On Wednesday, April 23, 2014 7:29:12 PM UTC-4, Home Guy wrote:
So this is what I don't get.



The company (Aereo - aereo.com) dedicates a small antenna (and, I guess,

tuner) to you that you can access over the internet for a small monthly

charge. This lets you watch what-ever TV channel the antenna can pick

up.



Now what I don't know is:



- is there really a market for watching TV on a cell phone or tablet?



It's not just a cell phone or tablet. You can stream it to any PC and also to devices that are connected directly to your TV. I guess the question is
how much and when the typical person would watch it. If people are
traveling, they might want to watch the local news. Or if some big story
breaks, I can see watching on a phone or tablet. But it wouldn't be
my main way of viewing, that's for sure. You'd also have to be on wifi,
or you'd run up mins real fast on the cell network.



- are you matched (geographically) to an antenna in your locale, so

that you are only allowed to stream a TV transmission that would

be equivalent to what you could receive OTA where you physically

are at that moment?


AFAIK, you can only watch stations in your local, home area, but you
can watch them from anywhere.






But my biggest question is:



If people really do want to watch TV on their mobile devices, then why

on earth hasn't the makers of these devices (phones, tablets) responded

years ago by putting ATSC tuners in them SO YOU CAN WATCH LOCAL TV

DIRECTLY OTA WITHOUT USING ANY INTERNET / DATA BANDWITDH ?



Seems like it would be a good idea.... for consumers. But for the
cell phone carriers, not so much. Instead of paying for data service
minutes to watch TV, you'd be watching it for free. That's probably
why you don't see it.



Does anyone have an explanation as to why the cell phone and tablet

market isin't sufficiently competitive such that some maker would have

raised the bar by including an ATSC tuner in at least some versions of

their products?


See the above.




How on earth can it make sense to stream live OTA tv to a portable

device when the device could have it's own friggen TV tuner built in?

See the above.


Now let's get to what I don't understand. The networks have their shorts
in a knot and brought this suit against Aero. What I don't get is what's
the big threat? The networks are putting this out over the air for free
and all you need is an antenna to receive it. They get paid for advertising
based on the number of viewers. The more viewers, the more $$$. I guess
what's threatened is that they are getting paid by cable companies who
carry their broadcasts. Which seems kind of funny too, no? With an
antenna you can get it for free, but to watch it on cable, you're paying
the fees that the network collects from the cable companies.