[phrelin]

Will the broadcast TV networks sue Dish Network over the Auto Hop feature?

Today was the first day of the "Upfronts" for broadcast TV's 2012-13 season, the week the broadcast networks pitch their programming to advertisers. NBC had the Monday morning assignment.

The chairman of NBC Broadcasting, Ted Harbert, led off with an introduction that confronted the ratings issues, criticizing the Nielsen company which is not unusual.

But then he took on Dish Network's Auto Hop. The simplest summary was in Dateline Hollywood:

He told the Radio City Music Hall audience that Dish Network's new Auto Hop DVR feature, which enables viewers to automatically jump over ads in recorded shows, is "an insult to our joint programming, and I'm against it." Many analysts have wondered whether broadcasters will ask the courts to rule that the feature violates their copyrights.

The New York Times quoted him extensively:

And finally, we all know that advanced technology provides new options to virtually every business. But just because technology gives you the ability to do something, does that mean you should? Not always.

Here's a good example that popped up late last week. Did you hear about the new Hop initiative from Dish? With their new DVR, you hit a button on the remote and all the commercials in a program just disappear. Gone. You don't even have to fast forward through them. Please refer to my earlier comments about our ecosystem. This is an insult to our joint investment in programming, and I'm against it.

The LA Times Business Section, which frequently runs articles about the business side of TV, ran a long article Dish Network ad-skipping feature Auto Hop irks network TV execs that contained this ominous information:

"It seems a strange thing to do," said Peter Rice, chairman of entertainment for the Fox Networks Group.

Rice, speaking with reporters on a conference call Monday to announce Fox's fall schedule, noted that broadcast networks such as Fox are the largest content providers to pay-TV distributors such as Dish, and wondered why they'd risk alienating that relationship. As for whether the network will consider legal action to try to derail Dish's new commercial-zapping offering, Rice said Fox is "still evaluating it."

This is not the first time such a technology has been launched. Several years ago, a service called ReplayTV did virtually the same thing and the broadcast networks sued and won on copyright infringement grounds.

 

[sregener]

The networks have their heads in the sand. The barn door has been open since DVR technology came along. I almost never watch commercials anyway - I skip them and rarely (less than once a week, and less than once a month for more than five minutes) watch live television. I love the auto hop not because it lets me skip commercials, but because it makes it quicker and more accurate.

Oddly, the NASCAR race on Saturday did not have auto-hop enabled, even two days later.

 

[Marlin Guy]

Oddly, the NASCAR race on Saturday did not have auto-hop enabled, even two days later.

It can't. That was a live unscripted event. The commercial breaks are determined on the fly.

 

[sregener]

It can't. That was a live unscripted event. The commercial breaks are determined on the fly.

Hmmm. Now I'm confused. Auto Hop is unavailable until midnight of the day it airs. I thought this was because Dish sends down a set of time stamps to skip from/to. Thus they could create the stamps regardless of program type. But maybe I don't understand how it works.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

Hmmm. Now I'm confused. Auto Hop is unavailable until midnight of the day it airs. I thought this was because Dish sends down a set of time stamps to skip from/to. Thus they could create the stamps regardless of program type. But maybe I don't understand how it works.

I don't know how it works either... but I'm sure the main reason why it is delayed until 24 hours is because if they enabled it for "live" watching then the networks would likely have a legal case. Customers pausing and skipping manually is one thing, but Dish skipping during live/delayed TV viewing would be a whole 'nother ball of wax.

But... since the advertisers don't care about DVR viewings the next day because advertisers assume if you watch the next day that you skip the commercials... then Dish figured it is less of an issue 24 hours later.

Some of the networks put their shows up on their own Web sites for free streaming without commercials the next day too.. so it seems like that would be ok for Dish to allow the same.

That, I assume, is the reason behind the 24 hour delay.

 

[Marlin Guy]

My thoughts were that pre-recorded programs (meaning non-live broadcasts) would have pre-determined commercial breaks in them, which Dish used as triggers for Auto-Hop.
Live sports broadcasts go to commercial when there's a break in the action. Fox will cut a commercial short during a NASCAR race to go back live when there's a serious accident or other significant event, so there's no way for Dish to know when these occur.

 

[phrelin]

Perhaps I should have expanded on this a bit. Harbert, NBC Chairman, was advocating the use of C7 ratings - commercial viewings over seven days. What wasn't made clear in his rantings was that most advertisers are accepting C3 - commercial viewings ratings as a supplement to the Nielsen Live+same day.

Auto Hop threatens to make the C7 and the C3 useless.

