If Aereo Wins, Here’s a Plan B for Broadcasters

By Chris Ariens 

aereo_logo 304x200If Aereo loses its Supreme Court case, to be argued a week from today, it does not have a plan B.

Broadcasters, on the other hand, do. The Wall Street Journal reports today that CBS, one of the broadcasters that has sued to shut down the service, alleging that it steals their content, has a backup plan. CBS Corp. chairman Les Moonves has said the broadcast network could move to cable, preventing Aereo from taking the signal which now goes out over the air. Another option: beat Aereo at its own game. From the WSJ:

[A] person familiar with the situation said CBS has the ability to launch a service that would stream its programming over the Web simultaneously with its television broadcasts. CBS would charge a few dollars a month and show ads, the person said. Such a service would also likely offer on-demand programming. It could include Showtime, the CBS-owned premium cable channel, which would increase the subscription fee, the person said. CBS would use technology company Syncbak, in which it owns a minority stake, to power streaming of local TV stations’ signals over the Web, the person said.

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Katie Couric will be interviewing Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia. The interview will be on Yahoo! Thursday morning. And to learn more about Aereo, and its fight with broadcasters, we’ll be debating it at the TVNewser Show, two weeks from today: BIA/Kelsey SVP Mark Fratrik, Internet attorney Tim Bukher and U.S. Law Week’s Tom Taylor will join us. Click here for more information, and to register.

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