FCC chair lights new legal path for Aereo, other online video streamers

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Joshua Roberts / Bloomberg

Chet Kanojia, chief executive officer of Aereo.

When Aereo lost a Supreme Court case last June that ruled its business retransmitting over-the-air television signals to streaming customers was illegal, the Long Island City startup looked headed for oblivion. However, the Federal Communications Commission may soon open a way for Aereo to get back in business.

FCC chair Tom Wheeler wrote in a blog post that online video streaming is analogous to satellite pay-television in that cable companies ought to be required to make their programming available to competitors. More specifically, Wheeler wrote that he wants the FCC to define "multichannel video programming distributors" as technology-neutral -- that is, he wants to include some online video services such as Aereo.

That's precisely what Aereo asked for earlier this month, and Wheeler asserted that making that change would increase competition among pay-TV providers, thus improving service for customers.

Bloomberg reported that Aereo, clearly, supports such a move, but it also has some support from established broadcasters. That's because some were already seeking ways to distribute programming online and, the report said, the broadcasters appear relatively happy to have legal certainty moving forward.

Both Bloomberg and the Washington Post noted that the FCC does not intend to include on-demand streaming services such as Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) in its new definition, which the Pos attributed to a skittishness about trying to regulate web companies, in general.