Aereo

[webmaster]

I just received an invitation to join an interesting service called Aereo. It lets you watch all broadcast channels in an area through the internet. Right now they are only offering the NYC and Boston areas. Boston was just added. You can watch all the broadcast channels for your area anywhere on the internet.

What I thought was interesting is that they provide a small antenna for every user and just transmit the signals directly to you over the internet with DVR service. Having an antenna for each user lets them avoid fees since it is a free over-the-air broadcast and they are just passing it to you through the internet instead of a wire.

This does not provide cable channels but is an interesting new option for people in areas of poor reception.

[Merrymeeting]

Aereo has been decribed as a potential "disruptive technology" in that it could substantially change the future of video broadcasts, cable, networks, etc.

However, there have been, and most likely will continue to be, many court battles over their business model. It'll be interesting to watch (pun intended)

For some who may not be aware, if you have purchased a "Smart" TV over the past few years, you essentially have Roku-like capabilities already in your set. Namely, you can stream Netflicks, Hulu, Amazon, etc to your TV if it is connected to the internet.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Merrymeeting

Aereo has been decribed as a potential "disruptive technology" in that it could substantially change the future of video broadcasts, cable, networks, etc.

However, there have been, and most likely will continue to be, many court battles over their business model. It'll be interesting to watch (pun intended)

For some who may not be aware, if you have purchased a "Smart" TV over the past few years, you essentially have Roku-like capabilities already in your set. Namely, you can stream Netflicks, Hulu, Amazon, etc to your TV if it is connected to the internet.

HDMI ports in TV sets have made it easy to use the TV as your computer monitor. I used to use RCA and "S" cables before HDMI became the way to go. I stream Netflex and Amazon prime from my Kindle Fire HD to my TV for all my videos.

[TiltonBB]

I inquired about Aereo and got the following answers:

1. Aereo technology can be compared to the HD antenna you would buy and set up in your home. As with your home antenna you would need to to be in the market area to watch the channels available in that area. (In other words you couldn't take the box to Florida and watch the Boston stations)

2. Our membership plans are month to month and there’s no long-term commitment required.

3. You can watch Live TV unlimited, anytime with either memberships, the only difference is the Cloud DVR storage space.

4. Our video streams 720p at its highest quality.

I hope this helps anyone trying to decide if they would like it.

[Bizer]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

I inquired about Aereo and got the following answers:

1. Aereo technology can be compared to the HD antenna you would buy and set up in your home. As with your home antenna you would need to to be in the market area to watch the channels available in that area. (In other words you couldn't take the box to Florida and watch the Boston stations)

2. Our membership plans are month to month and there’s no long-term commitment required.

3. You can watch Live TV unlimited, anytime with either memberships, the only difference is the Cloud DVR storage space.

4. Our video streams 720p at its highest quality.

I hope this helps anyone trying to decide if they would like it.

I find this a bit confusing. I do not have cable. I have a 2-foot antenna on my roof. I don't see how an Aereo antenna the size of a quarter can pick up signals as well as my Yagi. Besides, if the station is broadcasting in 1080i, then I receive the signal in 1080i. How can they down-convert it to 720p unless they're really broadcasting their own signal over the internet (and the pseudo-antenna is a legal loophole).

I love FREE TV. Most people do not realize that over-the-air (OTA) TV is hi-def. The only caveat is sports. If you love to watch professional sports (and I don't), you only get Sunday network football and other sports playoff games. If you like watching the Bruins, Celtics, RedSox regular season games, they're not OTA.

[diz]

Originally Posted by Bizer

I find this a bit confusing. I do not have cable. I have a 2-foot antenna on my roof. I don't see how an Aereo antenna the size of a quarter can pick up signals as well as my Yagi. Besides, if the station is broadcasting in 1080i, then I receive the signal in 1080i. How can they down-convert it to 720p unless they're really broadcasting their own signal over the internet (and the pseudo-antenna is a legal loophole).

I love FREE TV. Most people do not realize that over-the-air (OTA) TV is hi-def. The only caveat is sports. If you love to watch professional sports (and I don't), you only get Sunday network football and other sports playoff games. If you like watching the Bruins, Celtics, RedSox regular season games, they're not OTA.

The antennae are in a data center. You get the video stream over the Internet. You are literally renting an antenna from them.

