WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has announced the conclusion of its AWS-3 auction for mid-band spectrum, with results the agency said showed the demand for spectrum is high.

Auction bidding beat expectations with significant per-unit prices and gross winning bids exceeding $3.5 billion.

Bidding in the AWS-3 auction, formally designated as Auction 113, began on June 2, 2026. Seventeen qualified bidders participated in the auction, which ran for 72 rounds.

Up to $3.3 billion of the auction’s proceeds will be used to cover amounts borrowed to support the FCC’s “rip and replace” program and other Commerce Department programs.

The auction made available 200 spectrum licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands which were subject to bid defaults or bid withdrawals in the 2014 auction and thus have remained unused in the FCC’s inventory since then.

Many of the licenses were ones that Dish won in Auction 97 more than a decade ago; the higher than expected proceeds mean that Dish won’t have to cover a shortfall.

In the run-up to forthcoming Upper C-Band auction, the FCC said that the better than expected results shows that the FCC’s Auctions program is running strong, despite the previous lapse in authority and a four-year gap in conducting an auction.

The FCC also said it is on schedule to meet Congress’s deadline to complete a system of competitive bidding for at least 100 megahertz in the Upper C-band no later than July 2027. Those auctions are expected to have a major impact on the way broadcasters and programmers distribute programming and content.

“Today’s successful auction generated billions of dollars in competitive bids to put spectrum to effective commercial use, and it bolsters competition in the wireless marketplace,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We will carry this momentum forward as we prepare for the Upper C-Band auction in the year ahead.”

Auction 113 also featured the debut of the FCC’s brand new application system, which represents a step towards the FCC’s goals of increasing efficiency in agency operations.

July 2027 marks the next Upper C-band auction and a further reduction of satellite spectrum that has been the backbone for television distribution for decades.

This time, the challenge looks different. The previous C-band repack compressed services into a smaller slice of spectrum through more efficient encoding and additional satellite capacity.

But the next phase is unlikely to offer that same flexibility. Even under more conservative scenarios, with the FCC required by statute to auction at least 100 MHz of Upper C-band, many broadcasters now assume current distribution models will not be sustainable within the remaining C-band allocation.

That challenge sits against a deeply embedded infrastructure. Satellite has set the standard for decades, delivering consistent, predictable performance across vast affiliate footprints. Today, there are still over a thousand registered earth stations supporting video broadcast distribution.

For those who are carrying premium channels and live events, replacing satellite is being assessed and scrutinized around reliability, and more specifically, how to maintain broadcast-grade delivery as the underlying infrastructure changes.

Approaching the Transition
Broadcasters are no longer evaluating distribution options in theory. They’re testing them in live environments, where performance failures are visible, measurable, and have commercial impact.

These considerations play out differently depending on the type of service in play. Occasional-use contribution feeds and lower-risk channels are often the first to move, where flexibility and cost carry more weight. Higher-value full time channels, where disruption has immediate commercial impact, tend to follow a more gradual path, introducing IP alongside existing satellite capacity before making larger moves.

A managed IP solution that offers service level guarantees is increasingly forming a core part of the delivery model, either as a primary or a back-up pathway. Deep monitoring of both the end-to-end network connectivity, as well as the video, audio, and metadata payload is critical transparency that allows programmers and networks to know the state of their content as received by their partner platforms.

Where Alternatives Break Down
Ku-band satellite is one of the most immediate options open to broadcasters. It has the advantage of providing additional capacity and can be integrated into existing workflows, but it comes with a known trade-off: greater sensitivity to weather than C-band. For some use cases, that trade-off is manageable, but for high-value live services, it often means that another layer of protection is required.

A second option is public internet delivery, which presents a different set of challenges. Although it’s widely available and easy to access, video cannot always be transported consistently, and unmanaged internet paths do not give broadcasters the same confidence around performance and protection that they would expect. This is why content owners preparing for migration are looking into the architecture that is powering these services, focusing on how a provider handles redundancy, what level of service assurance exists, how issues are identified, and who is responsible when a feed is degraded.

