Although DVR offers convenience to a wide variety of consumers, it poses
an extremely serious threat to the world of television advertising. This feature, otherwise known as digital
video recording, allows television viewers to fast forward through commercials
at high speeds, completely cutting out the sounds of the advertisements and
reducing the visual projections of these advertisements to a mere blur. In May 2012, Dish Network began offering a
feature that allows viewers to not only fast forward through commercials, but
to skip over the advertisements entirely using the “Hopper” feature for only
$10 extra a month (Ramachandran). However, shortly after this release, NBC,
CBS, and FOX filed a lawsuit against Dish Network, claiming that this new
feature was disrespectful and completely undermining the traditional format of
television advertising (Feinberg).
According to Consumer Electronics Association’s Shapiro, these
broadcasting networks simply were afraid of the new technology and he plainly
stated, “If you look at the
entire technology industry…whenever there is something new, that always
threatens something old.” He also reminded these companies that
this feature would only be enabled when consumers were viewing a recorded program, not during live
viewings. However, what Shapiro failed
to take into account is that in contrast to cable channels, broadcasters earn
very little through subscription fees and rely very heavily on television
advertising for their revenue (Ramachandran).
The quote by Ted Harbert, chairman of NBC, cited in the prompt is
evidence enough that the broadcasting industry does not delight in the so-called
revolutionary invention of DVR due to the harm it is inflicting on their
advertising. What was once a peaceful
and even beneficial alliance between cable companies and broadcasting networks
has turned into a battlefield initiated by feelings of backstabbing betrayal
and urged onward by the competition and drive of increased revenue. Broadcasting companies are fearfully trying
to combat the ever-spreading DVR in a last fighting effort to preserve their
ways of advertising, but in the end there is only so much they can do to fight
the natural evolution of technology. As
a regular television consumer, I enjoy the convenience that DVR provides and am
grateful for the time that it saves. The
option of breezing through the constant stream of advertisements that have
always flooded the television world is a benefit and a freedom that I embrace
wholeheartedly. However, it is also
unfair to the individuals who have spent hours of creative thought and thousands
of dollars on making these advertisements as well as to the broadcasting
companies that depend on these small blurbs for the vast majority of their
revenue. That being said, watching a
program live on television and therefore forfeiting the option of skipping over
the commercials every now and again is the least that I can do as a consumer to
help keep these industries alive. At
this point in the resistance of broadcasting companies against DVR, this form
of compromise is one of the best they can hope to receive from their consumer
audience.
Sources:
Ramachandran, Shalini. "Zap! New DVR Wipes Out Ads."Wall Street Journal. 11 2012: n. page. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070304577396470142982532.html>.
Feinberg, Andrew. "Suit to stop Dish Network’s ‘Hopper’ gets mixed reviews from electronics industry." Hill. 27 2012: n. page. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/229671-suit-to-stop-dish-networks-hopper-gets-mixed-reviews-from-industry>.
