It’s increasingly difficult to reach audiences though traditional media like television. While watching a string of commercials on TV, it’s easy for viewers to become distracted by their phone, empty stomach, people in the room, and so much more. And with the recent option to digitally record television, the choice to manually fast forward through commercial breaks is a no brainer. Now, Dish Network is taking this idea one step further. With their addition of Dish Auto Hop, viewers watching prime time television shows from one of the four main broadcasting stations—CBS, ABC, NBC, or FOX—can choose to have dish cut out the commercials as if they were never there.
Dish prides themselves on this feature because it gives them a competitive advantage. However, this feature is causing plenty of controversy with the networks and the companies that advertise though them. The fact is, many companies need television commercials to reach their consumers. They spend a large sum of money to get their commercials on air, and the fact that people can choose to avoid them so easily is a concern.
What does all of this mean? Quite simply, Auto Hop might cause television networks to take legal action against Dish Network. We’re big advocates of not putting all of your advertising eggs in one basket, so TV advertisers should have a backup plan in place. But what say you? Is Dish in the wrong here?
Why don’t CBS, FOX, and NBC execs want consumers to enjoy commercial-free TV? It’s what we want! I’m a customer and employee of Dish, and I think AutoHop is great because you can easily watch commercial-free TV. A well known consumer advocacy group, Public Knowledge, agrees that people should have the right to control how they watch TV. They’re taking a stand for consumers by creating a petition that tells CBS, FOX, and NBC media to keep their hands out of your living room and DVR. Sign their petition to keep control of how you watch TV http://bit.ly/KigXAn