how they are able to keep the money flowing.
Also I watch WE sometimes and they are constantly running commercials about how they are not on Dish anymore. It is an interesting marketing ploy.
I think DISH may need to take a step back and recollect themselves before they make any more foes.
Who the f runs Dish? They’re idiots, and they’re destroying their service.
It won’t kill people to push the skip button 4 times.
I love how Dish came out and said none of their users are interested in AMC content. Who would want to watch Mad Men, Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead? Student films, they are.
And CBS needs to finally come into the 21st Century, this isn’t 1950 anymore and Paley isn’t running the network. They are so much behind the rest of the networks in technology. No wonder their audience is so old.
As for WE if no one is watching the channel why carry it? It’s all about numbers just like the Soaps on ABC, if you don’t have the audience, why produce it, just so a few people can watch it?
Moonves’ arrogance never ceases to amaze me. As usual, viewers’ needs & preferences don’t matter in the least. Yes, I can use the FF button & do. But I don’t want one corporate executive dictating what I can and can’t buy or use. Just like I don’t want a local TV station dropping programming based on the management’s views. Viewers can change channels & turn off the TV if they object to something. It should be the viewers’ choice what they view or don’t view in their own homes…not anyone else. That’s the real issue here. Adapt, Moonves, the old OTA networks’ programming dominance is dying; adapt, innovate, create instead of using heavy-handed threats & tactics. CBS cares.
My thoughts exactly! The viewer should have a choice…the networks should target their ads anyway and stop fighting lawful technology. The hopper only works with recorded content. There is a new company offerring “live” commercial skipping…that is, when an ad comes on, the technology allows the viewer to fill the space with whatever he/she wants: music, another tv show (that is not in commerical), or a blank screen. When the ad is over, your primary viewing program comes back on. The times they are a changing! Mytvchoice.com
I’m all for advancement in tencnology, but I gotta say I’m with Moonves and the networks on this one. Networks obviously can’t control what people do in their own homes, and we all FF through the commercials when we record a program. But it’s ad revenue that make the programs we watch possible. No commercial sales, no shows. So to have a corporation offer technology that undermines the revenue that makes it possible for networks to create original programming and thus for cable companies and DISH to offer their services, seems inane.
the networks are their own worst enemies…they drive the price up for producing content by paying these “entertainers” crazy money…and making things so unaffordable…we all have to sit through polident ads. it’s called greed.
And I should have made sure “technology” was spelled right. lol
When it comes to broadcast networks, it actually isn’t the viewers’ choice what they view and what they don’t. CBS is procuring the viewer’s attention and selling it to advertisers. It’s the old adage–if something is free, you’re the product. Moonves is doing what he needs to as a network head. And it really isn’t that hard to change the channel during commercial breaks. If you want to watch a show all the way through with no interruptions, buy the DVD. At least that way the talent gets more of a cut.
… and when I was growing up the remote control was dad telling me to get up and change the change the channel … technology moves on … adapt Leslie.
Les will go the way of the dodo bird… I don’t have have DISH or their Hopper, but I do have a 30 second skip button with my AT&T U-Verse. Can’t remember the last time I watched T.V. other than sports the wasn’t time shifted or saw a commercial, it’s been years. Even Monday Night Football I paused for a half hour before starting so I could zap through commercials and I’m a technology challenged 52 year old! Les needs to think forward!
Direct TV pulled Viacom from. Viacom shares took a hit. Viacom claimed a victory but it’s simply not true. They lost out.
CBS pulling their shows from Dish will only hurt CBS in a time of declining audiences. And Dish has simply changed Hop from automatic to optional so there is now no case, unless CBS wants to sue 20 million people for choosing to remove the adds. And Apple just won a patent for its Apple TV software that will remove the adds similar to Dish’s hop.
And the terrifying truth about all of this is the entire Eco system that is the basis of the monetized system, is all predicated on Neilson, which is as archaic as this type of rethoric.
And if Content is king ,google is king kong. Google has plumbed in over one million viewers into its new optical fibre delivered streaming system. Why not use one million viewers than a sample of only seven thousand bias viewers.
CBS will become like a land line in our homes, rarely if ever used and only used by old folk who like the things the way they were. Unless they change lanes and realize the potential they truly have at their finger tips in this brave new digital world.
Europe is imploadong and along with its ability to afford current license fees. They will soon ask CBS to lower fees dramatically. Add to this the fact that European audiences are watching live broadcast of shows like CSI before the West coast feed, this destroys the resale value. There is a storm coming for broadcast TV and it starts now. Audiences, according to Neilsob are declining up to 20 percent this season.l already.
Networks have had a bumper year because of the electio but have also reduced pilot spendong by 50 percent. That’s fifty percent less agented business, 50 percent less money for WGA not to mention DGA clients an crews.
Less Moonvess is trying to protect not only CBS but everyone who works in the business he loves. But sadly it’s not going to work.
He’s like any great captain going down with his ship. Bless him. And all that sailed in him.
There
Also to try and force people to watch what they don’t want to watch is not only a foley it’s simply not possible.
Stupid stance. You can’t ultimately win this one less because for the satellite / cable distributors the viewers are the customers and the customers like being able to skip commercials.
I got my first dvr 13+ years ago so it is not like you have not had notice and time to modify your business to keep up with what viewers want. But then you are only losing 10%-15% of your audience each year.
When I see network execs say things like this it just makes me want to torrent all the shows I watch because someone has already removed the commercials. I pay thousands of dollars a year for the tv shows in my house and if I want to zap or skip your 70 year old advertising model that is on you.
Frustration about watching 20 minutes of commercials per hour is understood. But, are you willing to pay more money to replace revenue from these commercials to watch top-notch content? I doubt it.
It’s a simple equation:
content revenue = subscription fees + commercial advertising.
If people skip commercials, subscription fees go up and vice versa. But, consumers want it both ways–low fees and few commercials–which is not going to happen unless the content quality is dramatically decreased.
The purpose of CBS and other broadcasters is not to make everyone happy at any expense. If it was, then they would just have no commercials, no re-transmission fees from cable / sat, etc and Santa Claus would magically pay for NFL football, scripted shows, etc for everyone to watch. But, this isn’t realistic because great content is very, very expensive.
Commercials are a compromise and effective solution in an imperfect world. Just like taxes are.
I agree with you Dish act like they are Gods I love Amc had them since 1980′s I am getting ready to drop them!
Well, I for one and sick of paying high bills to watch tv and then still get slapped with commercials for something I am PAYING to watch. Somehow it doesn’t seem fair to the consumer.