[Bear Islander]

Originally Posted by Bizer

I find this a bit confusing. I do not have cable. I have a 2-foot antenna on my roof. I don't see how an Aereo antenna the size of a quarter can pick up signals as well as my Yagi. Besides, if the station is broadcasting in 1080i, then I receive the signal in 1080i. How can they down-convert it to 720p unless they're really broadcasting their own signal over the internet (and the pseudo-antenna is a legal loophole).

I love FREE TV. Most people do not realize that over-the-air (OTA) TV is hi-def. The only caveat is sports. If you love to watch professional sports (and I don't), you only get Sunday network football and other sports playoff games. If you like watching the Bruins, Celtics, RedSox regular season games, they're not OTA.

They have thousands of antenna in a location where they can pick up the TV signals off air. They rent you one of those antenna and connect you to it over the internet.

It's really just legal trickery. They are not connecting you to the TV stations. They are connecting you to your own personal antenna so you can get the signal. A cute way around the FCC.

[patman]

Originally Posted by Bear Islander

It's really just legal trickery. They are not connecting you to the TV stations. They are connecting you to your own personal antenna so you can get the signal.

Zediva tried that with DVDs to provide new releases well in advance of any of the premium channels, which were bound by agreements to delay the showings to promote DVD sales. They bought a boatload of DVD players and new DVD releases, you could rent a DVD and a player from them, they'd load the disc into the machine and transmit the show to you over the internet. They argued it was effectively just a reaaaaly long cable from the DVD player to your screen, and they were following the same business model that allowed other DVD rental businesses to exist.

It didn't end well for them in court, as I (unfortunately) suspect it won't for Aereo.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...8m-shuts-down/

[webmaster]

It will be interesting to follow the legal sparring. They have apparently won some and lost some. They were blocked in LA but not in NYC. This is from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals April 2013 decision which affirmed a lower court decision denying the major networks' motion for a preliminary injunction barring Aereo from transmitting recorded broadcast television programs to its subscribers:

"We conclude that Aereo’s transmissions of unique copies of broadcast television programs created at its users’ requests and transmitted while the programs are still airing on broadcast television are not 'public performances' of the Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works under Cablevision. As such, Plaintiffs have not demonstrated that they are likely to prevail on the merits on this claim in their copyright infringement action. Nor have they demonstrated serious questions as to the merits and a balance of hardships that tips decidedly in their favor. We therefore affirm the order of the district court denying the Plaintiffs’ motion."

I wonder what "hardships" would be created by Aereo providing an internet antenna? The court of appeals didn't seem to be convinced that there was one.

[patman]

Originally Posted by webmaster

I wonder what "hardships" would be created by Aereo providing an internet antenna? The court of appeals didn't seem to be convinced that there was one.

I think this one will hinge on ad revenue. Aereo is in between the signal and the end user, and can therefore inject/overlay/delete ads in the stream. Time Warner does (did?) that too though, so it'll be amusing to see the double-standard arguments. (I remember seeing many commercials that didn't quite sync properly with the ones they were overlaying, so you'd see a brief bit of the other ad at the beginning or end.)

This is one of those 'if they were smart' situations. If they embraced the change, they could influence it and benefit from it. Instead, they'll go kicking and screaming to bankruptcy court.

[diz]

Originally Posted by patman

I think this one will hinge on ad revenue. Aereo is in between the signal and the end user, and can therefore inject/overlay/delete ads in the stream. Time Warner does (did?) that too though, so it'll be amusing to see the double-standard arguments. (I remember seeing many commercials that didn't quite sync properly with the ones they were overlaying, so you'd see a brief bit of the other ad at the beginning or end.)

This is one of those 'if they were smart' situations. If they embraced the change, they could influence it and benefit from it. Instead, they'll go kicking and screaming to bankruptcy court.

I always thought those clipping issues were related to local advertisers' deals with the cable companies. Like when you see an ad for your downtown bank on Comcast - they play an ad targeted to the city or town. I don't think Aereo is like that. They don't have license agreements with any of the content providers. They're just saying they are renting an antenna to you for your personal use.

[wifi]

I'm really confused, I suppose I should use Google (I prefer personal knowledge than someone surfing for answers), but maybe there is someone here with personal knowledge. Is the the stated "antenna" something physically you mount on your house, or is it a "virtual" antenna fed by the internet ?