One further pressure lies in the compression of the remaining satellite services. As more channels are packed into less spectrum, managing that environment becomes a lot harder. Planning early gives broadcasters greater scope to sequence migrations sensibly, maintain continuity and avoid unnecessary disruption as timelines tighten.

The Growth of Managed IP Distribution
In response to these challenges, purpose-built IP distribution is gaining ground because it addresses the areas broadcasters are focused on most closely: reliability and control. That includes fully managed networks designed for live video, with built-in redundancy, clear service-level commitments, and continuous monitoring from origination to hand-off.

Broadcasters and MVPDs do not want a replacement model that makes things more complex at the receive site or turns every new channel into an engineering nightmare. They need manageability, support, simplicity, reliability, transparency, and scale, all of which makes IP migration more manageable for programmers and platforms.

Reliability as the New Benchmark
When it comes to high-value content, premium channels and live events place tolerance on delivery problems is effectively zero. This reality is shaping how broadcasters plan their transition. Hybrid models will persist in the near term, with satellite continuing to play a role in certain markets and for some content. But as C-band capacity continues to contract, the direction of travel is clear.

The next phase of distribution will be defined by which solutions can deliver broadcast-grade reliability in an increasingly complex environment. In the post-C-band era, broadcasters will need the deterministic certainty offered by proven managed IP solutions with performance Service Level Agreements and backed up by 24x7 human and automation support that responds swiftly to remediate any issues with the network or the content.

Major U.S. wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are aggressively lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to repurpose the entire upper C-band (3.98–4.2 GHz) for flexible-use wireless services, aiming to secure up to 180 MHz of additional spectrum for expanded capacity.

Observers say those companies want it all, top to bottom. Wireless industry association CTIA, for one, met with the FCC this month and put on the record that it wants the “maximum amount of spectrum” in the upper C-Band for full-power, licensed wireless deployments.

While carriers and other wireless service providers are anxious to grab the maximum amount of capacity, they face stiff pushback from broadcasters urging a limit of 100 MHz.

The FCC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to repurpose the 3.98–4.2 GHz band for flexible-use terrestrial services, with an auction targeted for 2027. The commission is mandated by Congress to take at least another 100 MHz for wireless services.

The National Association of Broadcasters said taking that much spectrum for terrestrial cellular services could disrupt vital content distribution services.

(This story from our sister publication Radio World focuses on filing by wireless entities. Read their coverage of the NAB’s latest reply comments here.)

Data usage needs

Driven by the need for more mid-band spectrum to support 5G, and eventually 6G services, major wireless carriers are continuing their push for the maximum possible amount, aiming for the full 180 MHz.

The wireless carriers emphasized the importance of “maximizing” the amount of C-band spectrum to be repurposed. AT&T cited the historic growth in data usage by Americans that underscores the importance of the commission’s efforts in the proceeding to free up additional mid-band spectrum.

AT&T, in its comments, said that for the third year in a row, U.S. mobile network data usage demand grew approximately 35%, a historic surge and a pace that would nearly double the amount of data used every two years.

“Stakeholders broadly agree that the upper C-band will play a key role in 5G and beyond,” AT&T wrote.

Moving incumbents

Verizon focused part of its recent reply comments on the feasibility of moving incumbent users, including satellite audio and video services used by broadcasters, out of the upper C-band.

The broadband giant said comments filed in the proceeding confirm there is a feasible path for transitioning incumbents out of the spectrum, while ensuring they can receive “substantially” the same service that exists today.

Some existing space station operators, Verizon said, have detailed opportunities to reorganize and compress customers into a smaller segment of upper C-band spectrum, while others could be moved to Ku-band spectrum.

It also pointed to commenters who said fiber and internet protocol distribution technologies present effective alternatives for services provided today.

Transition plan

Verizon and others said that Fixed Service Satellite providers like SES – the largest upper C-band satellite operator, responsible for over 95% of all video content in the band – have already outlined a plan to clear 180 megahertz of the band (160 Megahertz for terrestrial wireless service and 20 Megahertz for a guard band), but that full transition could take years to plan.

