“For all practical purposes we’ve fired the starting gun,” says FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.
He’s referring to the commission’s release of the final opening bid prices for its upcoming broadcast incentive auction.
Opening bid information, plus detailed application procedures also released, are meant to give broadcast executives information to decide whether they want to participate in the auction.
The highest minimum opening bid is for CBS O&O WCBS in New York City at $900 million; the lowest is less than $100 million in smaller markets.
A senior agency official told reporters that the minimum opening bids are “final.”
Click here for the list, which includes more than 2,000 stations. The agency used a formula publicized in August which takes into account market, population, and interference constraints, such as whether a station is in the middle of the DMA or on the fringe.
Now, licensees must decide if they want to participate in the auction. If so, owners must decide what kind of bid they want to make — either giving up their license or, agreeing to move to another frequency in the subsequent spectrum repack.
Specifically, a UFH has the option of moving to either a high or low VFH channel. A high VHF has the option of moving to a low VFH channel.
Applications are due Dec. 18.
