Aereo Coming to Android Oct. 22

Cord-cutting startup Aereo announced that its long-awaited Android app will be available in Google Play on Oct. 22.

For the uninitiated, Aereo allows users to watch live broadcast TV from a phone, tablet, web browser, Roku or Apple TV. It's available in New York City, Boston, Miami, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Houston and Dallas, with more cities planned through the end of 2013 and into 2014.

The new Android app will be released as a public beta to users in Aereo markets. It will support phones and tablets running android 4.2 Jelly Bean or higher. Users will be able to connect their Aereo accounts to Roku boxes using the Android app.

"We know consumers have been waiting a long time for an Aereo Android app and today, we're happy to announce its release later this month," Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia said in a statement.

The Android app has been a long time coming. When I spoke with Kanojia back in August 2012, he assured me Android was on his radar. At the time, the challenge with Android support was with ensuring that the streaming protocols Aereo uses to deliver its content would work on Google's OS. In recent months, Android's codec support has improved significantly, and we assume that's why Aereo feels that it can release an app at this time.

Meanwhile, Aereo continues to face legal challenges against broadcasters.

Variety reports that broadcasters are planning to petition the Supreme Court to review lower court rulings that have kept Aereo operating in New York City. Meanwhile, Aereo just won a legal victory against broadcasters in Massachusetts.

As a service, Aereo raises fundamental questions about the nature of offering access to free over-the-air television. Aereo provides users with their own antennae over which to access over-the-air content. The difference is that the antenna is located in warehouse in Brooklyn and not on the roof of the customer's building.

Broadcasters argue this makes Aereo no different than a cable or satellite company, which means Aereo should be paying retransmission fees. Aereo argues that operating as a hosting system, especially when each antenna is used by just one customer, is no different than Cablevision's network DVR system. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2008 that Cablevision's network DVR system was not a violation of copyright law. The Supreme Court declined to hear appeals in that case.

Meanwhile, even if broadcasters lose at the court level, some have threatened to move to a pure pay model (cable, essentially), if companies like Aereo are allowed to exist. At NAB Show 2013, New Corp.'s president and COO Chase Carey threatened to pull Fox's free broadcast signal if Aereo succeeds in the courts.

Aereo, as a company and technology, represents the changing nature in television distribution in the digital age. Now that the service is coming to Android devices, it has the chance to resonate with more users.

What do you think of Aereo? Have you used the service? Let us know in the comments.

Image: Aereo

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