Aereo files for bankruptcy

The online TV company Aereo has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its chief executive announced Friday. 

Chief executive Chet Kanojia said the company has faced major problems since the Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that its business model was violating copyright law, which caused it to halt operation. 

{mosads}”The U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively changed the laws that had governed Aereo’s technology, creating regulatory and legal uncertainty,” he said in a statement on the company’s website. “And while our team has focused its energies on exploring every path forward available to us, without that clarity, the challenges have proven too difficult to overcome.”

Aereo also announced Friday that it hired a restructuring officer. 

“Today, we filed for Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings,” Kanojia said in the statement. 

The company uses small antennas to pick up broadcast signals and stream them to people’s online devices for a monthly fee. But the Supreme Court had ruled the model violated the law by not paying rebroadcasting fees, something required by other cable and satellite companies. 

Earlier this month, the company cut dozens of staff members in its New York and Boston offices. At the time, the company called it a move to conserve resources while it looked for a path forward. 

The company had recently registered an in-house lobbyist while it made a push to be classified like other cable and satellite providers.

The Federal Communications Commission is in the first stages of creating rules that would treat online television the same as cable or satellite. The move would open the door to companies like Aereo and give clear rules to cable and satellite companies wishing to make the transition online.

“We knew we had touched a nerve, had created something special, and had a built something meaningful for consumers,” Kanojia said. “But we encountered significant challenges from the incumbent media companies.”