Barry Diller-Backed Startup Takes on Cable

The modern equivalent of old-fashioned rabbit ears enable Aereo to deliver broadcast TV to users' Internet devices.

Image: iStockphoto

IAC Chairman Barry Diller, long considered something of a media maverick, is throwing his weight behind a startup unveiled today that aims to stream television to Internet devices.

The startup Aereo, launched with a press conference at IAC headquarters in New York, which is the only market in which it will be available initially. The company’s proposition is that it will include a cloud-based DVR and will stream major network programming to Internet-enabled devices for $12 a month.

As the New York Times reports:

For casual television viewers, “if you have this and you have Netflix, you absolutely have the ability to not have a standard cable subscription,” said Chet Kanojia, the founder and chief executive of Aereo, which was initially named Bamboom Labs.

Of course, for ESPN or HBO addicts, Aereo won’t do much good.

But Diller, at least, is betting heavily that Aereo can ultimately win enough users to challenge cable companies. IAC led a $20.5 million round of funding for the company in mid-2011.