Aereo has found a new home, within TiVo (sort of).
The DVR maker has received approval to acquire certain assets from the now-defunct streaming startup, including patents and customer lists. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Manhattan handed down the decision Thursday, ending Aereo's sale of patents, hardware, and other assets.
TiVo did not specify exactly what it plans to do with these new assets, except to say they will bolster the company's ability to serve the growing number of customers who want to access both broadcast TV and over-the-top content.
"TiVo has always innovated to meet the constantly changing ways TV audiences choose to access content," TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers said in a statement. "TiVo has found success in providing a more comprehensive offering and sophisticated user experience than any other player in the marketplace and we look forward to expanding on that success."
Last year, TiVo unveiled the Roamio OTA DVR, which lets users record network TV shows and tap into streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and YouTube. It's also been working on letting people access DVR content from the cloud.
Aereo, meanwhile, secured permission to auction off its assets in December, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the month before. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan ruled that the company could sell off its streaming TV assets after reaching an agreement with broadcasters CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox over the sale process.
Proceeds from that auction, however, fell far short of the $4 million Aereo hoped to bring in.
That came after the Supreme Court in June voted 6 to 3 that Aereo violated the Copyright Act, effectively killing the two-year-old service. "Aereo is not simply an equipment provider," the court said at the time.
Aereo manufactured small HDTV antennas, received broadcast channels, and stored the programming they captured on servers. People could access the service on the Internet to view the content, without having to buy or install any equipment.
For a walk down memory lane, check out PCMag's review of the service.