CBS's Moonves Plans on Calling Charlie Ergen's Bluff

[dkreichen1968]

CBS to Pull Stations From Dish if AutoHop Doesn't Die

CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves kicked off Wall Street's fall conference season by laying down an ultimatum regarding Dish Network's Hopper DVR service and touting the strength of the Eye's advertising biz as the presidential race heats up.
The AutoHop feature on Dish's new Hopper DVR makes it super easy for viewers to skip through all commercial spots on primetime network shows.

"Hopper cannot exist," Moonves told investors at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media Conference Wednesday. "If Hopper exists, we will not be in business with (Dish). We cannot produce episodes for $3.5 million a piece and have the people at Dish say they will pull out the commercials. We will not be on Dish. We will go elsewhere."

Read More: Moonves puts Dish Network on notice - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety

Well yeah, if they want to remove your comercials, your biggest source of income, then you need to see how well they survive without you. Of course, when people see how crisp and clear CBS's native HD is when they access it with an antenna, they may just cut the cord.

 

[dkreichen1968]

Dish Network's Response

Dish Network CEO Joe Clayton said:

“Give the customer choice and control. Give the customer a better experience and we all win.” The major broadcast networks are suing Dish, alleging that it violates their copyrights by marketing a DVR feature that automatically jumps past their ads in recorded shows. Dish says that its Auto-Hop feature simply automates what DVR users already do with their remote controls. “Will innovation like the Auto-Hop improve the consumer experience? Of course it will,” Clayton says. “I don’t know how the courts will rule on this. But I know that we’ve won in the court of public opinion.”

Read More: Dish Network Chief Responds To Les Moonves: "Give The Consumer Choice" - Deadline.com

Okay Dish, let's see how you fair without NCIS, Hawaii 5-0, The Mentalist, Person of Interest, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and AFC football. Do you really want to go there? Sure, people would love to watch TV without advertisements, but that is what actually pays for the programming. Do you, or your customers, really want to pay full price for the content on the broadcast networks? I don't think so!!!

 

[Thomas G]

Ooh, this is getting interesting. Like you said, Dish Network is taking away how CBS earns money to distribute their programming. Either Dish Network needs to pony up and pay more for all of the networks or shut off the auto skip feature.

 

[Fringe Reception]

Ooh, this is getting interesting. Like you said, Dish Network is taking away how CBS earns money to distribute their programming. Either Dish Network needs to pony up and pay more for all of the networks or shut off the auto skip feature.

I'm surprised its taken this long for any of the Networks to take a stand.

Jim

 

[Jim5506]

If Dish wins in court, DirecTV already has their version ready to deploy and others are sure to follow.

If CBS wants to claim revenue loss, then they should rely on advertising and not charge cable and satellite for carriage.

Dish pays CBS for carrying its signal, Dish can record and play back that signal THE NEXT DAY without commercials, just like CBS's own video streaming does.