Pittsburgh Innovates

When Mark Cavicchia was living in Shanghai, keeping up with his hometown teams and favorite TV shows was a pricey, technological conundrum. Convinced there was a better way, Wherever TV was born.

Next month the South Side-based company will launch its first product, a sleek black box and remote that connects to a TV,. providing access to some 1,200 TV and broadband channels from more than 100 countries. Any video broadcast available on the Internet can be streamed directly into your living room TV with clarity and without a lengthy wait, giving users access to foreign channels and events overseas for the one-time price of $199.

Viewers can already watch and setup a personalized program guide through Wherever TV free of charge.

For business travelers and foreign-born viewers who want to keep up with news, sports and entertainment from their home country, Wherever TV offers a simple plug in and play technology that works through broadband.

"Unlike similar systems on the market, our technology bypasses the need for a PC because video is decoded in the box," says Cavicchia, founder and CEO. “There are numerous websites with international TV but no one (company) provides a simple device that allows you to watch live international television channels anywhere in the world. There’s no limit to what you can see.”

Cavicchia plans to expand his 2-person operation in the next six to 12 months, hiring 15 to 20 people to form a sales team and customer service department. Wherever TV will be available for purchase online through e-tailers in June. Paid channels will be available by the fall.

Wherever TV received funding from both the Idea Foundry and Innovation Works.