Dish Networks' Hopper DVR gets automatic ad-skip feature

If you're a Dish subscriber who finds using the service's 30-second commercial-skip feature just a bit too taxing, your tired fingers are about to get some relief: The company has just added an automatic ad-skipping capability called Auto Hop to its kangaroo-themed Hopper multi-room DVR platform.

Auto Hop works in conjunction with the Hopper's Prime Time Anytime programming feature that allows one-click recording of all the prime-time TV programming from the four major broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Each show is automatically saved for eight days after it initially airs. When you use the Auto Hop option within Prime Time Anytime, the DVR automatically skips past commercials while you watch the shows.

There are a few caveats, however. One is that Auto Hop works only with recorded shows from the four networks—it does not work for live broadcasts. Another is that Auto Hop doesn't work with same-day viewing; the feature is available starting at 1:00 a.m the day after a show is recorded. If you want to watch the show before then, you'll have to use the manual 30-second skip feature instead.

Dish's whole-home Hopper DVR—and the Joey receivers that can be added to connect other TVs in the home—were introduced during the Consumer Electronics Show back in January. The Hopper DVR has a 2TB hard drive and can record up to six shows in HD at a time. Another cool feature of the receivers is a remote-finder function that causes the remote control to beep until you fish it out of the sofa cushions.

During a press call today announcing the new feature, Dish executives deflected questions about possible lawsuits from broadcasters and advertisers by saying that since they weren't actually deleting the ads from the video streams—Auto Hop was simply advancing the programming past the commercials, the same way its 30-second skip feature does—they didn't anticipate legal challenges.

—James K. Willcox