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Want to Watch the Ads, Skip the Game? Dish Says OK

For the Monday morning commercial quarterbacks, Dish offers a way to skip the touchdowns and interceptions and just focus on the ads.
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Dish Network has made a name for itself in the cable and satellite industry with technology that lets customers completely skip commercials. For this weekend's Super Bowl, though, it's letting them skip the game.

The company has announced a new temporary feature called "Reverse AutoHop" that will let subscribers who record the game avoid all of the boring touchdowns and interceptions and focus on the real topic of Monday morning quarterbacks: the ads. Like the commercial-skipping AutoHop feature, Reverse AutoHop will be available the day after the game airs.

Ad agencies, which (along with the major broadcast networks) have been fiercely critical of the AutoHop feature previously, are bullish on this reversal of the technology. NBC, which will air the season ending matchup of the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots says it has sold all of the available commercial spots for the game, with brands paying up to $4.5 million for a 30-second spot. More than 100 million viewers in the United State alone are expected to watch the contest.

Disclosure: NBC Sports, the sister company of CNBC and NBC News, broadcasts the SuperBowl.

IN-DEPTH

-- Chris Morris, CNBC