There's no "Plan B" for Aereo: It either wins its copyright battle with broadcasters in the Supreme Court battle or it disappears from the video landscape, CEO Chet Kanojia said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
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Kanojia |
"There is no plan," Kanojia said when asked about an alternate plan during the interview. "If we don't succeed, despite our best efforts and the good law being on our side, it would be a tragedy. But it is what it is."
While Kanojia has held out an olive branch in terms of a potential industry partnership of some sort, that would probably have to wait until the court rulings play out. And it seems unlikely that a cash-strapped Aereo could afford it anyway.
The deck seems stacked against Aereo, which, if it wins, could alter the entire broadcasting model of charging for retransmission of broadcast signals. Earlier this month the Justice Department threw its support behind broadcast networks and noted the reversal of a lower court's decision in favor of the startup, saying that the decision "need not call into question the legitimacy of innovative technologies that allow consumers to use the Internet to store, hear, and view their own lawfully acquired copies of copyrighted works."
The Justice Department apparently sided with broadcasters in claiming that Aereo gives consumers access to copyright content and doesn't pay licensing fees for that content.
For an $8 monthly fee Aereo subscribers get access to local broadcast programs received via an over-the-air antenna and streamed to their device. They can also record and play back programming via a cloud-based DVR, and can increase the amount of recording time (and add a second tuner) for $12 monthly.
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Source: Bloomberg Television |
For more:
- Bloomberg Television has this interview
Related articles:
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CBS' Moonves: We may go off-air if Aereo prevails
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Aereo suffers legal setback, continues expansion
Updated March 26 to correct subscription pricing.