short form auction application

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It is time for our look at September’s regulatory dates and deadlines to which broadcasters should be paying attention, and the deadline that probably is most important to all commercial broadcasters is not yet known.  That, of course, is the deadline for the payment of annual regulatory fees, which must be made before the federal government’s October 1 start of the new fiscal year.  The FCC on Friday announced the amount of those fees, and we expect that this coming week, the payment window will be set, and the FCC will issue fee filing guides for all the industries regulated by the FCC – including a Media Bureau filing guide for broadcasters.  Stay alert for those announcements. 

Later in the month is the filing window for broadcasters to submit their Auction 114 “short-form” construction permit applications necessary to participate in the action of 132 construction permits for new FM stations, (see the list of available channels here).  The filing window opens at 12:00 p.m. ET on September 14 and closes at 6:00 p.m. ET on September 30.  Bidding is scheduled to begin on February 2, 2027.  These “short-form” applications on FCC Form 175 are necessary to participate in the auction.  Among the information required from an applicant in the Form 175 is the identification of which of the 132 vacant allotments they intend to bid on, any bidding credits for which they may be eligible, and certain ownership information.  Applicants may also specify specific coordinates for tower sites that an applicant plans to use for any channel to protect that site from being precluded by subsequent applications by other FM stations.  For more on the process, see our article here and the FCC’s instructions for auction participation here.  In addition, the FCC just released a Small Entity Compliance Guide summarizing the requirements and procedures for the upcoming Auction.

Continue Reading September 2026 Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – FCC Regulatory Fees, Auction 114 Short-Form Applications and Filing Freeze, Deadline for Implementation of EAS Security Practices, LUC Window for the November Election and More

In May, the FCC announced that it would be conducting an auction in February 2027 for construction permits to build over 130 new FM stations in various locations around the country (see our article here). Last week, the FCC issued a Public Notice that provided the remaining details about the auction, including a September filing window for “short-form” applications to participate in the auction, the December 3 deadline for submitting “upfront payments,” and a detailed discussion of the rules for participating in the auction.  An attachment to that Public Notice provides the final list of available channels and their minimum bids.  In addition, the FCC issued a second Public Notice that announced that there will be a filing freeze on minor change applications for any FM station during the short-form filing window to avoid possible conflicts between sites specified by auction applicants and those specified in the minor change application of previously authorized FM stations.

In connection with the auction, the FCC will also hold tutorials and a mock auction to ensure that bidders know the process for filing applications and for participating in the auction.  Even if you have participated in FM auctions in the past, you may want to monitor these tutorials and mock auctions because the auction procedures have changed, as discussed below.

The dates and deadlines for the auction are as follows:

  • Auction Application Tutorial Available (via Internet) (August 21, 2026)
  • Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175) Filing Window Opens (September 14, 2026, 12:00 p.m. ET)
  • Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175) Filing Deadline (September 30, 2026, 6:00 p.m. ET)
  • Upfront Payments (via wire transfer) (December 3, 2026, 6:00 p.m. ET)
  • Bidding Tutorial Available (via Internet) (January 6, 2027)
  • Mock Auction (January 29, 2027)
  • Auction Bidding Begins (February 2, 2027)

The short-form applications are the first step in participating in the auction.  Anyone who wants to participate in the auction must file one of these applications in the window set out above – with the deadline being September 30 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. As with any other FCC filing, do not wait until the last minute to file, as the FCC’s electronic filing system has been known to have slowdowns and glitches, and not getting the short-form application on file by the deadline is fatal to any hopes of participating in the auction.

Continue Reading Applications to Participate in February Auction for 132 New FM Stations Due by September 30 – FCC Releases Auction Rules and Procedures

112 new FM channels will be available in the next auction for new FM channels (referred to by the FCC as "Auction 94") to be held beginning April 23, 2013. To participate, interested parties must file their "short form" applications – setting out information about the ownership of the applicant and the channels in which they are interested – by February 6, 2003. All of the procedures for the auction are set out in the order released late Wednesday, available here. The locations of the available channels, authorizing the winners to build new FM stations  serving the named communities and the nearby area, are also set out in this attachment to the order. The notice adopts many of the same procedures set out when the Commission first proposed the auction back in September (see our article here). However, the Commission pushed the auction back the initially scheduled date for the auction by about a month to avoid religious holidays and the NAB Convention, ending up with the new starting date of April 23. The Commission also pushed back other dates associated with the auction, deleted a handful of channels that had been proposed for inclusion in the auction but had not been properly published in the Federal Register, and announced other decisions relating to the auction – all with many cautions for those who may be bidding about the possible pitfalls of the auction process.

