TiVo Believes They Can Legalize Aereo's Business Model
posted Saturday May 16, 2015 by Scott Ertz
After Aereo's Supreme Court loss and corporate shutdown, the company's trademarks and customer list were purchased by TiVo out of bankruptcy. At the time, it seemed odd that TiVo, an established brand, would be interested in the trademarks of a defunct startup, but TigerDirect bought the trademarks of both Circuit City and CompUSA out of bankruptcy, so who were we to argue?
The company's plans for those assets came to light, at least out of the shadows, during an interview with Tom Rogers, TiVo's CEO last week. He said that the company was working on a product that would give cord cutters the ability to DVR and stream OTA content, going so far as to describe the product as "kind of the Aereo model, done legally and better." There is a problem with that business model, however: The Supreme Court of the United States ruled the practice illegal.
So, how on Earth does TiVo plan to revise the business model to make it legal? It's all guesses at this point, though a spokesperson for the company did say,
Yes, they are currently developing a product and although they are not releasing any details, they plan to hold a significant event in San Jose in late July to discuss it.
So, we won't have to wait too long to get the answers to our questions. The likely answer is that TiVo is planning on paying transmission fees to the affected broadcasters, though there is no real telling how they might come to a consensus about audience size and overall fees. It is also unknown whether the broadcasters will even be willing to discuss this possibility, as several of them have introduced their own branded version of this service, including ABC, CBS and NBC. There is also Sling to compete with, which offers cable options in addition to the networks.
