Chet Kanojia

Chet Kanojia
Born	Chaitanya Kanojia
Birthplace	India
Nationality	American
Occupation	Entrepreneur, technology executive
Known for	Founding Aereo, co-founding Starry
Education	Northeastern University (M.S.)

Chaitanya "Chet" Kanojia is an Indian-American entrepreneur and technology executive who founded the Internet television company Aereo and co-founded the fixed wireless Internet service provider Starry. Kanojia came to national prominence as the architect of Aereo, a New York City–based startup that allowed subscribers to view live and time-shifted streams of over-the-air television on Internet-connected devices using individually assigned miniature antennas. Backed by media mogul Barry Diller's IAC, Aereo launched in 2012 and quickly became one of the most closely watched—and fiercely contested—technology ventures in the United States, drawing lawsuits from virtually every major broadcast television network. The legal battle culminated in a landmark 2014 United States Supreme Court decision, American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. v. Aereo, Inc., which ruled 6–3 against Aereo, finding that its service constituted a public performance that infringed upon broadcasters' copyrights. The company subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its assets were acquired by TiVo in 2015. Undeterred, Kanojia went on to co-found Starry in 2014, a Boston-based startup that sought to disrupt the broadband industry by delivering high-speed Internet access to consumers via fixed wireless technology. Starry itself went through Chapter 11 proceedings in 2023 before successfully emerging from bankruptcy. Kanojia's career has been defined by repeated attempts to challenge entrenched telecommunications and media incumbents through novel applications of technology.

Early Life

Chet Kanojia was born Chaitanya Kanojia in India. He later emigrated to the United States, where he pursued advanced studies and eventually built a career in the technology industry. Details about Kanojia's childhood and family background in India have not been widely documented in public sources, though his trajectory from India to the United States follows a path shared by many Indian-born technology entrepreneurs who came to prominence in Silicon Valley and the broader American technology sector during the late 1990s and 2000s.

Kanojia's early experiences in the United States shaped his interest in technology and entrepreneurship. According to a profile in Inc. magazine, Kanojia developed what the publication described as an "audacious" leadership style, rooted in a willingness to take on established industries and powerful incumbents. A 2017 Mashable profile noted that Kanojia's approach to business was characterized by a willingness to confront entire industries, even at the risk of protracted legal battles. "You don't threaten entire industries without making some enemies—or spending some time in court," the profile observed.

Education

Kanojia attended Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, where he earned a graduate degree. In October 2013, he returned to Northeastern as an alumnus to discuss his work with Aereo at a campus event. Northeastern's own news service described him as "a digital media technologist and Northeastern alumnus" and covered his appearance as part of a series on innovation. His connection to the Boston area would later play a role in the founding of Starry, which was headquartered in Boston.

Career

Pre-Aereo ventures

Prior to founding Aereo, Kanojia had a background in the technology and digital media sectors. He gained experience as a technology entrepreneur and executive, building expertise in areas related to video, streaming, and digital infrastructure that would later inform his more prominent ventures. The specifics of his earlier career positions and companies have been referenced in passing in various profiles but are not extensively documented in available sources.

Aereo

Founding and concept

Kanojia founded Aereo (originally known as Bamboom Labs) with the idea of enabling consumers to access free over-the-air broadcast television signals through the Internet. The company was based in New York City and developed a technology platform that assigned each subscriber a tiny, individual antenna housed in a centralized data center. These antennas captured over-the-air broadcast signals, which were then streamed to subscribers over the Internet on their computers, smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices. The service also offered a cloud-based DVR function that allowed users to record and time-shift programming.

The underlying legal theory behind Aereo's business model rested on the argument that each subscriber's individual antenna made the transmission a private performance rather than a public one, thereby exempting the company from the requirement to obtain retransmission consent from broadcast networks and pay the associated fees. This distinction was central to the legal battles that followed.

In early 2012, Aereo announced a $20.5 million Series A financing round led by IAC, the media and Internet conglomerate controlled by Barry Diller. Diller's backing provided Aereo with both financial resources and significant media industry credibility—and attention. Coverage from Fortune described the service and its ambitious intentions to reshape how consumers accessed broadcast television. The Wall Street Journal also provided early coverage of the company and its novel technological approach.

