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Flush with $38 million in financing, Aereo, the startup that brings the TV antenna to the internet is expanding to 22 cities in the USA after launching in New York City.

Aereo connects local TV broadcast signals to I.P. enabled devices such as computers, tablets and smart phones so viewers can watch local TV anywhere including NBC, CBS, ABC a host of other channels, anything that is transmitted via local broadcast signals. No word yet on if Aereo is expanding to Canada.

Backed by media veteran Barry Diller, Aereo has the potential to be a disrupter for the cable news business because it offers cheap service, you can watch local TV on most devices,  and it has recording capabilities to boot.

The price for Aereo starts $1 for 24 hours and goes up to $80 a year for the unlimited plan.

 

Increasingly, startups and more established new media companies are gnawing into the revenues of the big cable services providers. Services like Netflix,  Amazon,  and iTunes  provide high quality on demand TV shows and movies.

Now, Aereo, is targeting another niche local TV. So, theoretically unless you are die hard sports fan (ESPN), you can get your local news, broadcast shows, a lot of big ticket sports, through a combination servies like Aereo and, say Netflix.

Understandably, broadcasters are not happy and the big broadcasters supported by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have filed a lawsuit claiming copyright infringement.

The position of Aereo in all of this is summed up CEO Chet Kanojia   “What is at stake is whether a consumer’s right to access broadcast television for free, via an antenna and to record that content for private use, is still meaningful.  If consumers cannot take advantage of current and innovative technology, that right becomes hollow.

There are certain things we take for granted as Americans. One of those things is free access to over-the-air broadcast television and the ability to record and watch our programs.”

Aereo uses an ingenious (its critics would say diabolical) technology that leverages a “micro-antenna” for each user (somewhat similar to a home antenna) thereby getting around the notion of “sharing” broadcast signals. An initial ruling said Aereo could continue to operate despite the lawsuit which ultimately lead to the $38 million in series B financing, and now to Wednesday’s expansion announcement.

Kanojia told Bloomberg news that once it successfully expands in the USA it plans to hit global markets, presumably Canada.

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The television and broadcast industry in Canada are, simply put, a bloody mess and it may only get worse if Hulu fully flexes its muscles.

On the one hand you have the CRTC and the broadcasters squabbling over the fate and financing of local television

On the other hand, you have the most recent report from Comscore on Canadian online video viewing habits – it is through the roof. According to Comscore 21 million Canadians viewed 3.1 billion videos online in February 2009. That works out to about 10 hours per month per Canadian a 53% jump. The vast majority used Google or Youtube (53%  share) , followed by MSN (1.8%) and Yahoo(1.5%)

The only Canadian media company  to register was CTVglobemedia at 0.8%. Granted Canadian companies do use Yahoo and MSN as distribution channels for their content.

However, none of the broadcasters as far as I can tell are contemplating collaborating on a Hulu type model to meet the challenge of the Youtube.  Hulu by the way is now the number 3 video site in the USA, leap frogging past Yahoo.

Hulu of course is not officially available in Canada but it is easy enough to access by downloading an easily available proxy.

One of the reasons Hulu is not available are those pesky things called contracts – between US producers and networks and the Canadian Media companies.  Territorial restrictions in the broadcast contracts (many of which include digital rights)  prevent Hulu from streaming into Canada – a potentially lush secondary market.

If I was an executive over at Hulu here are the questions and calculations I would be making

1) When do these contracts expire? And are the digital rights the distributors hold negotiated in perpetuity? If so, who ever gave that up committed the biggest blunder in media history.

2) If Hulu can actually secure digital rights  can they then  stream  directly into Canadian households, while granting broadcast rights to the Canadian Networks for those shows? (likely not)

3) At what stage will streaming directly into Canadian household become more lucrative than negotiating these contracts?

Now, none of this will happen overnight but there will soon come a day when the delivery of those American movies and TV shows will make sense economically and technologically – but for those contracts it already does make sense.

The only thing the Canadian Broadcasters can do is somehow convince Hulu that they can serve the exact same function for online sector as they do currently for the television sector -  as a reseller of American content.

In the short term Hulu may well work out a deal with distributors  but in the long term I wouldn’t bet on it.

If they fail to come terms or if Hulu eventually phases out Canadian Broadcasters out of the equation? What will be the future of  the Canadian Private Broadcasting?

Meanwhile, I use the proxy server, and stream Hulu on my HD TV and more more of my friends do exactly the same thing.

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Corporate Espionage, Undercover Invistagative Journalism, Crazy Voyeur check out this new device – a very discreet usb camera that fits in your tie.

I would love to do a whole TV project leveraging the whole new range of  mini cameras out there. This particular device brouth to you by the clever people at Thanko

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I have been thinking about my computer. Now I have a big massive laptop (a Dell XPS) at work and a netbook I use for travel and other things. Now, at home ( think downtown condo) the space is limited and the netbook was limited and I had no TV (you know the drill I am working on a complete digital solution)….and I am getting awfully close.

Here is what I did.

1. Got a LG HD 47′ LCD that had hdmi inputs, usb inputs, and any other type of input one can think of.

2. Then it came time for the BluRay player. I got the PS3 and installed Linux/ Ubuntu. Had to get some extra plugins and modify ubuntu’s settings to make it speed up. I chose the PS3 because I like to play sports game occasionally and of course getting a BluRay player and gaming system, and a computer for just under $500 is not bad.

3. Then installed hotspot shield so I can watch Hulu in Canada and then added a wireless keyboard.

So now I can watch HD from my TV or from online streaming, or from Blu Ray. And  I can browse the web, work on documents and then I can go play games all with a pretty nifty integrated system. (disappointed that skype won’t work on ubuntu PS3 though).

My question is why?

Why did I have to go to all this trouble?  Why has Sony, or LG or whoever figured out that if you simply sold an HD TV that had Blu Ray and a computer processor and a bunch of usb ports you would have a winner?

I don’t get it? Is it because they don’t want to cannibalize their product lines?

Anyways, I like to have the lean forward experience of the computer and the lean back experience of television all in place – all though I read good old fashioned books more than anything else.

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