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EOBC Presses FCC for TV Auction Changes

The coalition of broadcasters looking to sell their specturm in the FCC incentive auction told agency officials that key changes in how the agency conducts the auction will encourage more stations to participate and help the FCC achieve its goal of recovering 126 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband.

 

By Staff | February 4, 2015 | 8:39 a.m. ET.

Representatives of broadcasters interested in selling TV spectrum in the FCC’s planned 2016 incentive auction visited key agency staff yesterday, arguing for changes in the auction that they believe would not only yield more money for broadcasters, but also increase the likelihood of the FCC recovering 126 MHz of spectrum that it could resell to wireless carriers for $80 billion.

The Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition led by Executive Director Preston Padden argued that the FCC should increase its opening bids in the reverse auction it will use to buy spectrum in light of the $45 billion the agency earned in its AWS-3 auction, according the EOBC’s synopsis of the meeting filed with the FCC.

“The commission cannot justify from a legal or policy standpoint offering vastly different starting prices — prices hundreds of millions of dollars apart in many cases — to stations with nearly the identical impact on clearing spectrum,” the EOBC said.

“Accordingly, the coalition urged the commission to revise its formula to reduce, if not eliminate, the price disparity between stations with similar spectrum clearing impact.”

The ECOC also argued that the FCC should:

  • Replace its proposed Dynamic Reserve Pricing with a Round Zero Reserve Price. The latter would provide broadcasters with greater certainty and would result in less spectrum impairment, it said.
  • Provide participating broadcasters with far more information during the auction to enable them to make more informed decisions about their bids.
  • Set its near-nationwide spectrum clearing target based on the maximum amount of spectrum that can be cleared in New York or Los Angeles, whichever is greater.
  • Stick to its plan to begin the auction in early 2016.
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Comments (8)

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Bobbi Proctor says:

February 4, 2015 at 9:57 am

I still don’t see how broadcasters can sell something that doesn’t belong to them. Whatever happened to “the airwaves belong to the people”? If they don’t want to be broadcasters then they should just turn in their licenses irmove on. We need more channels not less for TV with all the new networks. We have lost some service since the move to digital. A couple we could watch on digital when stations operated two channels were lost when channels 52 to 69 were taken away and stations using channels 52 to 69 were moved to lower channels that were already occupied by stations nearby. Too many stations on too few channels already. This “repacking” will make things even worse.

    Keith ONeal says:

    February 4, 2015 at 9:30 pm

    I keep on saying that this Spectrum auction is so unnecessary. Cancel it. NOW!!!

    Wagner Pereira says:

    February 8, 2015 at 3:17 am

    your constant posting here to cancel the auction will result in NOTHING being done. If you REALLY cared, you would drop your all things Orlando posts and focus your attention on doing something about the auction on people in DC that actually have the ability to carry out your desire.

Ellen Samrock says:

February 4, 2015 at 10:57 am

Matthew Berry, chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, recently spoke at The American Enterprise Institute and referred to the incentive auction as a needlessly complex “Rube Goldberg” contraption. He said that wireless carriers spent far more money than anticipated in the AWS-3 auction, and that they would need time to replenish capital prior to the start of the incentive auction. “Having carriers bring plenty of money to the table isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. If they don’t, the auction will fail,” he said. So I agree with EOBC on this one point, let’s hold the auction ASAP. Next week if it can be arranged.—http://www.radioworld.com/article/berry-criticizes-fcc-lack-of-comity/274352

    Wagner Pereira says:

    February 4, 2015 at 4:21 pm

    Guess we know what side of the spectrum you come down on: “If broadcasters don’t mind being nickel-and-dimed, then by all means they should want the commission to continue full speed ahead.”

    Ellen Samrock says:

    February 4, 2015 at 4:42 pm

    Since our station isn’t eligible to participate it doesn’t matter to us, monetarily, when the auction occurs. The EOBC wants it to happen in early 2016 but Mr. Berry is advocating that the auction be postponed or it will fail to produce enough revenue. We would love to see the auction fail, so bring it on now.

mike tomasino says:

February 4, 2015 at 1:05 pm

It also seems obvious to me that the AWS-3 spectrum was higher frequency, and therefore worth more to carriers than 600 MHz spectrum. You have all these people counting their chickens before they hatch. They seem to be expecting prime rib prices for chopped liver. The 600 MHz band is being used for its best use now, and hopefully the carriers are smart enough to know that.

    Wagner Pereira says:

    February 4, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    You clearly are no RF Engineer. The 600MHz band is MUCH MORE VALUABLE to wireless than the AWS-3 Spectrum was.