One of the things C3 evaluations are showing is that a majority of viewers are too lazy to skip commercials. Auto Hop helps the lazy.

 

[paulman182]

Don't worry. Technology such as this will win out, meaning that broadcasters who depend upon advertising for their existence will either go out of business, or increase the number and size of ads superimposed on the screen during the programs themselves.

Those don't bother anyone, do they?

 

[Jhon69]

I don't know how it works either... but I'm sure the main reason why it is delayed until 24 hours is because if they enabled it for "live" watching then the networks would likely have a legal case. Customers pausing and skipping manually is one thing, but Dish skipping during live/delayed TV viewing would be a whole 'nother ball of wax.

But... since the advertisers don't care about DVR viewings the next day because advertisers assume if you watch the next day that you skip the commercials... then Dish figured it is less of an issue 24 hours later.

Some of the networks put their shows up on their own Web sites for free streaming without commercials the next day too.. so it seems like that would be ok for Dish to allow the same.

That, I assume, is the reason behind the 24 hour delay.

That was my thoughts also,so if you watch the program the next day you can use AutoHop.Where we wait a few hours and then view our recorded programs,so nothing will beat FFWx15/then SkipBack on my 922(that just got [email protected] Today/S118!).

 

[356B]

Dish is a multi-billion dollar corporation with millions of customers, I have no way of knowing but one would assume the "Auto Hop" was thoroughly vetted through legal. Whether Dish uses this on the other channels? probably...eventually.
I believe any perceived loss of revenue by networks because of "Auto Hop", real or otherwise will be placed squarely on the backs of the customers...as usual. I'm looking at rates for locals to go up the next time around and Auto Hop staying exactly where it is.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

What wasn't made clear in his rantings was that most advertisers are accepting C3 - commercial viewings ratings as a supplement to the Nielsen Live+same day.

Auto Hop threatens to make the C7 and the C3 useless.

One of the things C3 evaluations are showing is that a majority of viewers are too lazy to skip commercials. Auto Hop helps the lazy.

I think you touched on this before (either in this thread or another) and I forgot about that. It is surprising, but IF advertisers do start paying attention to people who DVR but still watch commercials later... then yeah, this Auto-Hop feature will put the screws to that.

I would hate to see advertisers coming to the party and willing to meet us DVR delayers half way... and then back off because of an auto-skip feature.

Truth be told, I probably end up watching more commercials on my DVR than live... because live I "tune out" mentally during commercial breaks like always... but when watching DVR programs, since the skips aren't accurate, I end up watching parts of some commercials AND if something catches my eye while skipping ahead I will backup and watch commercials sometimes.

The Auto-Hop feature, while convenient, means I miss all of the commercials.

Also, ESPN has done something kind of cool that I wish other networks and shows would try... If you watch Around the Horn or Pardon the Interruption... during their commercial breaks they throw in some behind the scenes clips and things that happen between takes... and if you skip commercials you miss those. I thought it was ingenious to throw in those things because I want to watch them, so I don't skip the commercials during those shows.

Imagine if primetime shows threw in a blooper or deleted scene or something during some commercial breaks... I bet more people would stop skipping commercials to catch those extras.

 

[4HiMarks]

A few years ago, I saw what I thought was the future of commercials on an episode of "Las Vegas", where three guys in SUVs drove up to the Montecito and jumped out, running into the casino. Later in the show, we saw them again, driving the same SUVs up into the mountains to ski or something, where the off-road and snow/ice capabilities of the vehicles were very conspicuous. Then came an overlay graphic of the make and model and some sort of tagline. It was so seamlessly integrated into the storyline, I didn't realize it was an ad until it was almost over.

 

[phrelin]

Keep in mind that it would be possible for the networks to stop using blocks of commercials and start spreading them seamlessly through shows at more random points without even advising their affiliates.

Right now commercial blocks serve the affiliates who can "insert local commercial here." That may end up being the only ones we'll be able to skip easily.

Oh, and I agree with Stewart as we do stop to watch an interesting commercial and used to space out or talk "among ourselves" back when we couldn't skip.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

A few years ago, I saw what I thought was the future of commercials on an episode of "Las Vegas", where three guys in SUVs drove up to the Montecito and jumped out, running into the casino. Later in the show, we saw them again, driving the same SUVs up into the mountains to ski or something, where the off-road and snow/ice capabilities of the vehicles were very conspicuous. Then came an overlay graphic of the make and model and some sort of tagline. It was so seamlessly integrated into the storyline, I didn't realize it was an ad until it was almost over.

For every good example of an in-line product placement, there are at least two or three bad ones.

