Still Another Way To Watch TV

This week marks the debut of Aereo in Cincinnati.  Aereo is a new service that delivers local over-the-air TV channels via your Internet connection to a variety of digital devices and enables you to record, pause and fast forward the programs.  In essence, it is a personal antenna and DVR in the cloud.  Over the past week I have been testing Aereo and I have to say that I find it a simple and elegant service that should attract a significant subscription base.

When you sign up for Aereo you have access to all the local TV channels in Cincinnati.  By my count there are 24 TV channels now available to Cincinnatiarea viewers.  They include the main channels like WCET, WCPO, WLW as well as all the multicast channels now available with digital broadcasting.

To watch any program you go to the Aereo.com web site and, using the program guide, chose the program you want to watch or record.  You can watch live or choose to record a program selected from the on-screen guide up to two weeks in advance.

You can watch on your computer, tablet, smart phone and several other devices. Aereo allows up to five different devices to be used with a single account. The picture and sound quality are very good and there is a closed captioning setting.  By using Rokuor Apple TV, watching these channels on your large HDTVis easy.

Aereo has been rolled out in several other markets and has met with a flurry of legal battles from the networks and cable services.  The issue will be heard by the Supreme Court soon.  In the meantime Aereo has been able to win all of the lower court challenges.

Basic Aereo service costs $8.00 per month.  There is a $12.00 per month package that allows for recording more than one show at a time.  There is no long term commitment so you can cancel at any time.

Aereo is not for everybody since all of the TV stations offered can be received by most people using a TV and antenna.  For those who don’t want to pay high cable rates and have over-the-air reception problems, Aereo is perfect.  Also the service does provide an easy-to-use app on smart phones and tablets so you can really watch anywhere and anytime.  The cloud-based point and click DVR function is easy to use and ideal for people who may be somewhat digitally challenged operating a standard DVR

One of the ways Aereo gets around some of the regulations regarding program and network exclusivity is to restrict the use of Aereo to the specific local market area.  So if you take your Aereo enabled tablet or Smartphone with you when you go on vacation, you will not be able to watch the Cincinnati stations once you leave the five county Cincinnati Market.

Aereo is not for everyone but does provide an affordable and innovative option for watching TV.