I like the idea of having a remote antenna. It’s like having my own antenna but with a very long cord. In actuality it IS a very long cord. I’m connected to the internets via my cable provider who via underground cables reaches out to wherever. I don’t see how having an antenna with 5 foot or 10,000 foot cord makes a difference.

Having Aereo doing the recording on their servers and charging me to access the recordings does not pass the smell test for me. It does seem a bit like re-broadcasting.

Why not do this: I would still like Aereo to house the antenna (or several antennas) for me. They can aim it, make sure it gets reception, etc. I have no problem paying for that.

Then, Aereo can sell a small Android (or whatever OS) powered box that connects to the internets. It will reach out to the remote antenna but will record onto a local storage (memory card, etc) or NAS. The box will also grab metadata (show title, cast, etc) about what’s being recorded. The box can also broadcast locally via the local network so you can watch on your iPad for example. So it will act as a DNLA as well.

All the recorded content will be nicely presented and organized, same as on Aereo’s website You can connect the box to the TV or access it from iPad or your computer.

Seeing how android tv boxes are sold for ~$100 these days producing such a box may not be that expensive. The price can be subsidized so that the consumer does not have to fork out too much to get the box. The cost can be rolled into the monthly subscription fee.

The difference from current model to me would that Aereo’s would strictly provide an antenna hosting service. They would simply transmit the whatever signal antenna is receiving via a long cable (internet) onto my receiver.