CBS and FOX threaten to drop broadcast TV in response to Aereo

[deoxys]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/9/420...ponse-to-aereo

I've never even heard of Aereo, but apparently it is a service that can provide paying customers an antenna to attach to their computer to pick up broadcast signals to stream tv on the internet.

A few days ago FOX threatened to pull their broadcast TV as a nuclear option, and now CBS and Univision are stepping up to the plate saying they will do the same if something is not done about this service.


My reaction?

[Talon87]

What a joke. What are they going to fall back on if they do go off the air?

Option 1: go cable. This is just a stop-gap solution though, because even if all the networks did this and rendered Aereo worthless, someone (maybe even the same development squad) would create a new technology that taps into cable boxes in a legal manner (or else in an illegal but undetectable manner, e.g. some sort of splitter that the cable company can't discern) and achieves the same goal. The sort of people who are inclined to purchase an Aereo are the same sort of people who would be inclined to get a cable splitter, pipe cable TV into their PC through the back end, and stream it online too.

Option 2: go streaming on the Internet but for paying customers only. This would pretty much be akin to shooting themselves in the foot. People hate rigamarole, and streaming TV is generally still pretty shitty compared with cable television. People will generally not register for pay accounts for it. Some will (duh; look at the success of CrunchyRoll and the like), but the majority of the nation of 300 million?

Option 3: go streaming on the Internet publicly. Whiiiiiiiiiiich ... would be doing precisely what Aereo users were doing to begin with.

Option 4: close shop and go home.

If we go ahead and cross Options 2 and 3 off of the list for being silly, that leaves us with Option 1 -- "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE THE AEREO ¤_¤ JUST DEAL WITH IT" -- and Option 4.

In the 1980s, the Supreme Court sided with the American people and told the television companies to STFU about video cassette recorders as well as telling the radio stations to STFU about audio cassette recorders. Ever since that ruling, the media moguls have been fighting tooth and nail to get the courts to reverse their position. I suppose Aereo will just be the newest logbook entry in that long and storied fight.

[Loki]

So to stop people from watching their shows on the internet, they're going to stop people from watching their shows on TV?

What?

[Amras.MG]

Yeah pretty much all that. lulz.

[deoxys]

If I were a CEO of one of these companies, I wouldn't try fighting it. Technology is getting better, and people will always find ways to get what they want. Fighting it would be pointless and a waste of time, money, and energy.

Thus, why not try using it to your advantage? Study the product or services that appear to be undermining your company and figure out ways to appeal to that audience, perhaps even invest. Look at Spotify; It's a great answer to music piracy. An entirely free service with millions of songs and very limited ads. For the price of skipping a McDonald's meal once a month, you get it all ad-free plus mobile listening. See? Innovation. Same goes for Netflix and Hulu. People like convenience. The people using Aereo are obviously doing it for convenience or to watch shows streaming with friends online - so why not invest in the product and set up a neat service to work with it or something instead of getting butthurt and threatening company suicide?

If big media companies got with the fucking times on this kind of shit, we would probably have a lot of great products and services that are merely a pipedream right now.

[Loki]

Honestly though, Aereo is ripping off the broadcast companies. Cable and Netflix and Hulu all pay broadcasting fees to their respective industry partners to gain the rights to show their stuff. Aereo is basically stealing the free air waves and selling it for money. It would be like if I charged people for entering a public park.

While I know FOX and CBS are pretty much stabbing themselves, the fact that the courts sided with Aereo makes this one of their only courses of action. If FOX and CBS do become a cable only station, they better make some better shows because I doubt they'll be able to compete as well off free air-waves.

[deoxys]

Oh it's definitely ripping them off no question, but the thing is that now that it's a service that a lot of people use and now that it's going to begin getting more popular via Streisand Effect, the best thing to do would be to take advantage of it and work on a solution rather than threatening to shut down your services and punishing those who don't even know what it is.

[Loki]

While it's exceedingly stupid for them to shut down free broadcasting, the fact that legal action has effectively said Aereo has the right to steal free TV and sell it, it really does limit their options. They can continue paying lawyers to keep fighting in court. They could pay to create their own service to compete. Or they can cut Aereo at the source.

While there will be fallout for doing the last option, it's the most cost effective option. Lost revenue from lost ratings is at least not fueling their lost ratings given to Aereo and they still keep cable customers, which according to a February 2012 Nielson report, is roughly 90.4% of American consumers.