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Aereo unveils free trial and new prices for its NYC-based internet TV service (video)
Broadcast-streaming startup Aereo is busting out tweaked price plans and a free trial for New Yorkers to try the service gratis for an hour a day. $8 per month will buy you unlimited access, live pause, rewind and 20 hours online DVR, while $12 a month doubles your storage allocation to 40 hours. Annual customers can pay $80 (plus tax, naturally) to get a deep discount off the monthly price, but for the commitment-phobic viewer, 24-hours access can be purchased for a dollar, or you can try the service for an hour each and every day without need of a sign up. Unfortunately, due to legal wrangling, it's only available within the boundaries of New York City on any iOS, OS X, AppleTV or Roku devices. There's PR and Video after the jump if you're yet to be convinced -- but think, now you catch all of Good Morning America as you walk down Broadway.
Aereo avoids a preliminary injunction, keeps its antenna to internet TV service on the air for now
While the battle between Aereo, a service that brings OTA TV broadcasts to the internet, and the broadcasters that began suing it before it even launched continues, a judge ruled today against a request for a preliminary injunction to shut it down. Reuters reports that the basis for the decision is that while the broadcasters demonstrated they faced "irreparable harm", Aereo too faced harm from a potential shutdown, and the balance did not tip heavily enough in the broadcasters favor. So, for now the subscription feeds from those microantennas to NYC residents shelling out $12 a month will continue -- we'll wait see if the upstart streamer's streak continues.
TV stations predictably sue Aereo over antenna-to-internet streaming plans
We had to wonder if Aereo / fka Bamboom would actually be able to launch its $12 / month antenna-based live TV over the internet service before the networks tried to sue it out of existence and the answer is in: no. Ahead of Aereo's planned March 14th launch, AllThingsD reports several New York Area broadcasters including Fox and PBS have filed suit in US District Court to stop it from getting off the ground. Put simply, they don't believe copyright law allows Aereo to retransmit their OTA broadcasts on the internet without obtaining a license from them to do so, whether it uses one large antenna or an array of tiny antennas (pictured above) -- one for each subscriber -- as it says it will. Clearly Aereo disagrees, however we don't recall that argument working out so well for Zediva. Hit the source link to read the entire complaint in PDF form for yourself or just peep a press release from the National Association of Broadcasters after the break, we'll let you know if Aereo has any response.Update: Check out Aereo's response, also included after the break. Just as predictably, it "does not believe that the broadcasters' position has any merit and it very much looks forward to a full and fair airing of the issues."
