It looks like the dates for the FCC incentive auction (where some broadcasters will sell their spectrum to the FCC to be repackaged and resold to wireless companies for wireless broadband purposes) are becoming clear. After this week’s delay of the consideration of the incentive auction items (see our article here), the drafts of
Broadcast Auctions
FCC Delays Consideration of TV Incentive Auction Procedures
The FCC was today supposed to be considering the adoption of a public notice that would specify the detailed procedures to be used in the incentive auction (see our articles here and here). In the incentive auction, the FCC will buy the spectrum used by a number of TV stations, repack the remaining TV stations into a more compact TV band, and then resell the vacated spectrum to wireless companies for wireless broadband and other wireless uses. However, yesterday, it was announced that the consideration of these matters would be delayed until the FCC’s August 6 meeting.
The details of the auction are incredibly complicated. In recent weeks, a number of proposals have been raised about the use of the “duplex gap” between the wireless frequencies to be used for the upload and the download of wireless communications, specifically including debates about whether TV stations that do not sell out in the auction, and don’t fit into the repacked TV band in congested markets, could end up in this band. If TV stations end up in the duplex gap, it would displace unlicensed spectrum users, including wireless microphone users, that were initially to use the spectrum and it could potentially create consumer reception issues for any TV stations that end up in this spectrum removed from the adjacent TV stations, where the spectrum would be used for TV in only a limited number of markets.
Continue Reading FCC Delays Consideration of TV Incentive Auction Procedures
TV Incentive Auction Moves Forward – The FCC Denies Reconsideration of Auction Framework, Asks for Comments on TVStudy Predictions of Station Coverage to be used in Determining Station Values
Earlier this week, we wrote about the Court of Appeals decision denying appeals of the FCC’s 2014 order setting the framework for the incentive auction to reclaim spectrum used by TV stations and repurpose it for use by wireless companies to provide more high-speed wireless broadband opportunities. But, in addition to the appeals, there were also a number of petitions for reconsideration of the 2014 order. Those were also resolved in an FCC order released last month. Many of the issues considered concerned technical matters as to how the new wireless spectrum would be allocated and sold after it is acquired from the broadcasters. But the order also resolved a number of issues of specific importance to broadcasters, some of which could potentially result in another appeal of the 2014 order to the Court of Appeals.
Initially, in its reconsideration order, the FCC refused to reconsider the modifications to the OET-69 standard for determining interference between television stations as that issue was before the Court of Appeals in the appeal filed by Sinclair and the NAB – the appeal that was denied by the FCC the week before this order was released. The use of the TVStudy updates to the inputs to the OET-69 have again been in the news this week, as the FCC released new population counts for each auction-eligible station as computed by using this information, and asked for comment on this information by July 30. The population served by a TV station is a very important input into how much a station would receive to surrender its spectrum in the incentive auction (just how important that input will be is an issue to be addressed at the FCC meeting next week). The FCC request for comments is here, and the table showing the FCC’s prediction of the population served by each auction-eligible TV station is here. This updated information has already proved to be controversial, with one association representing probable auction participants suggesting that the recomputation of a NY TV station that will set the highest opening offer to buy out the spectrum of any TV station, and from which the offers to other lesser valued stations will be derived, could have the impact of lessening initial buyout offers to other broadcasters (see the blog post here).
Continue Reading TV Incentive Auction Moves Forward – The FCC Denies Reconsideration of Auction Framework, Asks for Comments on TVStudy Predictions of Station Coverage to be used in Determining Station Values
Incentive Auction Moves Forward – Denial of Court Appeal Clears the Way for the Auction, With Procedures to be Clarified at Next Week’s FCC Meeting
The FCC’s stated goal for some time has been to conduct the broadcast incentive auction in 2016 – buying the spectrum used by a number of TV stations, repackaging it and selling it to wireless companies for wireless broadband purposes. This will happen in a very complicated process where there will be two simultaneous auctions, one for TV stations bidding to surrender their channels, and a second for wireless companies looking to buy that spectrum. Only if there are sufficient bidders on both sides – enough TV stations willing to give up their spectrum to entice the wireless companies to bid, and enough wireless companies willing to bid enough to cover the costs of buying out the TV stations needed to clear the spectrum and paying the costs of many of the remaining stations to change their channels so as to clear a uniform block of spectrum nationwide – will the process be a success. The FCC adopted the general framework for the auction last year. Last month, the Court of Appeals rejected certain appeals of that Order, and the next week, the FCC denied other petitions for reconsideration of that Order – setting the stage for the auction to go forward. The FCC will, at its meeting next week, consider more detailed procedures setting out how the auction will be conducted – all looking to the auction really taking place on schedule in early 2016, with certain required filings this year (including the one due on July 9, about which we wrote here).
