Kaley Cuoco, one of the stars of “The Big Bang Theory”, has found herself in some hot water recently after tweeting an endorsement for Dish Network. Seems her bosses over at CBS don’t like it when one of their stars helps out a company they’re in litigation with.
Dish Network has been locked in a battle not just with CBS, but also with ABC, FOX, and NBC over a feature included in their Hopper service which allows users to “Auto Hop” through previously-aired shows while skipping commercials. While Cuoco didn’t mention Auto Hop in her tweet, she did speak highly of the Hopper service, and the post quickly garnered the attention of thousands in a matter of hours. Once that happened, however, the tweet mysteriously disappeared.
“Clearly, with this kind of response, consumers have a true interest in the types of innovations the DISH Hopper offers,” said Dish president Joe Clayton. “It’s a shame that CBS, despite its legacy, feels it needs to thwart this kind of consumer demand.”
The networks, on the other hand, feel that the service poses a serious threat to their shows–many of which rely on ad support to keep afloat–and say that the Auto Hop feature should be illegal.
Cuoco, along with her 1 million followers, is certainly a good get for Dish; they say they look for celebrities with influence who are also likable, and she certainly falls into that category.
“We’ve reached out to several different celebrities and those with influence for sponsored tweets and so I think she’s one of many folks,” Dish spokesman John Hall said. “Our goal is to introduce our products and services to consumers. We find people that consumers are paying attention to.”
UPDATE: CBS released a statement regarding Clayton’s comment, saying, “Once again, Joe Clayton demonstrates his dubious gift for hyperbole and hucksterism. No demands were made, but it’s clear that Dish’s culture of fabrication is alive and well.”
