Dish Networks DVR Gets (Very) Limited Ad Skip Feature

Digital video recorders (DVR) of old used to have a feature where they would skip forward thirty seconds at the touch of a button, making it very easy and convenient to skip ads. Soon after however, Big Content leaned on the manufacturers to remove this feature highly valued amongst viewers. Dish Networks have now brought it back in a limited form to their Hopper and Joey DVR hubs, calling it Auto Hop.

It lets viewers skip all the ads in a commercial break with a single press of a button, which sounds like Utopia. However, it contains significant restrictions which sully this Utopia: only primetime HD programs on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC are supported, and they need to start at 1:00am. Also, the viewer must wait a whole day before this will work. Finally, the service will only be available to Hopper’s PrimeTime Anytime subscribers. That’s an awful lot of restrictions. Don’t you wish for that unconditional 30 second ad skip button now?