Top Television Stations Sue over Advertisements

Several decades ago, all the way back on July 1^st in 1941, the first commercial was displayed during a televised broadcast of the Brooklyn Dodgers game. The advertisement came from Bulova, known for being a watch company during this period in time. The commercial lasted for short 10-seconds before the televised broadcast returned. Ever since the first commercial was displayed, television networks have been allowing advertisements and commercials to be displayed in between television shows. The advertisements have become longer over the years and are actually a lot louder and more obnoxious than they used to be. This is one of the primary reasons that the consumers have gotten sick and tired of watching the commercials.

One satellite television provider, known as Dish Network, as recently released a new feature. The feature is referred to as the AutoHop and it enables users to skip commercials and advertisements as they wish so that they do not have to see these commercials while watching shows that they have recorded on their DVR. When the AutoHop feature is used, the screen will go dark instead of displaying the commercial and just a few seconds later, the show presumes as it normally would. Many consumers love this feature because they are tired of having to sit through lengthy, loud commercials that seem to be displayed more than the actual show itself. However, some people do not love this feature so much.

Several of the major television stations, including Fox, NBC and CBS are suing the company because they believe it is in violation of laws that have been set for the television industry. The AutoHop feature was released just two months ago, back in May and ever since; these television companies have not been pleased with the feature. In the meantime, Dish continues to deny any wrongdoing, stating that the feature is completely legal. The Chairman for Dish Network, Charlie Ergen, believes that this issue has been settled nearly three decades ago when the Betamax case took place. The reference was to a case that took place back in 1984 when it was made clear the consumer could record shows in the comfort of their own home if they wanted to, without violating any type of copyright law.

However, these major television companies are concerned about losing billions of dollars that they receive from advertisements alone. After all, it is the advertisements that help many of these television channels so that they can continue to broadcast, especially with the increase in production costs. Advertising is the main way for programming to get paid. Advertisers are starting to realize consumers are annoyed with advertisements and commercials during television so instead, they are starting to rely on product placement and having their products used in the shows instead.