Bones is currently one of the absolute worst with their Toyota inserts... it is so forced and bad. I have to pause the program sometimes, because I just shook my head.

Pawn Stars, I believe is purposly done bad (Subway), because it fits the show.

Hawaii 5-O is hit/miss with their Microsoft hooks, but good on their Chevy ones.

Dell is pretty seamless on Big Bang

It can be done well, but it often done very porely.

 

[sigma1914]

...
It can be done well, but it often done very porely.

How about this way?

 

[James Long]

Describing the AutoHop Feature:
In my experience it has been available after 2am the night of airing. No 24 hour wait, just "the next day". (I am on Eastern Time.) The NASCAR race which ran from 6:30pm to after 11:00pm (with PTA cutting off the last three laps and celebrations) was a live event with commercials placed where the network could between the "action". The last commercial breaks during the race were done in a "side by side" format with the commercial on one side and the race on the other.

As for the potential lawsuit:
It doesn't surprise me - I even predicted it when AutoHop was announced. But I do not believe DISH is doing anything illegal.

AutoHop is an option. Customers are given the option every time the watch the flagged programs whether or not they want to use the feature. Call me lazy, but I'm actually waiting until the next day now to watch broadcast prime time because I want AutoHop.

Legally - retransmission of locals requires satellite providers to retransmit the programs unedited. Which is what DISH does up until 2am. Delayed retransmission is a separate issue. If it were a local cable system that aired ONLY the program and not the commercials and did not have the "live" feed I believe there would be a violation. DISH moving the technology to the receiver instead of editing the program at the headend makes the lawsuit more interesting.

Quite frankly, if copyright law prevents AutoHop it probably should prevent PTA as well ... if not the entire DVR concept. I don't believe the courts are ready to do that.

 

[356B]

I agree with the conclusion that if Auto Hop in found to be illegal then the manual skip feature of a DVR is illegal....and we all know that's not going away.
The NBC posturing was just that, these people are not stupid, they knew this was coming, but what the gonna say? Oh isn't Auto Hop great, don't you just love not having to skip through all those commercials?
No Dish kicked Auto Hop down the road for months if not years and it's not going away either.
The only change we'll see is the price we pay...

 

[Stewart Vernon]

I agree with the conclusion that if Auto Hop in found to be illegal then the manual skip feature of a DVR is illegal....

I'm not saying either will or should be illegal... but they are two VERY different things.

Skipping commercials manually requires user intervention, which means you have to be there watching the TV, which means you can't help but see some commercial portions as you skip forward/back.

Auto Hop, however, means it jumps directly across the entire commercial break automatically without user intervention or potential exposure to commercials at all... and all you have to do is enable the feature once and you're done.

Illegal or not... I could see it being a bone of contention with networks. They can't force anyone to watch commercials, which is why the trick play on the DVR can't be put back into the genie bottle... BUT networks surely could fight any feature that automatically skips the commercials without user intervention.

Think of it like junk mail... I toss a lot of junk mail directly into the trash from my mailbox... but there is still a possibility I might see something I like during that process... but if the USPS allowed an automatic "junk" filter to have the postman trash my junk mail for me before I have a chance to see it, then there would be a problem... the post office makes a lot of money charging postage on those junk mail that IF they started tossing them for the customer, they would lose that revenue.

Similarly... Auto Hop starts the conversation with advertisers to the networks to say "we aren't going to pay for ads that we know no one sees because they can turn the ads off" and if the networks start losing that ad revenue then they start knocking on Dish's door for higher fees to retransmit... and then we are on a fast downward spiral.

A better example might be say DBSTalk selling ad space on the Web... people see and click ads and it helps those advertisers so they keep paying DBSTalk for ad placement... Now, there is ad-blocker software out there... but DBSTalk isn't selling or promoting it. Imagine if one hand of DBSTalk was saying "pay us for ad space" while the other hand of DBSTalk was saying "here, use ad blocker to block all the ads on our site"... do you think DBSTalk would be getting a lot of advertisers willing to pay for placement after that?

 

[3HaloODST]

I agree with Mr. Vernon. Pretty much the same thing I've been saying at the "other" forum only to be called Chicken Little :nono: .

 

[356B]

It is of little consequence what any of us think is legal, illegal or litigious. The facts are clear, Dish has opted to release a software device which with the interaction of the subscriber eliminates portions of their broadcast after a specific period of time has elapsed.
I think the significance of the 1am rule cannot be ignored. That prerequisite to the use of Auto Hop tells the tale, the deal was stuck, the rules are clear... Posturing and chest beating aside.