TV networks woo advertisers in shadow of Auto Hop NEW YORK - Every May the broadcast networks take over midtown Manhattan to promote their new shows and ply advertisers with shrimp and champagne. It's a business expense. Advertisers are expected to spend $9 billion for commercial time on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW for the 2012-13 television season. So Fox trotted out singer Mary J. Bligeto entertain the media buyers who decide where to spend money, while CBS rented out Carnegie Hall and used its"NCIS: Los Angeles" star L.L. Cool J to rap about the network's strong ratings performance. The glitzy affairs are an old tradition in the television industry. But the upfront presentations, where networks showcase programs in development for the upcoming TV season, have taken on greater urgency as the networks fight to convince advertisers that they remain the most direct route to consumers - many of whom are no longer watching shows on television sets, but rather via other technology that can leave advertisers behind. Networks are quickly putting more of their content online not only to stop it from being pirated but also to reach younger viewers whom advertisers covet. "We know that viewers want to watch what they want, where they want, when they want," CW President Mark Pedowitz told advertisers Thursday. The CW, which has the youngest audience of any broadcast network, puts its shows on the Web the day after they air. Another technological threat arrived at start of the upfronts: One of the TV industry's biggest distributors began offering a commercial-zapping feature that has network executives redder than the cocktail sauce they were dipping their shrimp in. Satellite broadcaster Dish Network Corp., which has more than 14 million customers who buy the service for access to broadcast and cable television, unveiled a feature on its digital video recording devices that makes it possible for viewers to never see a commercial on recorded prime-time shows from ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. Called Auto Hop, it takes fast-forward a step further. Viewers have long had the ability to fast-forward through commercials, but Auto Hop literally turns the screen black for a few seconds when a show goes into a commercial break. The show then returns. The viewer never catches even a glimpse or blur of an advertisement. The timing of Dish's announcement further annoyed broadcasters. While the networks were touting new shows to advertisers, Dish was taking out a big ad in USA Today telling viewers how they could skip those annoying commercial breaks. Ever since inventor Philo Farnsworth first laid the groundwork for the modern-day television industry, advertising has been the backbone of the business. Companies buy commercials, and the networks use that money to produce entertainment and news programming. But most consumers do anything they can to avoid them. Now, with the introduction of digital video recorders, viewers can record the shows they love and easily fast forward through the commercials. While the networks have gritted their teeth over the negative implications of the DVR, they are apoplectic about Dish's Auto Hop. It's preposterous. They can't do this. That's not what the system is," CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said. They can't just take our signal and change it and put on a black spot where our commercials were. How does [Dish Network Chairman] Charlie Ergen expect me to produce'CSI' without ads? Some of the networks have struck back at Dish - in a most ironic fashion. Fox and NBC have both indicated they will refuse to sell Dish air time to promote its Auto Hop. Moonves threatened that if Dish were to continue pushing the Auto Hop to its customers, CBS may just stop selling its programming to the satellite service. "There are obvious things that can be done, and we're looking at that," he said. Dish has countered that viewers have always wanted to skip commercials - and deserve to do so. "Dish values its relationships with both local and national broadcasters," Chief Executive Joe Clayton said. But answering the consumer demand for choice and control is our primary mission.