Aereo Makes Cutting the Cord Even Easier, And Cheaper

Cord-cutting startup Aereo announced new pricing plans for its service on Thursday, including a "try for free" plan.

Aereo allows users to watch live broadcast television from an iPhone, iPad, Mac running Apple Safari or Roku device.

Users can also record programs on a cloud-based DVR for access in the future. For now, the service is only open to users in New York.

Aereo is a disruptive company. Before the service even launched, it was already being sued by local and national broadcasters. The networks allege that Aereo is violating re-transmission laws and guidelines and violating their copyright. For its part, Aereo says that everything it is doing is covered by legal precedent.

Last month, Aereo got an early win in its battle with broadcasters when a federal judge refused to grant an injunction against the service. That means that Aereo can continue to operate — and expand into new markets — while litigation is taking place.

This sort of litigation could take years to resolve but with the first major hurdle out of the way, the company is ready to move forward.

SEE ALSO: Aereo Gives New Yorkers Online Access to Live TV [HANDS ON]

Better Pricing

When Aereo soft-launched back in February, the company had basic pricing plan of $12 a month for unlimited content and 40 hours of space on a DVR (users have access to two tuners, which means that they can record two shows at once or watch one show live while recording another).

When I spoke with Kanojia at Aereo's first launch event, he didn't seem married to the pricing structure — recognizing that extended user feedback would be needed to reach the right price point.

He reiterated that outlook to me last week, explaining that after looking at the space and speaking with customers, it seemed "silly to have one-size fits all pricing," especially for a service like Aereo, which aims to disrupt traditional viewing models.

Aereo now has five price plans. On the low end, users can try Aereo for one continuous hour a day for free — no credit card required.

This is a great way for users to get a taste of the experience, user interface and picture quality.

For users that might want to watch more than an hour of television, but don't want to pay for an entire month of service, Aereo also offers a new Day Pass. For $1, users get access to Aereo for 24 hours. Moreover, they can record up to 3 hours of programming and will have 10 days to watch their recordings for free.

The monthly plans now start at $8 for 20 hours of DVR storage. For $12, users still get 40 hours of storage, just like before. Both monthly plans also offer a free second month for users.

For users willing to pay in advance, they can get Aereo for $80 a year. Annual plan users will also get three months of service for free. That ends up working out to about $5.30 a month — which is less than Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime.

To us, the most compelling offerings are the annual plan and the day pass. As we've seen with the Olympics, there are lots of users who want to tune into live sporting events, but don't necessarily want (or need) to own a traditional television set or antenna. The great thing about a day pass is that a user can buy it for the big game and then be done — no recurring charge.

The Future: More Devices and More Cities

Beyond the new pricing plans, Aereo also has its eyes firmly on the future. Kanojia told me that in the next few weeks, users can expect support for Aereo on Android and in other web browsers.

Aereo works using HTML5 and its video quality is incredibly good — every bit as good, if not better, than the HD cable stream I get from my cable provider or an online stream from TV Everywhere providers such as CNN and HBO Go.

To ensure that level of quality, Aereo needs to build its streaming output engine for different device types. iOS and Roku have robust standards streaming live video, which is why those devices were available at launch. The Aereo team has had time to work out the requirements for other platforms, so Android and Chrome users can soon expect to see Aereo on their devices.

Aereo also has big plans for expansion. Immediately after the court ruled in Aereo's favor — denying a preliminary injunction against the service — Aereo investor and uber media mogul Barry Diller announced that the company would be coming to more cities.

Kanojia told me that the company is actively looking to expand into every major television market — think Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, etc. — starting in 2013.

If you're in New York and you haven't tried Aereo — give the service a shot. It just might change the way you watch live TV.