Even as Aereo faces a potentially crippling U.S. Supreme Court fight, the streaming television start-up is getting ready for a big expansion across the country.
“Getting ready to go hard is the focus at the moment,” Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia told the Herald. “We’re trying to line up a bunch of things in hope of a positive decision.”
Aereo is prepping for a massive rollout of its service in 50 cities across the country, but first it must make good on its promise of service to 22 cities, which was supposed to be complete by the end of last year. Aereo is in 13 cities right now — including Boston — but Kanojia said the company will add another three or four in the coming months. Aereo is headquartered in New York but most of the firm’s employees — about 80 — are in Boston.
Aereo has raised $97 million in venture funding, including $34 million in January.
“What’s the point of having money? If you’re going to lose, you don’t need the money, if you win you’d be a fool to have wasted the time,” Kanojia said about the decision to go ahead with the expansion despite the uncertainty of the court case.
Later this month, Aereo will go before the Supreme Court to defend itself against allegations from the major broadcasters that its service violates copyright law. Aereo’s antennas capture free over-the-air broadcasts, which are sent to users through the Internet. A decision will likely be announced in June.
Kanojia said his company, now accessible on smartphones, tablets and Roku streaming devices, is also working on supporting new devices, and will announce version 2.0 soon.