Launch and expansion

Aereo opened its service to customers in New York City in March 2012. The service initially offered access to approximately 20 to 30 channels of over-the-air broadcast television, including major network affiliates such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, along with PBS stations and other local broadcasters. Pricing was designed to be accessible, with plans starting at a monthly rate intended to undercut cable television subscriptions.

The company expanded its service offerings over time, including support for additional browsers and PC platforms. Aereo also released updated applications for streaming devices, including an improved app for Roku players that added enhanced live TV streaming functionality. The company introduced new pricing plans as it sought to grow its subscriber base.

Aereo expanded beyond New York to serve various cities across the United States. The service attracted attention from technology reviewers and media analysts. A CNET review examined the company's model of bringing over-the-air television to the cloud. An analysis in the Harvard Business Review blog described Aereo as "barely legal by design," highlighting the deliberate way the company's technology had been engineered to navigate existing copyright law.

Legal battles

From its inception, Aereo faced fierce opposition from broadcast networks and content owners who viewed the service as a threat to the retransmission fee model that had become a significant revenue source for broadcasters. Several major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, filed lawsuits against Aereo, arguing that the service violated their copyrights by retransmitting their signals without authorization.

The central legal question was whether Aereo's use of individually assigned miniature antennas meant that its transmissions constituted private performances—which would be legal without a license—or public performances, which would require permission from copyright holders. Aereo won early legal victories in the lower courts, with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling in the company's favor, finding that the individual antenna system distinguished Aereo from a cable company.

However, the broadcast networks appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. On June 25, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled against Aereo in a 6–3 decision in American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. The majority opinion, written by Justice Stephen Breyer, found that Aereo's service was functionally equivalent to a cable television provider and that its transmissions constituted public performances under the Copyright Act. The Court held that the technological differences between Aereo's antenna system and a traditional cable system did not change the fundamental nature of the service.

The ruling was a decisive blow to Aereo's business model. The case was remanded to the lower court, and on June 28, 2014, just three days after the ruling, Aereo announced that it would immediately suspend its services while consulting with the court on how to proceed. Services were suspended at 11:30 a.m. EDT on that date.

Bankruptcy and acquisition

Unable to continue operating under the Supreme Court's ruling, Aereo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 21, 2014, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company explored various options for its assets and intellectual property during the bankruptcy proceedings.

In March 2015, DVR company TiVo acquired Aereo's assets and intellectual property for approximately $1 million, a fraction of the more than $20 million that had been invested in the company. The acquisition brought an end to one of the most closely watched technology legal battles of the 2010s.

The Aereo case had lasting implications for technology and media law. It established an important precedent regarding the relationship between technological innovation and copyright law, and it reinforced the legal framework surrounding retransmission consent and public performance rights in the digital age. The decision was seen by some technology commentators as a setback for efforts to modernize television distribution, while broadcasters viewed it as a necessary protection of their intellectual property rights.

Starry

Founding and mission

Following the closure of Aereo, Kanojia turned his attention to what he viewed as another entrenched industry in need of disruption: broadband Internet service. In 2014, he co-founded Starry, a Boston-based company that sought to deliver high-speed Internet to consumers using fixed wireless technology as an alternative to traditional cable and fiber-optic infrastructure.

Starry's technology used millimeter wave spectrum to transmit Internet signals from rooftop access points to small receivers installed in individual residences, bypassing the need for expensive cable or fiber infrastructure buildouts. Kanojia's thesis was that the existing broadband market suffered from a lack of competition, with most American households having access to only one or two Internet service providers, which resulted in high prices and poor customer service.

In a 2016 interview with Business Insider, Kanojia said that Starry would likely offer two tiers of speeds for customers, with the entry-level plan delivering approximately 50 megabits per second of download speed. The company positioned itself as a more affordable and consumer-friendly alternative to incumbent cable providers.

Growth and public listing

Time magazine profiled Kanojia and Starry in 2016, describing the venture as an effort to "reinvent how you connect to the Internet." The company operated as a licensed fixed wireless technology developer and Internet service provider, deploying its service in multiple U.S. cities.

In March 2022, Kanojia announced that Starry Group Holdings, Inc. would go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. TechCrunch reported on the move, describing it as part of Kanojia's broader mission to change home Internet delivery. By that point, Kanojia had been working on the broadband challenge for approximately eight years.