Therefore, several commenters suggested a plan that would take several stages to complete, with the 100 MHz mandated in the Big Beautiful Bill being the first implemented in 2027.

Once the FCC makes a final determination on how much spectrum to repurpose, wireless carriers urged the commission to follow a similar regulatory framework of the lower C-band repurposing and auction in 2020, a transition that booted broadcast services to the upper section of C-band.

T-Mobile said in its comments: “The record in the proceeding reflects near-unanimous support for such a reallocation and a regulatory framework for terrestrial mobile use that is harmonized across the C-band, including, among other things, applying the licensing and technical rules adopted for the lower C-band (3.7–3.98 GHz) to the upper C-band.”

CTIA meets with the commission

In the latest round of comments collected by the FCC this week, CTIA shared what it wished for in a meeting with FCC officials in February: making available the “maximum amount of upper C-band spectrum” for licensed, or exclusive, full-power terrestrial wireless deployments.

CTIA also requested a “clear, unwavering schedule” for wireless licensees to begin their deployments in the near term following the auction and harmonizing the lower and upper C-band technical rules, as appropriate.

CTIA said the spectrum is also needed to support AI innovation.

“The fact remains that data demand continues to grow year after year and additional spectrum will be needed to support this continued growth, particularly as AI begins to scale, with AI applications projected to drive uplink traffic 20 percent higher than it would be with existing applications,” CTIA said.

Ericsson, the multinational networking and telecommunications company, said maximizing the upper C-band for wireless helps promote national security of the United States.

“Repurposing the upper C-band,” Ericsson said, “will promote national security through the advancement of secure and trusted communications networks and equipment.

“As the commission is well aware, the dry spectrum well of the past several years created a leadership vacuum that allowed China to advance its own economic interests and security prerogatives at home and abroad through exports of its equipment to other countries,” it commented.

Meanwhile, the Competitive Carriers Association said it is very much in favor of utilizing the upper C-band for 5G and future 6G endeavors, but emphasized the need to make it fair for small and rural carriers when auctioning off the spectrum for wireless services. It questioned whether previously designated bid credits for small and rural carriers are still adequate.

“CCA agrees that mid-band auctions present unique challenges for rural providers. Mid-band spectrum offers the optimal balance of coverage and capacity for rural deployment,” the group said. “However, rural providers frequently face substantial capital constraints when competing against nationwide carriers with exponentially greater financial resources.”

Next-generation satellite

Some commenters, including Space X, suggested reserving portions of the upper C-band spectrum for next-generation satellite services (Direct-to-Device) rather than solely for terrestrial cellular services.

T-Mobile and the other wireless carriers told the commission to decline those proposals seeking to introduce mobile satellite services or shared-use mechanisms in the repurposed upper C-band.

There are also some technical challenges to overcome once spectrum for FSS earth stations is shifted elsewhere, according to multiple filers. The upper C-band is adjacent to the 4.2–4.4 GHz band used by radio altimeters in aviation, requiring careful management of interference risks, according to Boeing and several aeronautical entities.

In addition, several commenters pointed to the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent notice of proposed rulemaking concerning upgrading radio altimeters to withstand interference from adjacent wireless operations. The timeframe for implementing those upgrades is uncertain, according to observers.

CTIA in its comments hinted at a need for collaboration between government agencies to accomplish the goal of repurposing the spectrum for flexible-use wireless services.

“The coordinated FCC and FAA proceedings, buttressed by congressional action, standards development and cross-industry collaboration, have positioned all stakeholders for timely execution,” it said.

[This article appeared first in our sister publication Radio World. Their extensive business and regulatory coverage of the broadcast industry can be found here.]

[Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning? We invite you to sign up here.]

The National Association of Broadcasters knows the Federal Communications Commission is going to reallocate 100 MHz of the upper C-band, which it is legally mandated to do.

But the association warns that any clearing beyond that minimum threshold poses a significant risk to the nation’s critical broadcast infrastructure.

