CBS this week said it too would pull broadcast stations from the airwaves in New York should streaming startup Aereo be allowed to continue operations.
In speaking with the New York Times, CBS chief Les Moonves said he "wholeheartedly" supported the idea of pulling CBS stations from the air and switching to a paid model in protest of Aereo.
In fact, CBS has already spoken with cable operators, but "frankly, we don't think it will get to that point," he told the Times. A CBS spokeswoman confirmed Moonves's comments.
Aereo, which is backed by IAC Chairman Barry Diller, manufactures tiny HDTV antennas and then stores the content they capture on remote servers. Aereo serves a single market - New York City - and provides access to NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, the CW, and other local channels. Users can record shows, and don't need to purchase or install any equipment.
In March 2012, Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Television, Univision, PBS, two local New York TV stations, ABC, Disney, CBS, NBCUniversal, Universal Network Television, and Telemundo sued Aereo for copyright infringement. In essence, the TV stations believe Aereo will cost them money. But they also voiced concern about unfair competition and piracy.
In July, a New York judge ruled that Aereo could continue operating while the court battle played out. Last week, the appeals court upheld the lower court ruling, paving the way for Aereo to expand to other markets.
That prompted News Corp. president and COO Chase Carey to say that he would consider yanking Fox broadcast networks from the airwaves and switching them to a paid model in protest of Aereo.
"We won't just sit idle and allow our content to be actively stolen," Carey said in a statement provided to PCMag. "It is clear that the broadcast business needs a dual revenue stream from both ad and subscription to be viable. We simply cannot provide the type of quality sports, news, and entertainment content that we do from an ad supported only business model. We have no choice but to develop business solutions that ensure we continue to remain in the driver's seat of our own destiny."
Univision later said that it agreed with Carey and would do the same, and now CBS has joined in.
Earlier this week, Aereo said that it was disappointing to hear the networks were considering such a tactic. "Over 50 million Americans today access television via an antenna. When broadcasters asked Congress for a free license to digitally broadcast on the public's airwaves, they did so with the promise that they would broadcast in the public interest and convenience, and that they would remain free-to-air. Having a television antenna is every American's right," Aereo said.
For more, see PCMag's full review of Aereo and the slideshow above. Also check out Aereo: Everything You Need to Know.