TIA

[Bear Islander]

Originally Posted by wifi

I'm really confused, I suppose I should use Google (I prefer personal knowledge than someone surfing for answers), but maybe there is someone here with personal knowledge. Is the the stated "antenna" something physically you mount on your house, or is it a "virtual" antenna fed by the internet ?

TIA

Neither.

There is a real antenna but it is not at your house. Picture hundreds of thumbnail size antenna on a circuit board. Then picture hundreds or thousands of these circuit boards in a room that is in a good location to pick up a strong signal. They could have a million of the tiny antenna in that room. You pay them to connect you to just one of those antenna and you pick up the signal over the internet.

The FCC will not allow them to connect you to the TV stations signal without the permission of the station. However they are not connecting you to the TV station they are connecting you to a tiny antenna perfectly placed to pick up the TV stations signal off air.

Essentially they are only renting your own personal remote antenna. At least that is their legal theory.

[Pineedles]

How does that disclaimer you often hear during a Red Sox game, i.e. "Any use, rebroadcast of the game can not be done without the express permission, etc. etc.", figure into "rebroadcasting from the antennae?

[Bear Islander]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

How does that disclaimer you often hear during a Red Sox game, i.e. "Any use, rebroadcast of the game can not be done without the express permission, etc. etc.", figure into "rebroadcasting from the antennae?

There is no rebroadcasting in this scenario. The little TV antenna receives, it does not broadcast or rebroadcast. Or at least that is what Aereo will claim. We are kind of splitting very fine hairs here.

As example, say my house is close to a TV transmitter tower. I put an antenna on my roof and run a long cable to your house. Now say instead of the long cable I video stream it between our houses over the internet. As far as I am aware there is no FCC violation in doing this. The FCC may have a different opinion however.

[webmaster]

Originally Posted by Bear Islander

There is no rebroadcasting in this scenario. The little TV antenna receives, it does not broadcast or rebroadcast. Or at least that is what Aereo will claim. We are kind of splitting very fine hairs here.

As example, say my house is close to a TV transmitter tower. I put an antenna on my roof and run a long cable to your house. Now say instead of the long cable I video stream it between our houses over the internet. As far as I am aware there is no FCC violation in doing this. The FCC may have a different opinion however.

This made me think about my Slingbox. I can view all the cable tv channels that come into my house anywhere on the internet. That would seem to be private "rebroadcasting" and I'm pretty sure it's completely legal. With individual antennas and accounts it would seem that Aereo is doing something very similar.

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by webmaster

This made me think about my Slingbox. I can view all the cable tv channels that come into my house anywhere on the internet. That would seem to be private "rebroadcasting" and I'm pretty sure it's completely legal. With individual antennas and accounts it would seem that Aereo is doing something very similar.

In the case of the Slingbox, it's all private, you're essentially providing a service to yourself, and you're already a subscriber of something at at least one location.

With Aereo, the "source" is an antenna, in a location that is not your "home" in any way. Additionally, there are significant technical issues over whether or not those little antennas are *actually* picking up a signal, or just there as a theoretical item to base their claims and business model off of.

Alongside this, we're seeing more talk again about ala carte CATV programming options. I think the next 10 years are going to be fairly disruptive to the entrenched broadcast media businesses.

[patman]

Originally Posted by diz

I don't think Aereo is like that. They don't have license agreements with any of the content providers.

They're not like that now, but you can bet the signal originators are worried about that in the future, and want to nip this in the bud. Tivo let you skip commercials...originally there was no modification, but now it puts up ones of its own as you FF past them.

[nicole]

We signed up for the free month of Aereo and used it over the past weekend through our ROKU-we have had ROKU for a few years now. We have Direct TV and have been happy with them but my husband is one who always wants to try out new tech things. You basically get whatever they can pull in from their antennae in Boston(so NO WMUR if that is important to you). The only extra is the Bloomberg cable channel because they have a contract with Aereo. I have read articles that they are in talks with other cable channels to perhaps enter into a contract but no specific channels were named.


So far we have recorded and watched recordings as well as watching live television. we enjoy it. We are going to use it for a while and decide it we keep it or not. At this point in time, it would not be a replacement for DIRECTV but an addition to it.


I think the Aereo officially launches tomorrow, we signed up a few months ago for the early invite.

[Merrymeeting]

Review of Aero in today's Boston Globe, including indications of the legal battles to come.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/...amp=newsletter

[newbie]

https://aereo.com