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Dish Network CEO Joe Clayton picked up the gauntlet that Leslie Moonves threw down yesterday when he threatened to pull CBS from the satellite system if it continues to market its ad-zapping Hopper DVR. “They would be well advised to tune into the consumer,” Clayton said at an event introducing an October 2 broadcast debate between former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and commentator Glenn Beck. “Give the customer choice and control. Give the customer a better experience and we all win.” The major broadcast networks are suing Dish, alleging that it violates their copyrights by marketing a DVR feature that automatically jumps past their ads in recorded shows. Dish says that its Auto-Hop feature simply automates what DVR users already do with their remote controls. “Will innovation like the Auto-Hop improve the consumer experience? Of course it will,” Clayton says. “I don’t know how the courts will rule on this. But I know that we’ve won in the court of public opinion.” He urged the networks to investigate technologies that can deliver different ads to different households. “Give them what they want. Not a bunch of trash.” Beck — whose online video programming now runs on Dish — agreed. “The days of commercials as we know them are limited,” he says. “It’s not the 1950s any more.”
Dish Network Chief Responds To Les Moonves: “Give The Consumer Choice”
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The day of the commercials may be dead – but until someone finds another avenue to earn enough money to cover the costs of creating TV shows a feature like this could actually lead to the death of broadcast television, which in turn could make Dish Network useless.
Cable TV and Netflix, Amazon et al have the answer. And some viewers will still opt for free w/ads vs subscription without ads or offsetting ads.
Everyone neds to keep in mind that the consumer does have a choice, to get anything they want, with no delay, no commercials and no cost. It’s called piracy and there’s no way to stop it.
The only reason everyone isn’t a pirate is because of laziness and force of habit, they don’t want to be bothered to learn new things, even though it’s pretty easy. And some folks, like me, are quaint enough to eschew piracy due to simple honesty, but I wouldn’t advise anyone to build a business model on the assumption that there are many more people out there like that ha ha.
So, to way to battle piracy is to make sure people who aren’t currently pirates don’t become so frustrated that they are incentivized to learn now. And that means giving everyone all the options that are possible and fair.
For instance, hulu offers network TV via subscription but still has ads. Wassup with that? If you want my money, drop the ads, either on hulu or Netflix. Anything over one season old should be on netflix streaming. There’s no excuse for a long cancelled show like The Shield or Six Feet Under not to be on netflix streaming. I know its not netflix that’s holding things up.
this most certainly isn’t a copyright issue! Broadcast networks CHOOSE to have ad supported content–it’s not a RIGHT. And if CBS wants to pull their content? So be it–NOTHING IS GUARANTEED–and options and ingenuity are what a free market is all about, right? Moonves is smart, and it’s a game of chicken, but he’s being shortsighted. He can’t win on this, and courts probably wouldn’t hear the case..
They may choose to have ad supported content, but I doubt they can just pull their content from DISH. The must-carry regulations, upheld by SCOTUS in Turner Broadcasting System v. FCC, the court ruled that, “Congress had substantial evidence to justify the must carry provisions and that the provisions advanced important governmental interests unrelated to the suppression or burdening of free speech.”
The business model of broadcast networks is reliant on commercial ratings. (not show ratings) Whether or not that continues to be a smart business model is irrelevant. So it’s an interesting legal question when another business develops technology that essentially attacks your ability to do business. (as opposed to normal competitive practices). What if Dish develops technology that blocks DirecTV’ signal?
How would that be the same? DISH didn’t invent technology that was not already available in other devices, and the technology does not block the broadcast network from broadcasting. The DVR allows the end user to skip ahead/back 30-seconds, which in many cases is an entire commercial. The auto hop feature is just an improvement of that feature. Auto hop singled out ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, which I think was a mistake on DISH’s part.
How is this news again, the same thing was a major issue 10 years ago when the ReplayTV DVR’s which used to give TiVo a run for business had auto ad skipping which eventually bankrupted the company after multiple lawsuits.
As a Dish Network customer I pay each month for CBS NBC ABC and FOX thru the subscriber fees which in turn Dish Network pays thru retransmission fees. Seem like the networks want their cake and eat it too buy inserting the commercials AND collecting retransmission fees. Les wants it both ways, networks are just plain greedy, but hey that’s Hollywood.
If networks and studios must have more money let them insert more product placements in shows, it sure didn’t hurt Two and a Half Men. I’m with Dish on this one, its bad enough I have to pay for channels I don’t even watch.