The FCC last month also issued orders on Channel Sharing between TV stations (where two stations can combine operations on the same 6 MHz television channel, retaining their cable carriage rights, but enabling them to sell one channel in the auction) and on setting aside a television channel in each market after the auction for unlicensed wireless uses. We will separately write about those two items – but today let’s look at the rejection of the appellate challenges to the auction framework itself, and the impact that these decisions have on broadcasters’ plans going forward.
Continue Reading Incentive Auction Moves Forward – Denial of Court Appeal Clears the Way for the Auction, With Procedures to be Clarified at Next Week’s FCC Meeting
July Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists and Children’s Television Reports, Incentive Auction Actions, CRB Webcasting Closing Argument and More
By David Oxenford on
Another month is upon us, with the typical list of FCC dates of importance – and some new issues (including incentive auction developments that will probably be a regular part of our news through a good part of next year). One date of importance to some TV broadcasters was yesterday – July 1 – when TV stations affiliated with one of the Big Four TV networks and located in the Top 60 TV markets need to be carrying at least 50 hours of prime time or children’s programming each quarter containing video description. While most of this programming will come from the networks themselves, affiliates in these markets should be now be passing through enough of this video-described programming to meet the quarterly minimums.
July 10 brings other routine filing deadlines. For all broadcasters, by July 10 you should have in your public file (the online public file for TV stations) your Quarterly Issues Programs lists describing the most important issues that faced your community in the prior quarter and the programming that you broadcast to address those issues. Also due to be filed at the FCC by July 10 is your station’s Children’s Television Programming Report on Form 398 describing the programming broadcast on your station to serve the educational and informational needs of children. In addition, TV stations need to place in their online public file information showing compliance with the commercial limits in children’s programming and, for Class A stations, documentation showing continued eligibility for Class A status. For other dates of importance to broadcasters, see our Broadcaster Regulatory Calendar, here.
Continue Reading July Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Quarterly Issues Programs Lists and Children’s Television Reports, Incentive Auction Actions, CRB Webcasting Closing Argument and More
Incentive Auction Next Step – FCC Identifies Auction-Eligible Stations and Requires All TV Stations to File Information on Technical Facilities by July 9
The FCC just took another step toward the TV incentive auction, and set one of the first of what will no doubt be many deadlines for stations to meet as part of the process. The FCC released a list of all stations that they find to be eligible to participate in the incentive auction. These are also the stations that will be protected in the post-auction repacking of the television spectrum if their licenses are not surrendered as part of the auction process. The Commission also released a public notice explaining the next steps in the process and setting the July 9 filing deadline. The public notice sets out a process for any licensee that believes that its station was incorrectly left off the list of eligible stations to request that its station be included – so all station owners should carefully review the list now.
The Public Notice asks licensees to certify on a new FCC form, the “Pre-Auction Technical Certification Form,” FCC Form 2100 Schedule 381, that the information in the FCC’s technical databases regarding their station is accurate or, if it is not, to file corrections and explanations as to why the information is wrong. This new form will be filed in the FCC’s new LMS electronic filing system, and is due from all TV stations eligible to participate in the auction by July 9. In addition, each station needs to provide information about the specifics of the facilities with which they operate – including specifics on their transmitter, antenna and tower. This information will be used by the FCC to evaluate how to repack stations, taking into account their coverage and the costs associated with replacing the station’s equipment after the repacking.
Continue Reading Incentive Auction Next Step – FCC Identifies Auction-Eligible Stations and Requires All TV Stations to File Information on Technical Facilities by July 9
May Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Including EEO Mid-Term Reports, FM Auction, Emergency Communications Compliance, TV Market Modification Comments, Class A TV Digital Conversion Deadline and More
May is one of those months where there are no routine, recurring FCC regulatory filing deadlines – no EEO reports or Quarterly Issues Programs lists, no Children’s Television Programming Reports or noncommercial station ownership report deadlines. But, as with any month, that does not mean that there are no dates of concern for broadcasters – as there are certain compliance deadlines and other important dates of which broadcasters need to be aware in the upcoming month. Here is our summary of some of the dates that broadcasters should be watching in the upcoming month.
The only thing approaching a routine regulatory date of note is the obligation of TV stations in Delaware and Pennsylvania to air the third and fourth of their required six post-filing announcements of the filing of their renewal applications – the last of the renewal applications for either radio or TV that were filed in this renewal cycle. The next routine license renewal filing window will be when radio renewals being again in June of 2019 – with the filing of radio license renewals by stations in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and DC. However, as we have written before, EEO Mid-Term reports are due from larger radio station groups in these 3 states and in DC on June 1 of this year. So radio station employment units (commonly controlled station groups serving the same area and having at least one common employee) with 11 or more full-time (30 hours per week) employees should be preparing to file those reports on FCC Form 397 by June 1.
