The controversial TV-streaming service Aereo’s business methods were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, dashing the startup’s plans to disrupt the well-entrenched pay-TV industry. That’s particularly bad news for media bigwig Barry Diller, who helped the startup get off the ground when his company IAC led a $20.5 million funding for Aereo back in 2012.
Diller is a former chief executive of both Paramount Pictures and Fox who has since leaped into the digital age full-bore. His current company IAC owns hot digital properites such as CollegeHumor, Vimeo and OkCupid. Aereo fit in nicely with his vision of the digital future, and he rewarded the startup with considerable cash. In addition to the original $20.5 million, IAC was also involved in later funding rounds of $38 million and $34 million for Aereo, according to Crunchbase.
Now it’s unclear whether the startup will have any future at all. Diller had previously said there was “no Plan B” if the courts ruled Aereo illegal. On Wednesday, he seemed willing to accept defeat. “We did try,” he told CNBC, “but it’s over now.”
Diller told Bloomberg that though the millions dumped into the company weren’t a significant financial loss for IAC, blocking Aereo’s technology was “a big loss for consumers.”
- What We Know So Far About the Deadly Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
- Beyoncé's Album of the Year Snub Fits Into the Grammys' Long History of Overlooking Black Women
- How the U.S. Shot Down the Alleged Chinese Spy Balloon
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart