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Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Image 2 of 15 Kanojia founder and CEO of Aereo Inc. walks up to one of two cabinets where Aereo's antennas receive television signals. Kanojia founder and CEO of Aereo Inc. walks up to one of two cabinets where Aereo's antennas receive television signals. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 3 of 15 Inside the cabinets are racks of circuit boards with thousands of tiny antennas, and equipment that converts the TV signals into video in the MP2 standard format. Inside the cabinets are racks of circuit boards with thousands of tiny antennas, and equipment that converts the TV signals into video in the MP2 standard format. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 4 of 15 The cabinets, which are easy to add to Aereo's platform atop its data centers for expansion, are connected by 10-gigabit fiber-optic cables to servers inside the data center. The cabinets, which are easy to add to Aereo's platform atop its data centers for expansion, are connected by 10-gigabit fiber-optic cables to servers inside the data center. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 5 of 15 Image 6 of 15 Kanojia says the back side of the cabinets have coverings that are "invisible" to TV signals. The data center location - which is kept secret - was picked partly because it gets good TV signals from area stations. less Kanojia says the back side of the cabinets have coverings that are "invisible" to TV signals. The data center location - which is kept secret - was picked partly because it gets good TV signals from area ... more Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 7 of 15 Aereo's server area in the data center is in a small cage. The servers receive the MP2 signal and transcode it into MP4 video. Aereo's server area in the data center is in a small cage. The servers receive the MP2 signal and transcode it into MP4 video. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 8 of 15 The MP4 video is then stored on 3-terabyte hard drives with separate partitions for each customer. The MP4 video is then stored on 3-terabyte hard drives with separate partitions for each customer. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 9 of 15 The small antennas are made of copper and coated in silver, bent into an M shape. The small antennas are made of copper and coated in silver, bent into an M shape. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 10 of 15 Image 11 of 15 Kanojia previously founded an interactive advertising agency, Navic Networks, which was sold in 2008 to Microsoft. Kanojia previously founded an interactive advertising agency, Navic Networks, which was sold in 2008 to Microsoft. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 12 of 15 Kanojia said he came up with the idea for Aereo after dropping cable and moving into a house where he couldn't pick up broadcast signals over the air. Kanojia said he came up with the idea for Aereo after dropping cable and moving into a house where he couldn't pick up broadcast signals over the air. Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle Image 13 of 15 This image provided by Aereo shows a screenshot from the iPad with Aereo.com streaming Bob the Builder on New York s PBS station, WNET 13. This image provided by Aereo shows a screenshot from the iPad with Aereo.com streaming Bob the Builder on New York s PBS station, WNET 13. Photo: AP / AP Image 14 of 15 Aereo's tiny antennas are made of copper and coated in silver. Aereo's tiny antennas are made of copper and coated in silver. Photo: Aereo Image 15 of 15 Here's why Aereo scares broadcasters to death 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Aereo gets its day in the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, and it’s literally do or die for the startup that grabs over-the-air broadcast TV signals and streams them over the Internet. As CEO Chet Kanojia told me earlier this month, if Aereo loses its case against broadcasters, it’s toast. There’s no Plan B.

But if it wins, Aereo has big plans. In an interview with Jeff John Roberts of GigaOM, Kanojia said not only will the company expand to 50 markets, but its technology will become more widespread:

JJR: Take us a year from now. If Aereo wins, what will the company look like? Chet Kanojia: We’ll be in 50 cities or so. We’ll start marketing effectively, and open our platform to new uses. We’ll provide our technology to small and medium sized cable guys — on the network and DVR and application side. [Emphasis mine]

If you’ve been wondering just why broadcasters have been so rabid about Aereo, it should all become clear. Right now, cable companies shell out big bucks to broadcasters to retransmit over-the-air content. Aereo gets around that by outsourcing HD antennas directly to viewers. If those “small and medium sized cable guys” don’t have to pay retransmission fees because Aereo’s technology is legitimized by a Supreme Court decision, what’s to keep the cable giants from taking a similar approach?

That’s why some broadcasters – including Fox and CBS – have threatened to take their content behind cable paywalls if Aereo prevails. Big-dollars pro sports like the NFL have supported broadcasters in those threats. But Kanojia points out that going cable-only cost them even more money, because fewer people will be able to see that content, and thus they won’t be able to charge as much for ads.

JJR: The NFL and the other sports leagues are supporting the big broadcasters, who have threatened to remove their shows from over-the-air TV and become cable channels if Aereo wins the case. Will that actually happen? Chet Kanojia: I don’t think they can do that. Just to put it in context, ESPN has Monday night football, and the performance is a fraction of what the broadcasters get. It’s not going to be economically viable for them to go that way. Frankly, if they’re going to go that way, why wouldn’t the leagues do their own direct paid relationships? MLB.com has been a template of where that’s going. I think a sports fan will be happy to pay $100 or $200 a year. The leagues don’t need a middle-man. If they don’t need a broadcast affiliate, they certainly don’t need a channel — they already have their own, like the NFL Network.

Kanojia correctly points out that, even if Aereo’s not around, the current business model for cable TV is starting to crumble. Aereo’s just the catalyst, showing the industry its inevitable future.