The big players of TV are a little
worried and it’s all because of a small company named Aereo, an upstart which
wants to change the way we view television. No wonder all the big firms from
NBC, ABC, CBS to Fox have all sued it but its CEO Chet Kanojia (who
incidentally is a native of Bhopal) is not worried at all for he is
absolutely sure of what he is doing. Aereo TV, simply put is an ‘online TV
service’. The modus operandi of the company is simple. Kanojia has made very
small antennas. Each user is assigned one antenna which grabs the broadcast-TV
signals from the air and with the help of a software those signals are aired to
the user. Not just this, the signal can be aired to any device which the user
opts for – his mobile, his PC, or even his TV set. What this translates for the
user is: a) he does not need to pay the hefty cable fees, and b) he can now
watch his favourite TV programme anywhere. He could be stuck in traffic and watch
it on his mobile, or in office on his PC. Kanojia saw a loophole in the
copyright act and made the most of it, which is why in spite of his company
being sued twice he seems undeterred and has in fact won both times. Not just
that, today he is sitting on a funding of $38 million with the help of which he
would spread his network, which is currently available only in New York, to 20
more cities.
Kanojia saw a gap in the system and
filled it up with his service. According to him, everything will soon migrate
to the Internet including TV. The youth today is more loyal to a TV programme
and not a TV channel. He wanted the freedom to watch it whenever and wherever
he pleased. Add to that the fact that he did not want to pay for the channels
he did not watch, but under the current system he had to pay for a package.
Aereo, on the other hand, gave him just what he wanted.