SXSW News

It's a bittersweet day in Austin, Texas, for Aereo. The company's remote DVR service, which allows users to stream or record over-the-air broadcasts, just launched in the city this week against the backdrop of SXSW, making it Aereo's fourth market in the state. But there's a storm cloud hanging over this celebration; a recent legal hiccup with the state of Utah that saw it shut down service in Denver, Colo., and Salt Lake City, Utah. Aereo, however, is no stranger to this courtroom drama. The company's been engaged in a copyright battle with broadcasters that'll either cement it as a content licensee (along the lines of a Netflix), and potentially cripple its business growth, or as a provider of cloud DVR storage. It's a fight Aereo's waging all the way to the Supreme Court and has so far been winning, except for today.

   

The timing, then, for an intimate chat with Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia here at SXSW couldn't be better. Kanojia kicked things off by immediately addressing the service disruption in Utah and Colorado saying, "That's why it's raining." All joking aside, Kanojia's aware the Supreme Court's decision could have grave consequences for Aereo's future, but shrugged off concerns of a possible legal defeat. "I haven't thought about it, " he told us. "I don't focus on it." That could just be willful denial on Kanojia's part, but his company does have other pressing concerns to focus on, like continued market expansion and back-end service improvements.