Cable and broadcast nemesis, Aereo, today announced plans to launch its online television technology in the Chicagoland area on September 13, continuing the company’s nationwide rollout. The expansion to Chicago will cover 16 counties across Illinois and Indiana. Aereo’s service is currently available in the New York City, Boston and Atlanta markets.
Said Aereo CEO and Founder Chet Kanojia, “Consumers want more choice and flexibility when it comes to how they watch television and the enthusiastic response to our technology from people across the country has been humbling. At Aereo, we feel that we’ve built something meaningful for consumers and we’re proud of the work we’ve accomplished. However, there’s still much more to come as we continue our expansion into new cities throughout the summer and fall.”
With Aereo’s remote (cloud-based) antenna/DVR technology, viewers can pause, rewind and fast-forward any program that they are watching live, or save a program for future viewing. Chicago, viewers will have access to major network affiliates including; WLS-TV (ABC), WFLD-TV (FOX), WMAQ-TV (NBC), WBBM-TV (CBS) and WYCC (PBS), as well as other other-the-air special interest and foreign language channels. In addition, consumers can also add Bloomberg Television.
The Aereo platform works on smart phones, tablets and computers and is currently supported on iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Chrome, Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Safari, Opera, AppleTV (via airplay) and Roku devices. The company says that Android support will be available later this year.
Chicago Aereo membership will be available for viewers residing in the following Illinois counties; Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, La Salle, Lake, McHenry and Will counties and in Jasper, La Porte, Lake, Newton and Porter counties in Indiana.
Aereo membership begins at $8 per month, with optional upgrades that provide additional DVR storage.
