​It’s not quite DISH Network’s AutoHop, but new iPhone app Commercial Break keeps up with TV in real time and notifies the viewer when commercial breaks are over. Which means that person can get up, do their laundry, skip all commercials, and be back in time to see what “Scandal’s” Olivia Pope is up to now. Or, they can channel surf and not only ignore those commercials, but turn them off completely.

In a new step toward ad-skipping tech like the AutoHop function, Commercial Break follows along with your TV programming to distinguish between shows and commercials. The user selects on the app which channel they’re watching and hits start, so the app knows when to alert you that the channel’s commercials are over.

The free app is now available for 10 channels in New York and plans to expand to more cities as well as the Android market.

Brief Take: While it’s no AutoHop, Commercial Break signals an ongoing trend in the fight against commercials. With more and more streaming and less live TV in households, some children grow up without knowing what commercials are, and it’s up to both advertisers and networks to make commercials worth their while or find a way to go around them.

Read more about it at TVNewsCheck.

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