In its newly-filed reply comments, NAB contended that the upper C-band (3.98 to 4.2 GHz) is currently optimized and lacks the “headroom” for extensive clearing.

[This article was originally published in our sister publication, Radio World. They've also covered NAB’s previous filings during the comment filing period tied to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking the commission opened in November. Read one of those stories here.]

The deadline to file reply comments with the commission in Docket 25-59 was on Wednesday.

“Upper C-band is mission-critical to broadcasting and is already operating at its practical limit,” NAB told the commission.

“Insatiable” wireless carriers

The upper C-band is used by earth station operators, including broadcasters, whose operations have already been curtailed by prior auctions of the lower C-band to wireless operators.

The commission is required by statute to auction a minimum of 100 MHz of the upper C-band (2.98 – 4.08 GHz) spectrum no later than July 2027, but the FCC has proposed auctioning up to 180 MHz through competitive bidding.

The spectrum auction is expected to generate billions of dollars.

But NAB contended that outside of the “insatiable nationwide wireless carriers and a small subset of proponents focused on speculative future uses,” commenters in the docket overwhelmingly caution that additional clearing would jeopardize broadcast distribution, increase systemic risk and undermine public-interest services.

Even with the loss of 100 MHz of spectrum, NAB said a repack will inevitably cause some disruption to incumbent users in part because compressing services into less spectrum creates a “Tetris-like” problem.

Keep it in the C-band

SES, the major provider of C-band services to broadcasters in the U.S., previously stated that most incumbent users can be repacked quickly into a reduced C-band if reallocation is limited to 100 MHz.

In addition, repacking all or most users within C-band will be far less disruptive than forcing incumbents out of the upper C-band into other satellite spectrum or alternative platforms, NAB told the commission.

NAB rejected claims from wireless companies that other technologies are suitable “one-for-one” replacements for C-band spectrum. Those alternative platforms include IP, fiber and Ku-band, which broadcasters and satellite operators say “are neither universally available nor functionally equivalent, particularly for point-to-multipoint distribution, rural service, and live event coverage.”

“Relocation out of C-band presents far greater uncertainty. The costs to transition may be many multiples higher,” it said.

NAB said two other major stakeholders in this proceeding – the satellite operators and the aviation industry – agree that clearing any portion of the upper C-band will require significantly longer timelines than the lower C-band transition.

The FCC proposed to clear incumbent earth station operators from the band over a five and a half-year period and, as with the prior migration to the Upper C-Band, the commission will reimburse incumbent earth station operators for their transition costs via money raised from an auction of the spectrum.

The FCC previously stated there are approximately 20,000 registered earth stations used by radio and TV broadcasters to receive satellite transmissions.

Substantially the same

NAB emphasized the FCC should follow precedent set in the order that forced incumbents to relocate from the lower C-band in 2020.

“The Lower C-band Order repeatedly stated that incumbents would be provided substantially the same service, which must again be assured,” NAB wrote in its comments.

“The commission previously rejected an all-fiber (or nearly all-fiber) deployment as carrying a bevy of challenges,” the association continued. “Ku-band, while a valuable improvement over terrestrial fiber, remains more susceptible than C-band to weather-related degradation and would require years of satellite launches and costly retrofits to approach current C-band reliability.

In fact, NAB pointed to the Communications Act, which it says does not permit the commission to substitute “theoretical alternatives for actual continuity of service,” according to NAB.

Merely accessing a different technology that performs adequately under ideal conditions is not acceptable, NAB asserted. It said the commission has long recognized that the act does not permit license modifications that affect a “fundamental change” in a licensee’s authorization.

Section 316 permits license modification, but not fundamental alteration of the essential rights conveyed by an FCC authorization, according to the recent filing.

NAB also asked the commission to implement a direct-pay or upfront reimbursement mechanism to replace the previous framework of the lower C-band transition where operators had to front costs and wait years for repayment.

