Actually it has been confirmed in court documents: a person (part of a team) watches and manually places markers for the beginning and end of a commercial break. It is critical, at this legal point in the law, that absolutely no part of the local programming outside the ads be skipped as that can be a violation of the agreement and STELA that provides for retransmission of locals, and this can't be left to automation alone. Further, Dish makes a quality control copy of the broadcasts with their Auto-hop markers and it is verified by sending it to a remote location (in Kentucky or some place in 'the middle") that the Auto-Hop skips ONLY the commercials. This quality control copy was cited by the 9th Circuit as the ONLY point that the big broadcasters had any hope of prevailing in a suit because according to the agreements, Dish is prohibited from making any copies of the broadcasts without the expressed permission of the local. HOWEVER, the broadcasters would ALSO have to prove that such a copy can or does result in loss or damages, and since it is a Quality Control copy and seen only by a few people, it would not result in loss or damages and the court viewed even that argument as not likely to result in a favorable ruling for the broadcasters. The process is why it takes hours before Auto-Hop is available to use.
