Aereo eyes Android app amid war with broadcasters
Chet Kanojia, founder and CEO of Aereo, Inc., shows a tablet displaying his company's technology(Photo: Bebeto Matthews, AP)
Story Highlights
- Android app available Oct. 22 but Aereo already works on iPad and laptops
- 'Variety' reports broadcasters will appeal to Supreme Court to shut it down
- Aereo available in 7 markets
Aereo said Thursday its TV streaming technology will be available later this month for mobile devices with the Android operating system, a move that will significantly broaden the controversial service's reach even as broadcasters fight to shut it down.
The Android app, available for download in the Google Play store on Oct. 22, will work only in the seven markets where Aereo has launched its $8-a-month service.
"This year, our focus has been on growing our footprint across the country," said Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia in a statement.
Launched last year and backed by billionaire media mogul Barry Diller, Aereo uses its mini-antennas, assigned to each subscriber, to transmit over-the-air TV station content. Each antenna receives the TV signal, and allows a subscriber to view or record the content through Aereo's streaming technology.
TV station owners have fought to ban Aereo, arguing in courts that the technology violates copyrights. Broadcasters also worry they will lose retransmission revenues -- the money cable and satellite companies pay broadcasters to carry their signals -- if viewers can watch TV directly online.
Aereo has faced numerous lawsuits from broadcasters but so far has been allowed to continue its service. A judge at the U.S. District Court in the District Massachusetts denied Thursday a motion by Hearst and its station, WCVB, for a preliminary injunction to stop Aereo's service in the area. But the judge also denied Aereo's request to move the case to New York, where the company has won legal challenges.
In April, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed a lower court decision that Aereo doesn't violate broadcasters' copyrights by streaming their programming via the Internet. Major broadcasters that were part of the lawsuit, including PBS, Fox and Univision, then asked the full Second Circuit court to review the decision but were refused in in July.
Broadcasters plan to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review lower court rulings, according to Variety[1]. Broadcasters must file the petition by Oct. 15.
Aereo is currently available in New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Miami, Houston and Dallas.
Aereo's technology works on laptops, desktop computers and devices running Apple's operating system. It's also available on AppleTV and Roku devices.