Chapter 11 and emergence

Despite its ambitious plans and public listing, Starry faced significant financial challenges. The capital-intensive nature of building out a wireless broadband network, combined with the competitive pressures of the broadband market, placed strain on the company's finances. Starry Group Holdings ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In August 2023, Starry announced that it had successfully exited from Chapter 11 proceedings. INDIA New England News reported on the company's emergence from bankruptcy, noting that the restructured company would continue to operate as a fixed wireless technology developer and Internet service provider. The Chapter 11 exit marked the second time Kanojia had navigated a company through bankruptcy proceedings, though in Starry's case the company emerged as a going concern rather than being liquidated.

Entrepreneurial approach

Across his career, Kanojia has been characterized by a consistent willingness to challenge incumbent industries through technology-driven approaches. A 2017 Mashable profile drew a distinction between Kanojia and what the publication termed "Silicon Valley's fake disruptors," arguing that Kanojia's ventures represented genuine attempts to upend established business models rather than incremental improvements marketed as disruption.

The Inc. magazine profile of Kanojia in 2014 examined his leadership traits and management style, describing him as an "audacious leader" and noting that the traits which led him to take on the broadcast television industry with Aereo were fundamental to his approach to business.

Both Aereo and Starry shared a common strategic thread: they sought to use new technology to provide consumers with services traditionally controlled by large incumbent companies—broadcast television networks in the case of Aereo, and cable broadband providers in the case of Starry. Both ventures also encountered significant resistance from those incumbents, whether through legal challenges (Aereo) or competitive market pressures (Starry).

Personal Life

Kanojia is of Indian origin and is based in the United States. He has maintained a relatively low public profile regarding his personal life. His full given name is Chaitanya, though he is known professionally as Chet. He has connections to the Boston, Massachusetts area through his education at Northeastern University and his founding of Starry, which was headquartered in the city.

Kanojia's personal story as an Indian-born entrepreneur who built technology companies in the United States has been noted in coverage by Indian-American media outlets, including INDIA New England News, which covered the progress of Starry.

Recognition

Kanojia's work with Aereo brought him significant media attention and public recognition, both for the ambition of the venture and for the Supreme Court case that ultimately ended it. The American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. decision became one of the most discussed technology law cases of the decade, and Kanojia was at the center of the public debate over the case's implications for innovation and copyright.

He was profiled by a range of major publications, including Forbes, Time, Inc., Mashable, Business Insider, and TechCrunch. These profiles generally focused on his willingness to take on established industries and the trajectory of his career from Aereo through Starry.

Kanojia was invited to speak at Northeastern University in October 2013 as part of a "Profiles in Innovation" series, where he discussed his work with Aereo and the broader implications of the technology for the television industry.

The Aereo case itself remains a frequently cited precedent in discussions of copyright law, technology regulation, and the boundaries of innovation in the digital media space. Kanojia's role as the founder and CEO of Aereo places him at the center of that legal and technological history.

Legacy

Chet Kanojia's career reflects the tensions between technological innovation and established regulatory and legal frameworks in the United States media and telecommunications industries. With Aereo, he created a service that exploited what many legal analysts saw as a gap in copyright law, forcing a resolution of that ambiguity by the Supreme Court. The resulting decision in American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. has had lasting effects on how courts and regulators evaluate technology-based challenges to existing copyright and media distribution models.

The Aereo case highlighted the broader debate over whether copyright law, much of it written before the Internet era, was adequate to address new technological realities. The Supreme Court's ruling that Aereo was functionally equivalent to a cable company, despite its use of individual antennas, established that the functional nature of a service—rather than its underlying technological architecture—would be the primary consideration in determining copyright liability. This principle has continued to inform legal analyses of streaming and cloud-based media services.

With Starry, Kanojia applied a similar philosophy to the broadband industry, arguing that fixed wireless technology could break the effective monopolies or duopolies that existed in many American broadband markets. While Starry's path through Chapter 11 demonstrated the difficulty of challenging entrenched telecommunications incumbents, the company's successful emergence from bankruptcy in 2023 suggested that the underlying business model retained viability.

Kanojia's career arc—from Aereo's rise and fall before the Supreme Court to Starry's efforts to reshape broadband access—represents a sustained effort to use technology to increase consumer access and competition in industries characterized by high barriers to entry and concentrated market power. Whether measured by the legal precedents established, the public policy debates initiated, or the technological innovations pursued, Kanojia's ventures have left a mark on both the media and telecommunications landscapes in the United States.