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Dish Network Answers Critics of Ad-Skipping Device

May 16, 2012  •  Post A Comment

Dish Network, responding to criticism from NBC and Fox about the company’s motive for allowing viewers to automatically skip ads, said it has “respect for the networks and for the advertising model,” Bloomberg reports. The comment was part of an e-mailed statement by Dish Chief Executive Officer Joseph Clayton.

DIsh’s new Auto Hop feature, which skips ads in programs that have been recorded for later viewing, was called "an insult to our joint programming" by NBC Broadcasting Chairman Ted Harbert during the network’s upfront this week. Harbert also called the service “an attack on our eco-system,” as we reported earlier this week.

“I really wasn’t thinking about what the network executives were going to say,” said Vivek Khemka, Dish president of product management. “I was thinking about getting a good response from consumers, and what we’ve seen so far is a pretty overwhelmingly positive response from customers, from comments online and on Facebook.”

Dish CEO Clayton wrote that the technology is a response to demand from customers. "In recent years, Dish has agreed to pay significant rate increases for broadcast content. Dish values its relationships with both local and national broadcasters. But, answering the consumer demand for choice and control is our primary mission," he said, according to the story.

One Comment

  1. Good luck renewing those retransmission agreements next time Dish subscribers!

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