The relevant auction dates are as follows:

Auction Tutorial Available (via Internet) …………………….January 28, 2013

Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175)

Filing Window Opens ……………………………………………….January 28, 2013; 12:00 noon ET

Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175)

Filing Window Deadline……………………………………………February 6, 2013; prior to 6:00 p.m. ET

Upfront Payments (via wire transfer)…………………………..March 18, 2013; 6:00 p.m. ET

Mock Auction ………………………………………………………….April 19, 2013

Auction Begins…………………………………………………………April 23, 2013

The most important dates for bidders are the deadline for the submission of the "short-form" application of February 6, the date for the Upfront Payments, and of course the dates for the start of the auction itself. The short-form lists the owners, any bidding agreements that the parties have with other bidders, and the channels in which the party is interested in bidding. The bidder can also submit specific proposed transmitter site coordinates for any channel in which they are bidding, which protects those named sites from moves by other existing stations that could otherwise preclude their use.   The failure to meet this February 6 deadline means that a party cannot participate in the auction.Continue Reading FCC Sets Deadlines and Procedures for the April 2013 Auction of 112 New FM Channels – February 6 Deadline for Applications to Participate

Interested in a new FM radio station?  Now might be your chance.  The Commission today announced an upcoming auction, designated as FCC Auction No. 91, offering licenses for 147 new FM channels in various communities across the country.  The auction will begin on March 29.  Today’s public notice merely lists the channels to be auctioned and the proposed minimum bid in the auction to be associated with each channel, and asks for comments on the procedures that will apply in conducting the auction.  We would expect that applications to participate in the auction will probably be due sometime in or around January, 2011.  The list of the 147 licenses to be offered for sale is available here.  The FCC Public Notice asking for comment on the auction procedures is available here. 

Parties who are interested in bidding for any of these channels will be able to submit short form applications indicating the channels in which they are interested.  As stated above, we would expect these applications will be due sometime early in 2011, so that the FCC can process those applications and receive the necessary upfront payments from parties interested in the auction in time for the auction itself to begin in March.  Thus, parties who are interested in any of these channels should start their due diligence process now, and determine which channels may be of interest, and which channels can actually be built in such a way as to cover areas that an applicant may want to serve, so that they can be ready to file their applications.Continue Reading FCC Plans March Auction for New FM Stations – 147 New FM Licenses for Sale

The FCC has released a public notice asking for comment on the procedures that it plans to use for a new FM auction now scheduled to be held in September.  The channels to be included in that auction, and the proposed minimum bids for those channels, can be found on a list released by the Commission, here.  Parties who are interested in bidding for any of these channels will be able to submit short form applications indicating the channels in which they are interested at some point to be determined in the future – probably late Spring or early Summer, so that the FCC can process those applications and receive the necessary upfront payments from parties interested in the auction in time for the auction itself to begin in September.  Thus, parties who are interested in any of these channels should start their due diligence process now, and determine which channels may be of interest, and which channels can actually be built in such a way as to cover areas that an applicant may want to serve, so that they can be ready to file their applications, probably in May or June.

Applications, when filed, will not need to specify a specific transmitter site but, once the auction is over, winning bidders will need to quickly identify and file complete applications containing specific transmitter sites for which they have reasonable assurance.  Thus, they should begin preparations for the auction now.  Applicants who have identified a site can specify that site in their applications to protect it from subsequent applications.  Thus, FM broadcasters should also anticipate a freeze on the filing of any FM technical applications at some point in late Spring in anticipation of the auction, in order to give applicants a stable technical situation so that they can identify usable transmitter sites. Continue Reading FCC to Hold Auction for New FM Stations in September