Fox & Dish Await Autohop Injunction Decision From Court

COMMENTS (10)

• All this litigation would go away if the Autohop just placed the commercials at the end of the program. All customers want is to watch an uninterrupted program. Broacasters want to keep their ads and Dish wants happy customers with an edge in technology.I guess the world needs stubborn people with lots of money in order to provide lawyers with a livelihood.

  Comment by Rick Barro — Friday September 21, 2012 @ 9:25pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Do you honestly think audiences would stick around to watch ads AFTER the show is over?

    Comment by Temis — Saturday September 22, 2012 @ 10:15am PDT  Reply to this post

• The only reason there’s broadcast television is advertisement. The only way advertisers advertise is if they’re seen. I’d rather pay for television like HBO and get better quality episodic television than watch the crap that’s on the networks with Gynalotramin or catheter ads every 10 minutes.

  Comment by RickS — Friday September 21, 2012 @ 11:35pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Reading through the brief it is clear that Fox, et al, wants to eviscerate time shifting. They directly attack the Supreme Court decision supporting the rights of consumers to recording programming for featuring watching. It is quite disturbing and just like the music companies that want to get rid of the right to burn your cds to your own computer.

  Comment by getting rid of time shifting — Saturday September 22, 2012 @ 5:24am PDT  Reply to this post

• Another problem is Dish network subscribers actually do pay for the networks through the retransmission rights Dish and other providers pay, so we are paying but the networks are greedy they want both ads and retransmission rights. This will backfire on the networks.

  Comment by lsb — Saturday September 22, 2012 @ 9:52am PDT  Reply to this post

• People just don’t get it. Copyright means that you cannot retransmit or affix on any tangible means (CD, DVD, tape, paper, hard drive, flash, even “nothing yet invented”) without expressly written consent by the copyright owner. If copyright owners wanted, they can have encrypted loops that just repeat a digital pattern over and over and nothing would be able to be copied digitally. Try copying “Platoon” (more than once) and watch your DVD recorder copy a Feedback loop over and over. Its called Digital Rights Management. We are are a crossroads where Digital info will not be public domain anymore. 50 years from now, this coming period will be called “the Really Dark Ages”.

  Comment by RickB — Saturday September 22, 2012 @ 9:07pm PDT  Reply to this post

• If people want to watch tv shows without commercials, they can purchase it on DVD, Blu-ray, or digital download. How lazy are people that they just can’t press the fast forward button on their DVR? If Dish wants to wow their customers with new features, how about a decent on demand service? And how about bringing back AMC?

  Comment by thephantomcat — Saturday September 22, 2012 @ 10:33pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I can see why the networks are all worried. If advertisers feel their commericals aren’t being watched even on DVR they aren’t going to pay for shows that have high DVR numbers. The live day results will be all they look at -which could put some television shows in trouble -most of them scripted. It’s too bad but the DVR+7 ratings will mean little to the networks since advertisers won’t care.

  Comment by Samuel — Saturday September 22, 2012 @ 11:17pm PDT  Reply to this post

• What does DRM have to do with skipping commercials, RickB? If I owned a copy of Platoon, does the DRM prevent me from skipping ahead in the movie?

  Comment by Michael — Thursday September 27, 2012 @ 1:57pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I remember when cable/satellite initially debuted as a paid-for means to watch television programs WITHOUT commercials. Back then, I paid $15/month for this commercial-free environment with multiple channel offerings beyond the 20 or so “free” public channels. Over time, free public channels have evaporated and cable/satellite viewing has bloomed at stratospheric rates. Yet commercials during programs have been aggressively forced on the paid-for viewing audience to the tune of 20 minutes of programming for every 40 minutes of commercials. I’m paying upwards of $100 for standard package, equipment, and service. I have less time than in the past for laissez-faire activities (like tv watching) and I am paying exorbitant rates for electricity…so NO, I am NOT willing to pay more for CBS or ANY broadcast network that already takes GREAT LIBERTIES with how it makes money – i.e. I am fully aware that these networks also maintain MANY investments, affiliate marketing mechanisms, and sponsorships that keep them rolling in dough BEYOND the forced-aired commercial stream that imposes more commercials than meaningful viewer programming on the air.
  Believe me when I say this — if this process forces its costs and commercial-watching on my home, I will CANCEL my service entirely and read books and the newspaper for meaningful content. I will purchase DVDs (oh yeah, ANOTHER way networks make money is selling the SEASON DVDs (commercial free!) — so remember, TV isn’t necessary. It’s VERY elastic — and there is a point that makes it no longer desirable or necessary. If NOBODY watches those EXCESSIVELY PRICED NETWORKS, THEY WILL GO BANKRUPT — BUT if they force satellite companies to remove commercial-skipping, then satellite companies will ALSO suffer, because no one is going to pay exorbitant prices for viewing in this economy and the product becomes entirely undesirable.
  Frankly, CBS needs to look at how to cut their budget so it isn’t so reliant on so many commercials within the short amount of programming it offers per hour — just like the American household cannot arbitrarily raise their incomes just because their debt load changes. We make strategic decisions to cut back spending rather than force everyone else to pay our debts. I am ALL FOR saying BYE BYE to CBS and ANY network that feels it has MORE RIGHTS THAN I DO by LIMITING OR TAKING AWAY MY viewing preferences and options.

  Comment by Joe Bloe — Sunday October 7, 2012 @ 2:50pm PDT  Reply to this post