Aereo TV Upsets Networks with Online Television Streaming Service

Using a number of antenna farms to capture the broadcast signals of major television networks like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and others, an upstart company call Aereo plans to offer a service to consumers to relay the broadcasts by providing live streaming video of television to mobile devices and computers over the internet in real time. The television broadcasters are not pleased.

In this age of hundreds of cable channels, the major networks who were are the birth of television are still required to broadcast their signal, although now digital, over the airwaves for anyone to receive with an antenna for free. Aereo TV works by filling data centers, connected to the internet, with thousands of tiny antennas. Each antenna is controlled by a user when they login and allows them to watch, and even record, television via a mobile device or computer through the internet.

The founder of Aereo TV, Mr. Kanojia, was in front of Congress this week trying to sell the benefits of the paid streaming television service. The company recently won a lawsuit against networks trying to stop them claiming copyright infringement. In response to the streaming internet television from Aereo TV, officials from television networks, have threatened to move their programming into the paid television market of cable and satellite television.

In addition to traditional advertising revenues, local stations are earning a somewhat new revenue stream from ‘retransmission’ fees. These are fees charged to cable and satellite providers who are bundling local channels, in along with cable channels, for subscribers. Internet television solutions like Aereo TV, and others sure to follow, are a threat to this new and highly profitable source of revenue – currently estimated at over $2 billion annually.

Aereo TV comes is a variety of plans, including a free plan which gives you access to watch 1 hour of live TV over the internet each day. Perhaps one of the most popular plans for those on the go with an occasional need to catch the game, or a particular program, is their $1 plan with no commitments. Under this plan you just pay $1 for a 24 hour access period to the programming. While the service is currently only available in the metro New York area, the company is expanding. To request service in your area, visit them at: https://aereo.com/preregister.