The mini-antennae that power Aereo. Aereo
It’s a sad day for Aereo and all those who believed in it. The startup, which allowed people to stream live broadcast television to their computers and mobile devices, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, just months after shutting down operations.
The news, which Aereo founder and CEO Chet Kanojia announced on the company blog on Friday, marks the end of an era for the embattled startup, which faced opposition from major broadcasters ever since Aereo launched in 2012. Like Uber and Airbnb, Aereo has been one of those companies that bucked regulation from the outset.
Inside the infrastructure that drove its online service, it assigned every Aereo user a mini broadcast TV antenna, and it used this to argue that its service was no different than sticking a pair of bunny ears on your television. That way, Aereo could avoid paying retransmission fees for broadcasters’ content. But broadcasters never bought this argument, and when it came down to it, neither did the Supreme Court. In June, Aereo shut down operations indefinitely. Now, Kanojia says the company is filing for bankruptcy to avoid “the extensive cost and distraction of defending drawn out litigation in several courts.”
“We have traveled a long and challenging road,” he wrote. “We stayed true to our mission and we believe that we have played a significant part in pushing the conversation forward, helping force positive change in the industry for consumers.”
Indeed, Aereo has been a force for change in this industry. Just last month, one of Aereo’s biggest adversaries, CBS, announced the launch of CBS All Access, a subscription service that allows people to stream CBS content online for just $5.99 a month. A few days before that, HBO announced its own standalone streaming service, which won’t require a cable subscription.
Internet television will live on, though only on the terms of existing content companies—at least for the moment. This may come at the cost of consumers. Though many cord cutters have argued that cable packages are a ripoff and feel they should only have to pay for the content they actually watch, they’re also coming to realize that paying small sums of money to lots of different content providers is going to add up.
But even if Aereo’s time is over, there may be space for a similar service in the future, as the FCC looks to redefine its regulations about who can and cannot retransmit broadcast television. Last month, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler proposed a new rule that would allow internet TV providers to license content just like cable and satellite companies do. Wheeler acknowledged that Aereo has played a key role in changing the Commission’s thinking. In a blog post announcing the proposal, Wheeler wrote: “Twenty-first century consumers shouldn’t be shackled to rules that only recognize 20th century technology.”
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