Aereo is set to launch in Boston tomorrow and already has its sights on another market: Atlanta. The online streaming service that is getting on the networks’ nerves is set to launch in Atlanta in June.
TechCrunch reports that Aereo will launch in Atlanta on June 17 for pre-registered users. It will be open to the public on June 24. That’s a month after it launches in Boston, where pre-registered users will get it tomorrow and general access starts on May 30.
Like the Boston market, which covers Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, the Atlanta market will cover the city itself and counties in Georgia and North Carolina. Aereo has already been launched in the New York market and plans to be in 22 cities by the end of the year.
Aereo is a service that takes over-the-air broadcasts and streams it online. According to Deadline, the company also changed its pricing structure, now charging just $8 a month for unlimited access and 20 hours of DVR storage. For $12 a month, DVR storage jumps to 60 hours.
Aereo’s prices are so low because it doesn’t pay licensing fees to the networks and content producers. This is why many of the major over-the-air networks have threatened to go pay-TV exclusive. Senator John McCain introduced a bill that would punish the networks for doing that, saying it would hurt Americans who can’t pay for pay-TV subscriptions.
ABC is the first network to challenge Aereo with its own live streaming app, which was announced on Monday.
image: Aereo.com