• by Wayne Friedman , July 23, 2013

More TV disruption is on the way. Aereo, the renegade Internet-delivered TV service, is hoping that one in four current TV users -- 25% -- will be using its service in the next five to seven years.

Chet Kanojia, chief executive officer/founder of Aereo, talked up this goal during an interview at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado. Aereo announced big expansion plans earlier this year, targeting some 22 new U.S. markets.

Beyond New York, Boston and other announced or up-and-running markets, Aereo is looking at rolling out its service to: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Madison (WI), Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Salt Lake City, Tampa, and Washington, D.C. Chicago is scheduled for mid-September.

Kanojia said: “Every week or two weeks, there will be two or three more cities.”

Earlier this year, Aereo received a key ruling in its favor against the broadcasters' argument that the service is violating TV networks' copyrights. In April, a panel of judges ruled that Aereo did not violate copyright law. Broadcasters Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC have petitioned courts for a review of that decision.

In the current major impasse between CBS and Time Warner Cable over retrans fees and carriage of broadcast network stations, Time Warner hinted that Aereo could be a temporary solution for consumers.
 
Kanojia responded: "Wouldn't that be a change? That would be such a validation that the cost structure of this industry is getting to a point that the cabal is now questioning that structure."

Aereo’s basic service for consumers has a fee of $8 a month .