Why not just eliminate the ad skipping feature or make a button on the remote that auto fast forwards dvr is legal. I watch the ads how would i know what to purchase?
Network’s should realize that technology fills a need. When you have an hour long show that is really 39 minutes of actual show and 21 minutes of commercials it’s no wonder people want to skip the ads. Personally i never watch real time if i can help it. I like to buzz through the 5 minute block of commercials that are an insult to a childs mind let alone adult’s and get on with the program. Cut the commercial breaks to two minutes every 15 minutes of programing and i’ll watch. Force the people producing the ads to be better at their jobs. I also agree that as i’m paying for network TV on my Dish why should i have to watch commericals?
An hour show is more like 42-45 minutes long… but I agree, commercials every ten minutes is annoying. I DVR all the shows I regularly watch & always skip the commercials. If you have AMC, Discovery or TNT, you are paying to watch those networks & they also show commercials. Must carry regulations are the reason why cable/satellite companies carry ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. If you have a complaint about having to pay for it, call your local ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC affiliate and complain to them.
What I never see anyone mention in these ad-skipping controversies is just how many commercials viewers have to put up with today compared to years past.. I’m not presently in N. America but when I first lived in the U.S. over ten years ago there used to be just under 15 min. of advertising per hour: now it’s creeping over 20! Not to mention how the volume would abruptly increase right when the programming went on break, like audiences wanted or needed to focus more on the commercials than whatever programme they were actually watching in the first place (though I understand this annoying practice was recently outlawed).
The fact is that I, and probably many others, would likely tolerate a reasonable amount of commercials – say 10-12 min. (and at the same volume as the actual programming) without needing to skip them every time. But when literally over a third of viewing time is wasted by filler, how on earth do TV network execs think we should all be compelled to sit through every single second at rapt attention? The fact that most newer shows nowadays don’t even have a proper opening title sequence or theme song is a sad testament to the industry rating the quantity of ad dollars over the quality of the public’s viewing experience.
In the 1960s, an hour-long TV show would run 51 minutes, excluding advertisements — today it is 42 minutes without the ads.
Here’s a noval idea, why not make and air commercials that people might like to see?
I find it hard to believe that a Dish Network executive would have the nerve to say “give the consumer what they want.” For two months, Dish customers have been trying to get AMC back. Dish responds that they know what is best for their customers. If Dish wants to give customers what they want, they could listen and attempt to compromise with AMC. I can put up with ads if I get the channels I pay for.
If two of the five broadcast networks were to leave Dish, they would be hurting fast. If three left, forget it. For all this talk of antiquated business models, and embracing new technology, it seems that 95% of the top 100 watched programs are on broadcast networks. I’d say that’s more than old people attached to old technologies watching.
I’m interested in seeing how the AMC thing plays out when The Walking Dead returns. AMC does some good programming, but the plug got pulled when they were in an original programming lull.
Aren’t you disregarding Breaking Bad and Mad Men? The impending loss of those two series(among others) on AMC is what finally pushed our family to drop Dish Network like a hot rock in favor of DirectTV.
I’m not saying that sooner or later DirectTV won’t step on their tender bits and pull a dumb programming move like Dish, but at least for now we are able to watch the shows we enjoy.
And yes, I know that we can watch those same shows on the ‘puter for free, but I have a 51″ plasma TV for a reason and using it to just play games ain’t it.
You’re right about Breaking Bad, Bluto…forgot that one. But I believe Mad Men was through with its run before AMC got dropped.
Hard to say..,truth is the best rated cable shows still don’t deliver nearly the audience of any fairly successful broadcast network show. Will be something to watch unfold.
It turns out you are correct about Mad Men, Anonymous. The last episode of season 5 was aired on June 10, Dish Network dropped AMC in July.
(Bluto is now crestfallen about being wrong)
Who would be hurting, the broadcast networks or DISH?
What is the difference between me skipping the commercials and my receiver doing it for me? Either way, I am not watching them, so what is the big deal? I have been skipping commercials since the VCR was invented and will continue to skip them whenever possible. Thank you Dish, for standing up for your customers!!
Time constraints aside, don’t you feel you have a right to not watch the ads? For every way there is to watch a TV show without the ads, the networks have come up with ways to force you to watch them. Have you every missed an episode of a favorite show and had to watch it on the networks website?