Of no surprise is that many of these names are in the phone/tablet and cloud arena. One however that I am very interested in watching is the lawsuit between Aereo and large broadcasters (FOX, CMCSA, CBS and DIS). Little, tiny underdog Aereo won the initial round in court however an appeal to the Supreme court ruling later this year is a make or break for broadcasters who typically do not charge for local channels for those with antennaes.
I actually find it a thing of beauty that Aereo (who just began it's service in Cincinnati yesterday; it's eleventh U.S. city), saw that flaw and utilized it to their revenue model benefit. Broadcasters are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they begin to "charge" for local with an antennae (pay for local tv?), the risk losing millions (of buying Americans) who will simply obtain local channels through their cable provider......and we will witness the slow death of local news channels. What about the NFL and MLB who utilize local channels to reach their fans? How will they be affected?
Sports franchises are already threatening to go with the "pay" model in sympathy with large broadcasters but given a weak economy where we're already paying for cable and streaming services such as Netflix, I ask you is their ploy merely a bluff or are they Russian Roulette with only one chamber empty rather than filled?
If the Supreme Court upholds the initial ruling, broadcasters will be backed against the wall in order to have a slice of Aereo's revenue pie............and with that I believe they'd be an enormous short play. The price action will begin to reflect that in the months leading up to the Supreme Court decision as large investors (who have inside knowledge) will begin distribution.
They're stomping their feet and pounding the desk that it's just not fair...but that's American innovation for you. What a pity, my heart bleeds.
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