Aereo says its online broadcast streaming service will launch in the Denver metro region on 11/4. The Denver metro area includes 67 counties across Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming and more than 3.4 million consumers. Aereo’s announcement follows its expansion earlier this year to Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Salt Lake City, Houston, Dallas and Detroit. “We’re thrilled to be launching in the Mile-High City,” said Aereo CEO and Founder Chet Kanojia. “Denver is a growing and dynamic tech hub and the enthusiasm we’ve received from the community has been phenomenal. It’s clear that consumers want more choice and flexibility in how they watch television and they don’t want to be fenced into expensive, outdated technology. Aereo’s antenna/DVR technology brings the old-fashioned antenna into the 21st Century, providing consumers access to the over-the-air broadcast signals that belong to them. Aereo’s technology is a more simple, elegant and easy way to watch television — the way it should be. At Aereo, we believe consumers deserve better technologies and a better customer experience and we’re committed to delivering on both.”
In Denver, consumers will be able to use Aereo’s antenna/DVR technology to record and watch more than 40 over-the-air channels including major networks such as KCNC (CBS), KRMA (PBS), KMGH (ABC), KUSA (NBC), KBDI (PBS), KWGN (CW), and KDVR (FOX); special interest channels such as BounceTV, WeatherNation, MeTV, MyNetworkTV, AntennaTV and MHz Worldview; and foreign language channels such as Azteca, UniMás, V-me, LATV, UniVision and Estrella TV. In addition, consumers will also have the ability to add Bloomberg Television.
Aereo plans to announce additional launch dates for its expansion cities throughout the remainder of the year.
Aside from the legal fees Aereo is incurring in its copyright infringement suit with broadcasters and networks, The Wall Street Journal reports Aereo has another problem with expenses: making sure it can pay for the electricity it needs. While each of the company’s tiny antennas assigned to each subscriber use only five to six watts of power, it all adds up to a big monthly electric bill. For example, if the company were to hit its goal of 350,000 subscribers in NYC, it would need almost 2 megawatts of power, which could cost about $2 million per year, said the article.
RBR-TVBR observation: We’re not sure of Aereo’s monthly or yearly operations and administrative costs in NYC, but considering those numbers, it should still be able to make a healthy profit. If we consider just the minimum monthly subscription cost for each customer of $8, and multiply that by 350,000 monthly subscribers; and multiply that by 12 months, it comes out to be $33,600,000. If the power bill there is estimated at $2,000,000, Aereo still has $31,600,000 in yearly revenue there—without having to worry about retransmission fees (so far).
Good article.
Last I heard Aereo had around 100,000 subs in NYC and that was a “guesstimate” because they are a private company and don’t report numbers.
If broadcasters could come up with their own Aereo-killer they could put a huge dent into Aereo’s biz plan…not saying it will happen because of retrans addiction. Interesting to see when b’casters finally react.
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