Aereo TV Expands Service to Include PCs and Additional Web Browsers

By Rob Scott
October 19, 2012

While broadcasters continue to challenge the legality of Aereo, the TV-over-Internet service is expanding its availability.
“Aereo is still limited to residents of New York City, but it’s now available on additional devices including Windows computers and on a wider selection of Web browsers including Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer,” reports USA Today. “Before, access was restricted to selected Apple devices such as the iPhone and the iPad, as well as the Roku streaming set-top box.”
The company is expected to launch in additional markets in a few more months and may be available on Android devices by the end of this year.
“Aereo lets customers capture over-the-air broadcasts from 29 local channels for viewing on devices, with subscriptions starting at $8 a month,” explains the article. “Aereo has created a dime-sized TV antenna and crams hundreds and perhaps thousands of them into dishwasher-size boxes located at the company’s offices in Brooklyn. A customer who watches or records a show is temporarily assigned an antenna, which picks up the show and streams it over the Internet.”
Networks including Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming Aereo illegally copies and retransmits their content, but Aereo believes that assigning individual antennas to customers makes it legal.
A federal judge denied broadcasters a preliminary injunction to stop Aereo in July. However, the case is still pending.

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