Aereo auctions off most of remaining assets to TiVo, nets only $2M

Aereo suffered an ignominious ending to its short, disappointing life Thursday, with the auction of the online video tech company's remaining assets netting less than $2 million.

Organizers for the bankrupt company's auction had hoped for at least $4 million and as much as $31.2 million.

TiVo Inc. won bids for the most notable assets, securing Aereo's trademark, customer list and several other assets. RPX Corp., which is described by GigaOm as a "a patent troll of sorts," purchased Aereo's patent portfolio, while information-technology consultancy Alliance Technologies acquired various hardware.

"We are very disappointed with the results of the auction," William Baldiga, a lawyer for Aereo at Brown Rudnick LLP, said in a statement Thursday. "This has been a very difficult sales process and the results reflect that."

Aereo launched in 2012, backed by nearly $100 million in investments from media mogul Barry Diller. Its model was to use millions of dime-sized TV antennas to stream broadcast network programming to IP devices for around $12 a month.

Last June, however, the U.S. Supreme Court kicked out the New York-based company's foundational underpinnings, ruling that its model violated copyright laws.

Subsequent attempts by Aereo to relaunch as an MVPD proved unsuccessful, leading to Thursday's bankruptcy auction.

For more:
- read this Bloomberg story
- read this GigaOm story
- read this DSL Reports post

Full coverage: Aereo's Supreme Court loss and the fallout

Related links:
Aereo gets OK from bankruptcy court to auction technology assets
Broadcasters want to make sure Aereo is really dead, seek to block asset sale
Aereo files for bankruptcy, closing a pioneering chapter in OTT streaming
Waiting for MVPD status, Aereo cuts way back
Aereo, FilmOn hopes rise again as FCC moves to redefine MVPDs