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Television The Courts The Internet

Aereo Gets OK From Bankruptcy Court To Auction Technology Assets 42

Posted by samzenpus from the everything-must-go dept.
An anonymous reader writes Judge Sean Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan gave permission to Aereo to sell its remaining assets to the highest bidder. The decision came after Aereo reached an agreement with the major broadcast networks that are suing the service. From the article: "Now a bankruptcy court in New York has granted Aereo permission to sell off its assets, with one big caveat: those angry broadcasters who shut them down in the first place? They get to approve any sales that go down. The auction will take place on February 24, at which point the broadcasters have two weeks to decide if they're okay with the highest bidder."
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Aereo Gets OK From Bankruptcy Court To Auction Technology Assets More

Aereo Gets OK From Bankruptcy Court To Auction Technology Assets

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  • wow (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    so this means the broadcasters can approve a lowballed sale from their own subsidiary and then offer the same service as the now defunct aereo. status quo will remain status quo

    • Probably not. Think of it more of a veto. In order for one network to win the bid on a sweetheart low ball bid – which implies free money - all of the other networks would have to agree. What is the chance of that happening? Zero. The networks are competitors of each other. They would rather see the assets destroyed and burned than one of their competitors getting a free lunch.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        They would rather see the assets destroyed and burned than one of their competitors getting a free lunch.

        True, but the bankruptcy court is also working for the interest of creditors.

        Just because the networks have veto power doesn't mean the courts can't overrule that. If a good bid comes in that gets vetoed and no one else puts in as good a bid, the courts may just allow the sale because their job is to recover as much money as possible.

        So yeah, the networks may veto an all out buy to set up Aereo 2, but if

        • Do we know who the creditors are?

          I was under the impression that it was the networks. If that is the case, the primary goal won't be to extract as much cash from the corpse or (as the conspiracies in this thread suggest - which is where my post was pointed to) cheaply take over the company. Rather, it would be to drive a stake through Aereo's heart. Yes, the court is supposed to oversee the process for abuses – but somebody has to contest the issue. I just don't see anybody pushing the issue to hard.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by pla ( 258480 )
            Do we know who the creditors are? I was under the impression that it was the networks.

            Typically, "real" creditors take precedence over tort claimants in the US.

            In the case of Aereo, a 2019 filed recently [dropboxusercontent.com] lists Quality Investment Properties, L3 (yes, that L3), and C7, basically for providing physical space, power, and telecom services.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by nytes ( 231372 )

        I'm curious as to why the broadcasters were given any voice over the sale.

        I would think that the court would allow any sale to go through that would maximize the funds available to pay off Aereo's creditors, whether or not the broadcasters are considered to be among those creditors.

        • I'm curious as to why the broadcasters were given any voice over the sale. I would think that the court would allow any sale to go through that would maximize the funds available to pay off Aereo's creditors,

          While conspiracy theories are common for /., it is more likely that the low-ball bids will come from groups who want to set up competition without spending a lot of money, or to just get a lot of cheap hardware for other uses. The veto is to allow the people who are owed the money to keep the sale price reasonable, not to guarantee that they themselves can buy it for $1. I.e., it is intended to maximize the funds, not minimize them.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by nytes ( 231372 )

            The veto is to allow the people who are owed the money to keep the sale price reasonable, not to guarantee that they themselves can buy it for $1.

            Then I would think that veto power would be extended to all the creditors. If it is, maybe that little tidbit was omitted because it would remove some of the zing from the article.

        • For 2 reasons.

          First, the networks are creditors. They are owed damages. Remember, this is a civil, not criminal matter. Nobody goes to jail but money is owed.

          Second, the court and networks do not want a company buying the assets then relaunching a clone version.

  • Okay i can see this going down a few ways 1 at 16:55 on feb 28 the broadcasters deny the highest bidder (thus allowing ongoing expenses to suck what little value there is left out) 2 the "highest bidder" is one of A secretly the broadcasters themselves B another company that just happens to share staff with the broadcasters 3 a sudden disaster takes out the Aria location with most of the actual assets In all cases the broadcasters will within 9 months offer a service that allows Aria type functions f

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Monoman ( 8745 )

      This.

      The broadcasters, FCC, and courts drove out the little guy Aereo. Now we start to hear talks about changing the laws/policies to specifically allow Aereo's type of service. Why didn't they consider this while Aereo was in business?

  • fly on the wall at the auction... (Score:3)

    by swschrad ( 312009 ) on Monday December 29, 2014 @05:48PM (#48692621) Homepage Journal

    "Alright, let's get this party started. Lot Number One... a pallet cube... we have a jumble of some sort of boxes of geegaw stuff, half have power cords. there are no manuals or labelling on the devices. let's start bidding at a dollar... one dollar dollar dollar, lot 1... still one dollar... do I hear 50 cents?"

  • According to their explanation, Aereo used "tiny antennas" to connect each customer with their content. Wonder if those are going to be sold off...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gnupun ( 752725 )

      Yes, there might be huge market for these tiny antennas if they work at a satisfactory distance from the OTA transmitting antennas.

      • I need some funny points for the post I made above... Anything smaller than rabbit ears or that thing you put on the roof is too small for TV to work.

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