Continue Reading May Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Including EEO Mid-Term Reports, FM Auction, Emergency Communications Compliance, TV Market Modification Comments, Class A TV Digital Conversion Deadline and More
FCC Sets Final Rules For Auction of New FM Stations – Applications Due By May 28, Filing Freeze on FM Minor Changes from May 18 through May 28
By David Oxenford on
Posted in Broadcast Auctions, FM Radio
The FCC has finalized the rules for its auction for about 130 new FM channels to be auctioned in July. The Order setting the rules for the auction is available here, and the list of channels to be sold, and the opening minimum bid for each such channel, is available here. The minimum bids also constitute the “upfront payments” which must be made before the auction in order to be able to bid on the channels in which you may be interested. We wrote about these channels here, when the FCC first proposed the auction. As can be seen by reviewing the list, while there are channels across the country, the greatest number of available channels, by far, is in Texas. As we noted when we first wrote about this auction, many of the channels cover small communities in rural areas, and some are leftovers that went unsold in previous auctions. But in every auction there are a few channels that may prove to have some value, so we expect that there will again be interest in many of those on the list. Such interest must be expressed through the filing of “short-form” Form 175 applications by May 28. The actual auction will begin on July 23.
The FCC also announced a freeze on the filing of FM construction permit applications for changes in existing stations from May 18 through May 28 to stabilize the FCC’s engineering database during the period when applicants will be filing their applications. As auction applicants can specify in their short-form applications transmitter sites to be protected, a minor change application by an existing station could end up mutually exclusive with a transmitter site specified by an auction applicant, meaning that the existing station could end up in the auction. To avoid that, the FCC has frozen minor change applications during the filing window.
Continue Reading FCC Sets Final Rules For Auction of New FM Stations – Applications Due By May 28, Filing Freeze on FM Minor Changes from May 18 through May 28
The Latest on the TV Incentive Auction – More Regional Information Sessions by the FCC for Auction that Still Appears Targeted for 2016
The FCC yesterday announced a number of new regional information sessions on the TV incentive auction, by which the FCC proposes to purchase the spectrum of some TV stations to resell that spectrum to wireless users. At these seminars, the FCC representatives will answer questions from the stations attending, and schedule private meetings with TV owners to discuss the specifics of the amounts that they will initially be offered to surrender their spectrum and other issues unique to their stations. These seminars are just part of the FCC’s efforts to hold that auction in 2016, with preliminary filings by parties interested in participating potentially due later this year.
At the recent NAB Convention, there were repeated statements by FCC officials, including the Chairman himself, that the auction is on schedule to happen next year, and these officials do not seem to be concerned that the wireless companies that will buy this spectrum have stretched their financial resources to a point that would limit their participation in a 2016 auction through their spending in the recently concluded AWS-3 auction. Instead, seemingly the only thing that would slow the auction would be an adverse result in the appeals of the auction rules filed by Sinclair Broadcasting and the NAB – appeals that have been briefed and argued in front of the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. A decision in this case appeal is expected by June, although the court has no official timeline for issuing its ruling. There are other potential appeals of the FCC’s auction rules that could also play into auction timing, though this case is the most advanced. FCC statements have suggested that even an adverse result could be remedied in time for the auction to occur next year – though such optimism may depend on exactly how the court rules, if the court ultimately has concerns about the issues raised in the appeal. Otherwise, the FCC is moving forward, and we expect some clarifications of some other issues very shortly.
Continue Reading The Latest on the TV Incentive Auction – More Regional Information Sessions by the FCC for Auction that Still Appears Targeted for 2016
April Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Including Quarterly Issues Programs and Children’s Television Reports; Comments In Proceedings Including One on Digital Auxiliaries; and More Incentive Auction Seminars
By David Oxenford on
Posted in Broadcast Auctions, Children's Programming and Advertising, EEO Compliance/Diversity, FM Radio, General FCC, Incentive Auctions/Broadband Report, License Renewal, Noncommercial Broadcasting, Payola and Sponsorship Identification, Programming Regulations, Public Interest Obligations/Localism, Television
April is one of those months with many routine FCC obligations. Quarterly Issues Programs lists need to be in your public file by the 10th of the month. This is an obligation for all full-power broadcast stations – commercial or noncommercial. Similarly, all TV stations have an obligation to submit their Children’s Television Reports on FCC Form 398 demonstrating compliance with the obligations to provide educational and informational programming directed to children, and at the same time put into their public files documents showing their compliance with the limitations on commercials within programming directed to children.
EEO public file reports are due for stations that are part of an employment unit with 5 or more full-time (30 or more hours per week) employees which is located in any of the following states: Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. Noncommercial TV stations in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee; and noncommercial radio stations in Texas, need to file their Biennial Ownership Reports with the FCC on April 1. Finally, license renewal applications in the last license renewal window for this license renewal cycle are due to be filed on April 1 by TV stations (and TV translators and LPTV stations) in Delaware and Pennsylvania. The next regularly scheduled license renewal will be filed by radio stations in certain states – but not until June 2019!
Continue Reading April Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – Including Quarterly Issues Programs and Children’s Television Reports; Comments In Proceedings Including One on Digital Auxiliaries; and More Incentive Auction Seminars