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Dish Network Expects “Greed” To Govern Retransmission Talks With Disney

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday February 20, 2013 @ 10:09am PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Dish Network, Disney, Hopper

Dish Network‘s carriage deal with Disney to keep carrying its ABC stations and cable services including ESPN and the Disney Channel will have to be renewed later this year, and some analysts wonder whether talks will run aground: ABC is one of the major networks suing Dish for violating their copyrights with its Hopper DVR, which can automatically zap their ads on time-shifted shows. But Dish execs say that they aren’t concerned. “I would not expect them to take (ABC) down,” CEO Joe Clayton told analysts today. “Normally greed prevails. There’ll be a discussion and a win-win for both companies.” Chairman Charlie Ergen added that, with the big outlays ESPN has made for sports programming rights, the loss of revenue from Dish’s 14.1M subscribers “would be a long term problem for Disney.” But Ergen adds that Dish has been “misunderstood” in the Hopper dispute. All DVR users can skip commercials, and “what we’re really saying to the broadcasters is there’s a way for you to not put your head in the sand.” Dish wants to help them target ads so viewers don’t have to watch commercials for products that don’t interest them. “I think we can show broadcasters that we’re not foe — we’re friend,” Ergen says. “The advertising model is going to change with or without the Hopper.”

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Dish Touts CES Would-Be Award, Slams CBS In Ad For Commercial-Zapping Hopper

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday January 20, 2013 @ 5:58pm PSTTags: Dish, Hopper
Nellie Andreeva

Dish is using the recent controversy over the Best In Show award the satcaster’s new Hopper with Sling DVR did not receive as a recruiting tool. The ad-zapping service was awarded the top prize by the editors … Read More »

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CBS’ CNET Disqualifies Dish Network DVR From CES Award Due To Ad-Zap Lawsuit

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday January 10, 2013 @ 4:58pm PSTTags: CBS, Dish Network, Hopper

The satellite company had high hopes that its new Hopper with Sling DVR would win CNET’s widely watched “Best of CES” award after the tech news and review site named it a finalist and gave it an enthusiastic review, but CNET changed its mind before the awards were announced today. CNET says it removed the new Hopper from consideration “due to active litigation involving our parent company CBS Corp.” which says the DVR’s ability to automatically skip over ads in recorded shows violates the network’s copyrights. What’s more, CNET says “We will no longer be reviewing products manufactured by companies with which we are in litigation with respect to such product.” Dish Network CEO Joe Clayton considers this is a free speech issue. Read More »

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