FILE - In this Monday, May 18, 2009 file photo, Richard Engel attends the Peabody Awards held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. More than a dozen heavily armed gunmen kidnapped and held NBC's chief foreign correspondent Engel and several colleagues for five days inside Syria, keeping them blindfolded and tied up before they finally escaped unharmed during a firefight between their captors and anti-regime rebels, Engel said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File)
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FILE - In this Monday, May 18, 2009 file photo, Richard Engel attends the Peabody Awards held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. More than a dozen heavily armed gunmen kidnapped and held NBC's chief foreign correspondent Engel and several colleagues for five days inside Syria, keeping them blindfolded and tied up before they finally escaped unharmed during a firefight between their captors and anti-regime rebels, Engel said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File)
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FILE - In this Monday, May 18, 2009 file photo, Richard Engel attends the Peabody Awards held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. More than a dozen heavily armed gunmen kidnapped and held NBC's chief foreign correspondent Engel and several colleagues for five days inside Syria, keeping them blindfolded and tied up before they finally escaped unharmed during a firefight between their captors and anti-regime rebels, Engel said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File)
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NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, center, NBC Turkey reporter Aziz Akyavas, left, and an unidentfied NBC crew member speak during a news conference in Reyhanli, Turkey, Tuesday, Dec. 18. 2012. More than a dozen pro-regime gunmen kidnapped and held NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel and several colleagues for five days inside Syria, threatening them with mock executions and blindfolding them before the team finally escaped unharmed during a firefight between their captors and rebels, Engel said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Anatolia) TURKEY OUT, ONLINE OUT
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This image taken from undated amateur video posted on the Internet shows NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, center, with NBC Turkey reporter Aziz Akyavas, left, and NBC photographer John Kooistra, right, after they were taken hostage in Syria. More than a dozen heavily armed gunmen kidnapped and held Engel and several colleagues for five days inside Syria, keeping them blindfolded and tied up before they finally escaped unharmed during a firefight between their captors and anti-regime rebels, Engel said Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. The Arabic writing on the wall reads, "or we will burn."(AP Photo/Amateur Video)
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In this image made from video, NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, right, shakes hands with an unidentified person after crossing back into Turkey, after they were freed unharmed following a firefight at a checkpoint after five days of captivity inside Syria, in Cilvegozu, Turkey, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Engel told the Turkish news agency Anadolu that he and his colleagues are "very happy to be out" and they are "very tired." (AP Photo/Anadolu via AP TV) TURKEY OUT, TV OUT
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In this image made from video, NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel exits a car after crossing back into Turkey, after they were freed unharmed following a firefight at a checkpoint after five days of captivity inside Syria, in Cilvegozu, Turkey, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Engel told the Turkish news agency Anadolu that he and his colleagues are "very happy to be out" and they are "very tired." (AP Photo/Anadolu via AP TV) TURKEY OUT, TV OUT
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Houston Texans wide receiver Keshawn Martin (82) is tackled by Chicago Bears defensive back Zack Bowman during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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This Oct. 16, 2012 photo shows Chuck Lorre, executive producer of the hit sitcoms "Two and a Half Men," "The Big Bang Theory" and "Mike & Molly," posing before an interview in New York. Lorre is the author of a coffee table book, "What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter", a collection of 333 vanity-cards of Lorre's stories and witticisms. Proceeds from the book will benefit Lorre's Dharma-Grace Foundation. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
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Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney looks over the podium during a sound check at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
CES gadget show host drops CNET as awards picker
LOS ANGELES (
AP) — The industry group that hosts the annual gadget show known as International CES is dropping reviews website
CNET as the picker of its "Best of CES" awards. It says
CNET reviewers' objectivity was compromised by the site's corporate parent,
CBS Corp.
The Consumer Electronics Association also elevated the CNET writers' initial pick for the best gadget of the show, Dish Network Corp.'s Hopper with Sling, to co-winner along with a gaming tablet called Razer Edge.
CBS had annulled an earlier vote by CNET staff to award the Hopper because it is in a legal dispute with Dish over the product. The Hopper allows users to automatically skip commercials from prime-time TV shows, undercutting a key source of revenue for CBS, advertising.
After CBS removed the Hopper from contention, CNET staff re-voted and chose Razer Edge as the winner.
The association says it is looking for a new partner for its awards.
The association's president, Gary Shapiro, blasted CBS in an opinion article in the USA Today newspaper on Wednesday, saying its interference damaged its own editorial integrity. CBS also owns TV shows such as "60 Minutes," ''CBS Evening News" and "Face the Nation."
"It not only tainted the CES awards, but it hurt one of the world's classiest media companies," Shapiro wrote.
The association, which has hosted the gadget show since 1967, had contracted with CNET to pick the awards since the 2007 show. It normally chooses not to get involved, partly because of its relationship with its many exhibitors.
Mark Larkin, the general manager of CNET, said in a statement the website is "committed to delivering in-depth coverage of consumer electronics" and will continue to cover the show, as it has for more than a decade.
Dish appeared to bask in the controversy, which drew more attention to its device.
"We appreciate the International CES' decision to stand with the consumer in the acknowledgement of this award," said Dish CEO Joseph Clayton in a statement. "I regret that the award has come in the face of CBS' undermining of CNET's editorial independence."
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