News Corp. Threatens to Pull Free Fox Programming in Aereo Dispute

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News Corp. Threatens to Pull Free Fox Programming in Aereo Dispute

If Fox doesn't prevail in court vs. startup Aereo, News Corp. will consider making Fox content subscription-only, an exec from the company said on Monday.

News Corp. President and COO Chase Carey (pictured) made his remarks offstage during the NAB Show in Las Vegas. "Aereo is stealing our signal. We believe in our legal rights, we’re going to pursue our legal rights, and we believe we’ll prevail ...," Carey said, according to Variety. "If we can’t have our rights properly protected through legal and governmental solutions, we will pursue business solution. One solution would be to take the network and make it a subscription service. We’re not going to sit idly by and let people steal our content."

Carey's remarks came after News Corp. and other broadcasters, including PBS, Univision and WPIX and WNET in New York traded lawsuits with Aereo, a startup backed by Barry Diller, that seeks to retransmit their live programming to tablet computers and other digital devices. Aereo launched in New York in February 2012. A few days later, a group of broadcasters sued the company for alleged copyright infringement. However, legally since the broadcasters aren't showing live performances, the content has not been viewed as subject to copyright laws. So far, the broadcasters have not been able to receive an injunction that would curtail Aereo's re-broadcasts.

After Carey's remarks, News Corp. issued the following statement:

News Corporation has a long-standing commitment to the broadcast television business, and to delivering the highest-quality entertainment, sports and news programming to our viewers on a localized basis. We are committed to broadcasting under a business model where programmers receive fair compensation from parties that want to redistribute our product while continuing to make our product available for free to individual consumers that want to access our signal.

We believe that Aereo is pirating our broadcast signal. We will continue to aggressively pursue our rights in the courts, as well as pursue all relevant political avenues, and we believe we will prevail.

That said, we won’t just sit idle and allow our content to be actively stolen. 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. One option could be converting the FOX broadcast network to a pay channel, which we would do in collaboration with both our content partners and affiliates.

Later, Aereo rep Virginia Lam offered the following statement:

Aereo has invented a simple, convenient way for consumers to utilize an antenna to access free-to-air broadcast television, bringing television access into the modern era for millions of consumers. It's disappointing to hear that Fox believes that consumers should not be permitted to use an antenna to access free-to-air broadcast television. 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."

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