Aereo Inc., the online TV streaming service brought down by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that its technology violated copyright, told a bankruptcy judge that there’s plenty of interest in the company’s assets, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. While there is no stalking horse in place to make an opening bid, an auction should be scheduled for Feb. 17 with an approval hearing set a few days later, said William Baldiga, Aereo’s lawyer. The Barry Diller-backed startup sought bankruptcy protection on Nov. 21 after the Supreme Court said its TV service violated programming copyright protections. The nation’s top court rang the death knell for the company in June, overturning a federal appeals court ruling and handing a victory to broadcast giants including CBS Corp., Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal and 21st Century Fox Inc. Aereo had been striving to revolutionize broadcast TV viewing, offering live and recorded programs via the Internet for as little as $8 a month, using a massive antenna farm in Brooklyn, New York. The startup’s failure eliminated an alternative to cable and satellite bundles, which can cost $100 a month and include channels many subscribers don’t watch.
