Discovery CEO warns Dish Network against skipping ads

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Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav warned Dish Network that
it’s playing with fire when it comes to a new commercial hopping DVR
technology.

During a panel here at the National Cable and Telecommunications
Association’s annual tradeshow, Zaslav told CNN’s Erin Burnett that the
new feature Dish Network introduced recently on its Hopper DVR, which
skips advertising during shows that are recorded from broadcast TV,
could disrupt the industry in a negative way. He said the model is
unsustainable since program owners need the advertising revenue to help
cover the cost of their shows.

Dish co-founder and chairman “Charlie Ergen and Dish are a
distributor of content,” he said. “They need us to reach homes with our
content. And if there is not going to be advertising fees, then there
needs to be a lot higher subscriber fees.”

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