FilmOn.com extends reach with Seattle antenna array
August 15, 2013
By Colin Mann
Free Internet television provider FilmOn.com has opened its Seattle antenna array, making it the twelfth FilmOn data centre in the USA offering consumers free access to individual antennas over the Internet, which it says enables it to outperform its rival Aereo in coverage, size and price.
FilmOn is legally able to offer its full service in the rest of the country outside of the 9th Circuit and is currently doing so in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Denver, Atlanta, New Jersey and Connecticut. Within the next two weeks, Philadelphia, Detroit, Minneapolis and Honolulu will open.
FilmOn is also active with other local channels in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, as these cities fall within the 9th Circuit as a result of a temporary restraining order given to FilmOn, preventing it from allowing consumers to tune their antennas to the four major networks.
FilmOn.com founder Alki David described the data centre opening as “an important day” for the provider. “The Federal Court of Appeals is hearing our case on August 27th where we sincerely hope an unfair decision is overturned. In the 9th Circuit (mainly West Coast) we are currently restrained from allowing consumers to tune in to NBC, FOX, CBS and ABC via our perfectly legal antenna arrays,” he stated.
“Unlike would-be competition we do not charge audiences to watch something that is already freely available. We have been likened to being an Aereo copycat service, but we are in far more cities with our antenna arrays than any other firm. We carry over 600 live worldwide channels, plus 45,000 Video On Demand titles – and all for free. FilmOn has been in business since 2006 and we produce and license content from premium providers, which clearly makes us a totally different proposition to any other service,” he explained.