Aereo Plans September Launch for Dallas, Houston, Miami
It's a good time to be Aereo. With a contract dispute lingering between Time Warner Cable and CBS, Aereo's limited feature set has suddenly become a lot more relevant. Aereo streams live broadcast TV content to desktops browsers, iOS devices, Apple TVs, and Roku boxes, letting subscribers pause live TV or record it to a cloud DVR. With Time Warner customers cut off from CBS programming, Aereo offers an alternative. The service is in place in New York City, Atlanta, and Boston, and has announced an August 19 launch for Salt Lake City and a September 13 launch for Chicago. It now adds Dallas (September 23), Houston (September 16), and Miami (September 2) to its list of announced cities.
Aereo executives expect to launch the service in 20 markets during the first phase of expansion. While the Time Warner/CBS debacle is certainly giving Aereo a lift, the company isn't announcing subscriber numbers.
Aereo is backed by Barry Diller's IAC. Service starts at $8 per month for a 20-hour DVR or $12 per month for a 60-hour DVR. Broadcasters are keeping Aereo busy in courts, arguing that it violates copyrights, but pay TV disputes only encourage disgruntled viewers to try it for themselves (or just pirate what they want).
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