Actually, Dish Network doesn't delete commercials. However, they're doing something similar that makes some of their primetime hosts... 'upset'. "Fox Asks Court to Bar Dish DVR Ad-Zapper" is an article discussing how Fox is stating that Dish Network has broken a contract through copyright infringement and so Fox wants a preliminary federal injunction against them (fun week for Fox huh?).
Well, what exactly happened? If you've seen the commercials, Dish Network is advertising their new device called the "Hopper" which is also known as AutoHop. What AutoHop does is skip commercials when and while recording your favorite TV show.
As we all know, advertisements are where the television and broadcast stations make their money. After all, advertisers pay for their commercial to be aired, so I can understand why Fox is claiming that the federal court for the Central District of California should block Dish Network "from further infringement of Fox's copyrighted television programs..." Clearly, their advertisers were not happy with Dish Network's move. Likewise, this is what got me interested in the article. Advertisements are everywhere nowadays. If one doesn't have cable, advertisers go onto the online world such as Youtube.
Even though people dislike commercials, commercials are essential to TV and even the internet. Without it, your favorite show might not even be on the air. Youtube might struggle by not making a profit.
Thus, continuing in with the story, Dish Network changed their wording for their device. Instead of saying it "automatically" skipped commercials, they said that the Hopper had only an "optional" recording and commercial skipping program. Smart move for Dish, but its probably not going to get them out their court date with Fox in my opinion.
Looking at this through the eyes of a student, nothing really changes. A student might even side with Dish mainly because of time. With hardly enough time in the week to do excessive activities, a student might enjoy the time saved because of no commercials offered by Dish. They can watch their shows and hopefully do the things they have to do. The same goes for a consumer. Dish Network was just trying to gain new subscribers which is why I question why their thinking process. Why wasn't it thought through (on Dish Network's part) that some companies might be angered by their move to automatically-- I mean 'optionally'--- skip through advertisements.
This might cause some stress for me as a future filmmaker though. After all, there is more competition for advertisers and viewers since the internet is a thing. For example, let's say I worked on a TV show and the major earnings come from the advertisements and I try to fix the Dish Network problem. If I put too much commercials, I might lose viewers. If I put too little, I might not earn enough. With a person's attention span, this would provide a problem for me and my company. Similarly, it only leaves the solutions that Dish Network either halt their Hopper or pay their way out of it.
I hate commercials with a passion. Each advertisement I see gives me one less reason why I should not buy their product. But if I was advertising, and dish blocks my advertisements that I paid 2 million for then I would rightfully be pissed off. Television isn't television at all if it doesn't come with advertisements
ReplyDeleteAlthough I disagree with you on the reason not to buy the product, I think that there is nothing wrong with the autohop. I may not have it, but honestly I wish I could. When you think about it, the autohop doesn't really do anything but record TV without commercials. Let's face it, when you DVR a show you never play the commercials, you fast forward through them. This box is just doing something that we do naturally. I can't believe people are complaining about this. It isn't like the viewer is going to not watch anything but recorded TV. Most likely, they will watch much more live TV with all of the dull commercials.
DeleteEven if we fast forward through the commercials, we still see glimpses of them. When I used to watch through DVR, I did skip the commercials but I still saw glimpses and if I saw one that looked interesting I stopped and watched it.
DeleteI think FOX is complaining because they're blatantly just not recording the commercials.
That's a good point that viewers won't always watch recorded TV though. Although, those who have shows at like 11pm but are students might not.
So I'm sort of torn because even if the commercials are dull, there are people who work hard on the concept and also tried to make it appealing.
I have to agree with Alejandro; commercials are the worst. I think networks would be better served spending their money on making better commercials that people will want to watch instead of wasting it on lawsuits like this. I work at a Dish call-center, and all I do, all day long, is talk to people about the Hopper. People that have Auto Hop love it; people that don’t have it, want to know how to get it. The networks need to realize this.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think that viewers prefer autohop because their 30 minute shows tend to be weighed down with commercials. So in truth, when they think they're watching a 30 minute show, it's actually 20 minutes if you minus the commercials. So they save time and whatnot.
DeleteBut if they try to make better commercials, if autohop just doesnt record it, how exactly are the commercials even going to be seen?
This was a very shocking discovery for me because like any other person, I dreamed of the day when my favorite tv shows no longer had long commercials. Yet, this article puts everything in perspective because it goes beyond the whole concept of commercials; instead, it's like a battle between two companies that want to please their customers in order to make more money. Dish Network only wants to attract more people by appealing to them with this new option, yet Fox does not want their advertisers to lose money due to the lack of commercials, so in a way, they are both right. Both companies want only the best for their clients which is fair, but in this case, it seems impossible to please both.
ReplyDelete(By the way...I love your background.)
Thanks :). I agree, it is difficult to side with Dish or Fox. I agree with you.
DeleteAs annoying as commercials may be, they kind of let you know whats new in the world. I haven't had cable or whatever its called now, for over 5(ish) years so the only times I watch T.V. is either at my cousin's house or at my grandma's house. Since I rarely watch T.V. now, I am not exposed to commercials and because of this, there are a lot of products that I haven't heard of. When I do get the chance to watch commercials now, most of the time I am surprised and I find them interesting(maybe even more interesting than the show that we are watching). If I had the choice to skip commercials, I wouldn't, but then again, that is coming from the perspective of a person that never gets to watch commercials and if I do watch one, its like a one time thing.
ReplyDeleteI hardly watch tv now too, and sometimes there are interesting commercials. But sometimes the same commercial repeats itself and it kind of gets old...
DeleteYou do have a point. I don't like commercials but they are essential to the TV networks and online sites just like You Tube . Both of these helping films. Dish is pulling a bad move that will hurt everyone in the long run .
ReplyDeleteDish is pulling a bad move... because they're angering Fox and Fox is a pretty big company. Even though Dish is earning more customers through AutoHop, if the courts side with Fox, Dish might lose more.
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