Judge refuses to block Diller's Aereo online TV venture

July 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge has rejected a bid by major U.S. broadcasters to stop Aereo Inc, an online television venture backed by billionaire Barry Diller, to stop rebroadcasting some of its programming over the Internet.

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan said on Wednesday that while the broadcasters demonstrated they faced irreparable harm, Aereo also showed it would be harmed if the requested preliminary injunction were granted.

Nathan concluded that the so-called "balance of hardships" did not tip "decidedly" in the broadcasters' favor.

Broadcasters including Walt Disney Co's ABC, CBS Corp, Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal and News Corp's Fox had filed lawsuits accusing Aereo of copyright violations, even before the service was launched in the New York City area in March.