<a style='text-decoration:underline' style='text-decoration:none' href="http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/default.htm?job=auction_summary&id=91" target="_blank">Auction 91</a> has wound down with gross bids totaling about $10.5 million. <br /><br /> The FCC said net bids amounted to $8.5 million after factoring in auction bidding credits for new entrants. <br /><br /> That compares to $21 million in net auction proceeds for 111 FM CPs four years ago and $148 million for 258 CPs in 2004, according to <a style='text-decoration:underline' style='text-decoration:none' href="http://www.commlawblog.com/2011/05/articles/broadcast/closing-gavel-comes-down-on-auction-91/" target="_blank">Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth</a>. The law firm speculates that a poor economy may account for the skimpy monetary results for the U.S. Treasury.<br /><br /> According to the <a style='text-decoration:underline' style='text-decoration:none' href="https://auctionbidding.fcc.gov/auction/index.htm?CFID=2316500&CFTOKEN=72501573&jsessionid=vCvxNTvTn2JWBgGg0BTyfGtNpG6KXKJMBkThL3N1tpfnTDJWy082!228007569!-1734616786!1305731667818" target="_blank">FCC’s results summary</a>, the top bid was a $2 million offer for a CP in Lawrence Park, Pa., outside Erie, from First Channel Communications. Liberty Acquisitions made the next-highest bid, at $987,000, for a CP in Coosada, Ala. in the Montgomery, Ala. market.<br /><br /> Future Modulation Broadcasting entered the lowest successful bid — $1,100 — for a CP in Cedarville, Calif. <br /><br /> The auction of 144 FM CPs lasted 11 days over 62 rounds. A total of 108 permits were divided among 66 bidders. Three dozen CPs were not sold.<br /><br /> Next, the FCC will establish deadlines by which the winning bidders must send their money to the U.S. Treasury. <br /><br /> <i>— Leslie Stimson</i> <br /><br />