DISH TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS: HBO OR IPAD?

DISH, the satellite TV provider, which, like its cable competitors, has generally offered new subscribers big discounts for pay-TV channels, will, effective on May 22, begin offering them an alternative choice: a free Apple iPad for use with its Hopper and Sling technology (with a 24-month contract). DISH customers will thus be able to watch […]

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW BLASTS CBS, CUTS TIES WITH CNET

In a direct slap at CBS, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) added DISH Network’s Hopper DVR as co-winner of its Best of Show award. The Razer Edge gaming tablet had initially been announced as the winner after CNET, which usually determines the award, was ordered by CBS to exclude the Hopper from competition. The […]

DISH HITS BACK AT CBS OVER AWARD INTERCESSION

Following reports that CBS, which owns the technology website CNET, blocked the site from giving DISH Network’s Hopper DVR its “Best of CES” award, DISH itself is taking out newspaper ads proclaiming that the Hopper was “Named Best in Show” followed by an asterisk. “What’s an asterisk doing in our award?” the ad asks, then […]

DISH TURNS IPADS INTO REMOTES — AND MORE

DISH Network, the satellite TV service, has launched a free app for the iPad that, when used in conjunction with its commercial-skipping Hopper DVR, eliminates the need for a remote. While the Hopper can only skip commercials on programs that users have recorded, the app also enhances live programming as well, the company said in […]

MOONVES MAY YANK CBS OFF DISH NETWORK

CBS chief Les Moonves vowed on Wednesday to yank his network’s programming off DISH network if the satellite distributor continues to offer its Hopper DVR to subscribers. “Hopper cannot exist,” Moonves said at an investors conference in Beverly Hills. “If Hopper exists, we will not be in business with [DISH] — it’s pure and simple. […]

DISH NETWORK TWEAKS ITS HOPPER AD-SKIPPING DVR

DISH Network has made a series of tweaks to its Hopper digital video recorders that allow subscribers to skip commercials a day after programs are recorded. Among them: Users may now select which channels to record instead of merely recording every program on the air; they may now delete programs at a time that they […]

STUDY: AD-SKIPPING RECORDERS COULD PLAGUE NETWORKS

Unless the broadcast and cable networks prevail in court, DISH Network’s new Hopper DVR, which automatically skips commercials on recorded shows, could increase 22 percent within four years to 11.7 million units, according to a study by IHS Screen Digest. That kind of proliferation could cause the networks to reexamine their advertiser-supported business model and […]

MARK CUBAN OFFERS ADVICE TO NETWORK EXECS ON AD-SKIPPER

At the Produced By Conference over the weekend, Mark Cuban, who made a fortune in online video well before there was much of a market for online video, suggested that some prominent video sites today attempt to deceive advertisers with rubbish statistics. He pointed out that his own Shark Tank, his relatively low-rated reality show […]

DISH NETWORK’S ERGEN DEFENDS AD-SKIPPING DVR

DISH Network Chairman Charlie Ergen has indicated that his company introduced its Hopper ad-skipping DVR in an effort to level the playing field between traditional TV and Internet TV. In an interview with today’s (Friday) Wall Street Journal, Ergen said said that the advent of cheap or free Internet video threatens the pay-TV ecosystem and […]

NETWORKS IN LEGAL BATTLES ON TWO FRONTS

Efforts by the major broadcasters to protect their business models against technological innovations hit legal roadblocks in two New York courtrooms on Wednesday. In one, a federal judge granted the DISH satellite service a temporary restraining order that in effect blocks Fox from pursuing a copyright infringement lawsuit against it over its ad-skipping Hopper DVR […]

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