Aereo is an innovative technology platform that lets you watch Live Broadcast TV, Online. Perfect for anyone who is sick of dumping over $1000 a year for Cable or Dish TV, Aereo has quickly become the most intriguing Cable TV Alternative of 2013.
Aereo is a no small-time operation, behind the big investment is media billionaire Barry Diller and Chet Kanojia as Aereo Founder and CEO and their Online TV enablement strategy is brilliant. The way it works is, Aereo uses a data center in Brooklyn to build and mount a separate antenna for every customer they acquire. Then Aereo rents out that antenna to the customer, and passes the Live TV Broadcast to them through an Internet connection.
BREAKING NEWS: July 2014 – Aereo has pause their operations temporarily as they consult with the court and map out their next steps.
“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”
Charles Kettering, Innovator & Philanthropist
Table Of Contents
Finally a way to watch Live TV on the Internet
Cost: Aereo is offering this amazing services for under $10 a month. A price point that is extremely attractive, especially to the millions of Americans who are currently paying upwards of $100 a month for standard cable TV or dish services. Aereo offers over-the-air channels and Bloomberg TV over the Internet for $1 a day, $8 or $12 a month or $80 a year. There’s also a try-for-free option, limited to a single hour per day. Click here for more details.
How Good is the Picture Quality with Aereo?
Though the picture quality is supposed to be as good or better than an Antenna (which means High Definition), it greatly depends on your internet connection. As with all video streaming devices, it is highly recommended that you are hard-line connected and that you are not relying solely on WiFi.
Aereo
Where is Aereo Available?
Currently Aereo is only available in New York, but recently announced its 2013 expansion plans for 22 new US cities: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, AL, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Madison, WI, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, RI, Raleigh—Durham, NC, Salt Lake City, Tampa, Washington, DC.
What are the bandwidth requirements for Aereo?
The Low setting requires approximately 64.990kbps to stream video. This is well suited for 3G networks. The Medium setting requires about 1.4Mbps. The High setting requires 2.4Mbps and is best used only with high-speed broadband services.
What Devices are Compatible with Aereo?
Aereo can be accessed by any internet-capable device and does not require any additional cables or set-top boxes. Aereo works on desktop, PC, Mac, Tablet, iPad, Smart Phones – iPhones, TV-Connected Gadgets, Apple TV via Airplay and ROKU. As a value add, you also get an internet-based digital video recorder (DVR), allowing you to watch your favorite shows, on your favorite devices, when time permits.
Aereo in the News
Within just a few days of launching in February 2012, a collection of major broadcasters including CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox, sued Aereo, demanding that the government pull the plug on Aereo for infringing on their copyrighted material. These big networks accused Aereo of unlawfully copying and re-transmitting their programming over the internet. Fortunately, the judge overseeing the case decided and agreed with Aereo’s argument that they are not unlawfully re-transmitting the programs. Instead, they just allow viewers to pull content that’s already available on public airwaves, no different than a DVR.
As you can imagine, these major broadcast networks are infuriated with this ruling and are threatening to do whatever they need to, to prevent Aereo’s continued expansion. Many industry experts consider these to be hollow threats and expect Aereo to grow into a legitimate Cable TV Alternative.
Holy Grail of Cable TV Alternatives
I for one am ecstatic about the idea of accessing Live TV via an Internet connection. Living in California, Aereo is not yet available, so I will continue to use my trust Mohu Leaf to get HD Channels for FREE, but when it is, I will be definitely signing up. If you are as excited as I am, follow us using your favorite social platform – and I will keep you informed as this company grows and expands.
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9 replies on “Aereo Review: Can They Fight Back to Replace Cable? ”
BREAKING NEWS: July 2014 – Aereo has pause their operations temporarily as they consult with the court and map out thier next steps
Read the letter from Chet Kanojia, CEO of Aereo
[link removed]
“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”
Charles Kettering, Innovator & Philanthropist
I may try this when it comes to Philly. My Mohu Leaf is terrible. Picture quality is better than cable…when it is not freezing or dropping out, or worse, giving me a blank signal where the screen is black.
Lastly, it keeps falling off the wall.
Sorry to hear that Rick. I have been using my Lead for years now, love it, and recently upgraded to the Ultimate because it comes with an amplifier. I have also been installing Mohu’s outdoor antenna with lots of success. If you end up finding an antenna that does works better for you please let us know.
I live in an apt. complex and cannot use an outdoor antenna.
Any update on Aereo’s expansion? i’m tired of paying unwatched channels on my cable TV…
So far, the broadcaster’s arguments against Aereo have failed to win the support of courts based in New York, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denying their request to halt Aereo’s business while the case goes to court and most recently refusing to reconsider that decision again. The courts determined that streaming a broadcast was not a public performance and did not constitute copyright infringement. Good news for Aereo, not so good for the networks who are trying to navigate an increasingly confusing television broadcast landscape.
Though it has kept quiet about its usership growth, Aereo has been rapidly deploying to new cities. In January it said it would move to 22 total cities across the U.S. over the course of this year. It now operates in New York, Boston, and Atlanta, with Chicago, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Houston, and Miami on the way.
Aereo is placing its tiny antennas in Dallas, Houston, and Miami in September. Aereo will be available in Miami Sept. 2, Houston Sept. 16, and Dallas Sept. 23.
I can’t wait for Aereo’s expansion, $8 – $12/month for online TV is so modest, but my concern is the system requirement, what should be my bandwidth?
Great Question: What are the bandwidth requirements for each Video Quality setting?
Answer: The Low setting requires approximately 550kbps to stream video. This is well suited for 3G networks. The Medium setting requires about 1.4Mbps. The High setting requires 2.4Mbps and is best used only with high speed broadband services.
Why don’t you talk about FilmOn TV? I use their App on my computer and get hundreds of live streaming channels, they aren’t local but I get lots of english language world wide channels, and it is totally free.