Dish Gives Itself The Award That CBS Stopped CNET From Giving

Dish has turned CBS' attempted awards snub into a selling point.

Dish has turned CBS’ attempted awards snub into a selling point.

A week after CBS execs told the editors of CNET they could not give its Best Of Show award to Dish’s Hopper DVR because the broadcaster is suing Dish over the device, their decision has backfired, with the satellite TV provider using the incident as a way to promote their product.

On its website, Dish now touts the upcoming iteration of the Hopper, which includes Slingbox technology that allows users to watch DVR content over the Internet, as being named “Best In Show*,” referring directly to the snub at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show. CNET editors had reportedly picked the device for the honor, only to be told by parent company CBS that they could not give it an award.

“*What’s an asterisk doing in our award?” reads the Dish site. “CBS will go to any lengths to keep you from enjoying ad-skipping technology – even censoring its own writers and throwing out their decision to name Hopper ‘Best In Show.’ Your vote is the only one that really matters.”

CBS is suing Dish over the original Hopper device, claiming that its ad-skipping DVR technology illegally edits out commercials and rebroadcasts prime-time shows to customers a few hours after they first air.

The broadcaster was reportedly worried that having one of its subsidiaries give an award to a Hopper DVR would possibly hurt its case in court.

However, now that it’s been revealed that the device did indeed win the award — even if will never receive the actual accolade — it has only turned into a public relations boost to Dish and the Hopper.

Meanwhile, CNET has lost at least one reporter, Greg Sandoval, who chose to quit rather than have CBS executives determining what he could write about.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.