Update on Aereo litigation

[Randolph Duke]

In the very near future (some people expect as soon as tomorrow), the U.S. Supreme Court will render it's decision on the Aereo broadcast litigation. The decision is potentially huge and, if the technology is allowed, it in my mind will be what sets off a massive wave of restructuring in college sports and well as radically change how we watch television. Below is the link to an article on the matter from today's Washington Post. I have pasted the money quotes for those wanting a quick read.

Essentially, Aereo could probably lead to the demise of local network affiliates. More importantly for sports fans, it could lead to the death of bundling, which is the key to the existence of individual conference networks. LHN or SECN would no longer be receiving $x per subscriber in the footprint of a given calbe provider. Instead, individual subscribers would pay for each individual channel they wanted. The article discusses the impact on the NFL, but its impact on college sports will be even greater.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/how-the-supreme-courts-ruling-on-aereo-could-change-how-we-watch-football/2014/06/17/b314ca20-ea91-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html

"If Aereo prevails in the ruling, which could come as soon as Thursday, the foundation of the NFL’s television business could crumble. The league has already signed billions of dollars worth of contracts with broadcasters and cable companies for the rights to air its games for the next seven years. But a thriving Aereo could help fans bypass the broadcasters, devaluing their expensive contracts with the NFL."

“Furthermore, the objective of Aereo and similar services is to take subscribers away from cable systems and satellite carriers and to attract the so-called ‘cord cutters,’ †they wrote, referring to customers who have canceled their cable subscriptions."

"The repercussions for the entire broadcast model could be massive if Aereo wins in court. It could mean the NFL’s Thursday night games on CBS could get streamed to the subscribers of Aereo, for example. That could force CBS to take its live shows off the broadcast airwaves and charge only for Internet streaming."

 

[doc longhorn]

In the very near future (some people expect as soon as tomorrow), the U.S. Supreme Court will render it's decision on the Aereo broadcast litigation. The decision is potentially huge and, if the technology is allowed, it in my mind will be what sets off a massive wave of restructuring in college sports and well as radically change how we watch television. Below is the link to an article on the matter from today's Washington Post. I have pasted the money quotes for those wanting a quick read.

Essentially, Aereo could probably lead to the demise of local network affiliates. More importantly for sports fans, it could lead to the death of bundling, which is the key to the existence of individual conference networks. LHN or SECN would no longer be receiving $x per subscriber in the footprint of a given calbe provider. Instead, individual subscribers would pay for each individual channel they wanted. The article discusses the impact on the NFL, but its impact on college sports will be even greater.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/how-the-supreme-courts-ruling-on-aereo-could-change-how-we-watch-football/2014/06/17/b314ca20-ea91-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html

"If Aereo prevails in the ruling, which could come as soon as Thursday, the foundation of the NFL’s television business could crumble. The league has already signed billions of dollars worth of contracts with broadcasters and cable companies for the rights to air its games for the next seven years. But a thriving Aereo could help fans bypass the broadcasters, devaluing their expensive contracts with the NFL."

“Furthermore, the objective of Aereo and similar services is to take subscribers away from cable systems and satellite carriers and to attract the so-called ‘cord cutters,’ †they wrote, referring to customers who have canceled their cable subscriptions."

"The repercussions for the entire broadcast model could be massive if Aereo wins in court. It could mean the NFL’s Thursday night games on CBS could get streamed to the subscribers of Aereo, for example. That could force CBS to take its live shows off the broadcast airwaves and charge only for Internet streaming."

I think there is an anti-trust issue in this, but I am a doctor and not a lawyer.

 

[Juan]

headline -- AEREO VIOLATING BROADCASTER COPYRIGHTS, U.S. SUPREME COURT SAYS
details later
 

 

[pringlelake]

Illegal

 

[Juan]

Vote was 6-3 against Aero
 
 
 
 
 
[sidenote --The Supremes also limited power of police in searching cellphones w/o warrant --  havent read it, so dont know if this reaches the NSA --  But, on the surface, this seems a sweeping endorsement of digital privacy.--
 "Modern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans the privacies of life. ----- The Court does hold that a warrantless search is permitted in exigent circumstances, which is always true for searches. That is limited, however. The Court gives the examples of child abduction and the threat of bombs being detonated........... The opinion is unanimous, although Alito files an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.]

 

money quote from the search/cell phone case --

 

[Randolph Duke]

Vote was 6-3 against Aero

[sidenote --The Supremes also limited power of police in searching cellphones w/o warrant --  havent read it, so dont know if this reaches the NSA --

 "Modern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans the privacies of life. ----- The Court does hold that a warrantless search is permitted in exigent circumstances, which is always true for searches. That is limited, however. The Court gives the examples of child abduction and the threat of bombs being detonated. ]

I saw that. Essentially they said the technology is not substantially different from a cable provider. That means Aereo will have to pay re-transmission fees and be subject to carriage agreements. We lost out on a big opportunity to have real competition with cable providers. I am curious how Aereo proceeds. I am also curious to see if this now gets John McCain's stalled legislation to legislatively end bundling moving forward again. 

 

[Juan]

I saw that. Essentially they said the technology is not substantially different from a cable provider. That means Aereo will have to pay re-transmission fees and be subject to carriage agreements. We lost out on a big opportunity to have real competition with cable providers. I am curious how Aereo proceeds. I am also curious to see if this now gets John McCain's stalled legislation to legislatively end bundling moving forward again.

My gut reaction is that they do have a fair point, even though i do not like the outcome. Need to actually read it.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Bummer!!!! 

RD, is this a step back for possible realignment?

 

[Randolph Duke]

Bummer!!!!

RD, is this a step back for possible realignment?

I think realignment is going to happen based on factors already in play, so I would say no, but this possibly changes the incentives of broadcasters to push realignment.

If Aereo would have been permitted, the NFL, NBA and MLB would have all pulled their broadcasts from network TV and put them on a subscriber channel. The same would have happened with college sports. This was a big decision for sports fans. It will be interesting to see what happens next. Now we wait for the O'Bannon decision.

 

[Sejjr]

This is not a surprising outcome. I don't think it will effect realignment at all.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

This is not a surprising outcome. I don't think it will effect realignment at all.

Agreed.  I don't think it really effects the P5's mindset or motivation to breakaway.

Let's face it, the NCAA is an outdated, bloated bureaucracy that has outlasted its usefulness.  Emmert has demonstrated that he's out of touch and ill-equipped to effectively police NCAA members.  It's a farce.  Unlike in the past, the NCAA doesn't negotiate media deals for anyone.  What value does the NCAA really add?

 

[Lord Vader]

The "warrant to search a cellphone" thing was something most were already doing.  What surprised me was it was Californians and Obama, the anti police establishment itself, which fought so hard against this.

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Good info in this thread. Thanks for the summary.