Bankruptcy Court OKs Aereo Tech Asset Auction

Following its Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing last month, Aereo has gotten permission from the court to auction off its tech assets in an effort to raise capital to pay back creditors. Last Wednesday, the Manhattan U.S. Bankruptcy Court ruled that Aereo could sell off its television streaming tech now that it had reached an agreement with broadcasters – who had brought the company before the Supreme Court in the first place over copyright violations.

A report from the Wall Street Journal explains that those broadcasters – including CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox – will preside over that auction to ensure that it meets with their approval. The reason, it would seem, is because Aereo’s tech streamed broadcasters’ content to customers via special antennas, and those corporations would rather not see those assets wind up being used in a similar way.

While Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing typically allows some room for reorganization and continued operations, it would seem that Aereo is pretty much done with now that it’ll be selling off its technology assets to satisfy its creditors. The company hasn’t been able to earn a dime since the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year gutted its business model. At this point, it’s still possible for Aereo as a corporate entity to survive in some way – but just what they’ll be doing is a giant question mark.

It’s still possible, though. Perhaps Aereo will rebrand itself as a different kind of media streaming service. At the same time, the increased scrutiny over their operations probably means that it’d be an uphill battle to continue working in the media-delivery business in any way.

The sale of the assets is set to be finalized on March 11, 2015. After that, it’s anybody’s guess as to what path Aereo will take…if it’s a path that doesn’t simply involve turning off the lights and locking the doors, that is.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]