Exclusive: Aereo To Launch On Android In September, Says CEO

ct-ct-biz-tech-notebook-aereo-jpg-20130626 — Aereo uses tiny antennas to pick up over-the-air signals and beam them to subscribers' iPads and computers. Courtesy of Aereo

Aereo, the upstart television streaming service, plans to launch its product on Android devices in September, CEO Chet Kanojia told International Business Times Thursday.

Aereo had originally hoped to roll out an app for Google’s operating system, which boasts a larger market share than Apple’s iOS, late last summer.

In an exclusive interview with IBTimes on Thursday, Kanojia said the announcement was coming in September. An exact date has yet to be determined.

Aereo has expanded rapidly over the last year, ballooning from its starting locations of New York City, Boston, Atlanta and the state of Utah to nearly two-dozen other cities east of Denver.

PlayOn, a separate subscription online TV company, claims it allows users to watch Aereo streams on its service. But Aereo says it had no relationship with the company.

The Barry Diller-backed startup picks up over-the-air broadcast signals, much like old rabbit-ear TV antennas, with dime-sized antennas at Aereo's headquarters. Users can then watch and record live television through their Aereo subscriptions, which cost $8 to $12 per month.

It appears to be doing well. Earlier this month, Kanojia said the company needed fewer than 1 million subscribers to turn a profit.

Speaking at a startup entrepreneur event in Manhattan, Kanojia said 1 million subscribers would be "fabulous," and 5 million would be "extremely fabulous." Ten million? That number elicited the response, "Oh my god, what will I do now?" -- because, he said, a few hundred thousand registered users is all his company needs to turn a profit.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS), the Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) and News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) have repeatedly sued Aereo, demanding an injunction as well as retransmission and licensing fees, to no avail.