Ergen to Congress: Parents Can AutoHop Over Booze, Junk Food Ads

Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen will testify before the House Commerce Committee’s communications subcommittee this week and plans to say that Dish's AutoHop ad-skipping option allows parents to shield their kids from commercials for "junk food and alcohol."

He is defending Dish's Hopper service from the broadcast networks, who have sued the company over the AutoHop commercial-skipping feature, saying it breached contracts and violated copyrights. In his testimony, Ergen positions the service as the evolution of giving consumers what they want, when they want it, which includes allowing them to skip "what they don't want to see."