A Triple-Play Bundle of Internet TV News

Never has it seemed a more chaotic time at the boundary of Internet and “TV,” as a recent triple play of news from the front suggests.

First, in a 10-2 decision, a federal appeals court this week decided that Aereo–that cheeky startup that puts thousands of tiny antennas in datacenters to capture free over-the-air broadcasts and send them over the Internet to individual subscribers (see “Aereo’s on a Roll”)–isn’t stealing from broadcasters. That leaves the chagrined incumbents one last shot – with the U.S. Supreme Court. No word whether they’ll go the distance.

Second, more evidence is emerging that the two of the biggest contestants in Internet TV, Apple and Google, are pursuing divergent tracks for getting deeper into the TV space. The New York Times explains that Apple is increasingly collaborating with existing giants like Time Warner Cable and programmers such as Walt Disney on app-based ways of delivered content via Apple TV (see “Apple’s Next Innovation: TV”) while Google’s TV push (see “Searching for the Future of Television”) is more of a direct challenge to the entire model of cable and satellite service. Some of these dealings were also eludicated in a recent Variety piece.  

And third, that showcase of TV-industry self-regard, the Emmy awards, has an unusual new contestant: Netflix. That’s right, as the New York Times reports, two shows created for the Internet-streaming service–”House of Cards” and “Arrested Development”–are up for best actor and best program awards.  

What’s next? Twitter gets in on Super Bowl ads? Actually, that already happpened (see “Buying Bluefin Will Give Twitter a Piece of TV’s $72 Billion Ad Market”).