Aereo is about to expand its market beyond New York City after the company defeated a requested injunction ahead of a potentially precedent setting lawsuit regarding its rights to rebroadcast broadcast based TV signals. The plans for expansion were announced on Sunday by billionaire Aereo backer Barry Diller.
Speaking to Bloomberg Diller said the service plans to expand into other major markets over the next year and a half, allowing more users to capture and watch free-to-air TV networks from their iPads, Tablets, PCs and other mobile devices.
Aereo was sued in March 2012 after several broadcast networks claimed the company’s service constituted copyright infringement. The broadcasters asked for an injunction to block Aereo while the upstart filed a countersuit, arguing that its TV streaming service used one micro antenna for each customer and was therefore legal.
A judge this week ruled that the Aereo service can continue throughout litigation.
If you are unfamiliar with the service Aereo uses a high-definition antenna to capture TV signals from free-to-air broadcasts such as ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS and then sends those signals over the internet to a users devices. Aereo also offers an online DVR service which allows users to access their favorite shows at a later time.
Diller is extremely proud of his new service, even as he admits that a friend at a major broadcaster openly admitted to him that the networks stock prices have drooped by two percent as a direct result of the startup.
Will you take advantage of Aereo if it enters your area?
