[untog]

Because cable companies pay broadcast companies to redistribute broadcast content - it's a major source of income for the broadcast companies. The cable companies said that if Aereo were allowed to get away with what they were doing then they'd do the same thing themselves.

[discardorama]

So Aereo was screwed because _cable_ companies decided to overpay? Can you imagine if you bought a car, and then the dealership comes back to you for more money because your neighbor paid much more for the same model?

[untog]

Aereo was screwed over because _cable_ companies were legally mandated to pay for broadcast content, and Aereo skirted that law.

[baddox]

So a completely unrelated third party has a completely separate deal with content producers that has nothing to do with the legal free OTA broadcasts. Still doesn't add up.

[psychometry]

OK, but do you understand that cable companies primarily provide cable channels as their service? You're comparing apples to oranges.

[apaprocki]

Aereo's model wasn't limited to OTA. It wasn't publicized a lot, but Bloomberg TV was the first non-OTA channel to stream over Aereo.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB100014241278873239815045781...