“Commenters consistently warn that further upper C-band clearing beyond 100 MHz would jeopardize the reliability of the nation’s video distribution infrastructure, impose disproportionate harm on small entities, and undermine services the public relies upon for news, emergency information, and live events,” NAB concluded.

Comments in Docket 25-59 can be read at www.fcc.gov.

[This article was originally posted in our sister publication, Radio World. Their extensive Business and Law coverage is available here]

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Federal Communications Commission has announced the winning bidders in the 2.5 GHz band auction with T-Mobile being by far the largest bidder, spending $304 million for 7,154 licenses. 

T-Mobile was expected to be particularly active in the auction because it already owns or leases much of the 2.5 GHz spectrum across the United States, and it wanted to fill in the gaps in its coverage.

In all, 7,872 of the 8,017 county-based licenses, or 98% of the total inventory, were sold during the Auction 108. There are 63 winning bidders in Auction 108, which raised gross proceeds exceeding $427 million.

Most of the available spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band being auctioned was located in rural areas and the FCC hopes that the sales will help improve wireless services in rural communities.

The FCC said the five bidders with the largest total gross winning bid amounts were:

• T-Mobile License LLC: $304,325,290
• PTI Pacifica Inc.: $17,690,000
• TeleGuam Holdings, LLC: $16,565,000
• Evergy Kansas Central: $12,744,400
• Cellular South Licenses, LLC: $11,861,300

 The five bidders winning the largest number of licenses were: 

• Empty list 
• T-Mobile License LLC: 7,156
• North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation: 107
• Evergy Kansas Central: 54
• LICT Wireless Broadband Company, LLC: 46
• Broadband One of the Midwest, Inc.: 42

LOS ANGELES—Tiger Group is gearing up to auction surplus equipment from Red Star Pictures, a longstanding supplier of rental lighting, grip and production equipment to the entertainment and live event industry.

The June 2  online auction will feature gear surplus to the ongoing operations of Red Star and will include digital and film cameras, lenses, lighting, grip, electric, filters, and AV accessories. Equipment will be offered in more than 450 lots from top manufacturers including Arri, Black Magic, Canon, Moviecam, Panasonic, Rokinon Tiffen, Xeen, and Sony.

Specifically, over 50 digital and movie cameras from Arri Alexa, Canon and Panasonic, as well as a large quantity of LED lighting from Arri, Kino and LTM will be up for bid. A variety of camera accessories, and grip and electric gear will be offered as well.

"We are extremely pleased to have been selected by Red Star Pictures to assist in managing their surplus gear," said Jonathan Holiday, director of business development, Tiger Commercial & Industrial. "Red Star has enjoyed exponential growth in building its rental business through acquisitions over the past five years and by offering a high level of service to all its valued customers in the industry. This sale offers an excellent mix of gear and a great opportunity to purchase from a well-established, quality rental company."

Registration begins prior to bidding, which is set to open May 26 at 10:30 a.m. (PT) and ends at 10:30 a.m. (PT) on June 2.

Asset photos, descriptions, bidding and other information is available here. 

To arrange an inspection or obtain other information, email: auctions@tigergroup.com or call (805) 497-4999.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission kicked off a mid-band spectrum auction on October 5 that will offer licenses in  the 3.45 GHz band which will be important in the development of next generation wireless services and 5G. 

Auction 110 will make available 100 megahertz of contiguous mid-band spectrum for commercial use this year.  

“We are moving with record speed and collaboration to free up more mid-band spectrum for 5G,” said FCC acting chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “These airwaves are a critical part of unlocking the 5G promise everywhere in the country. I want to thank the FCC staff who have worked so hard to start this auction this year. And I want to thank our partners at NTIA and the Department of Defense for working with us to free up this spectrum for 5G.”

Bidding in the first phase of the auction, the clock phase, kicked off at 10 a.m. ET on October 5.  

As required by law, auction proceeds must cover 110% of the expected sharing and relocation costs for federal users currently operating in the band – in this case $14,775,354,330, based on a January 14, 2021 estimate from NTIA.

The 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act required the Commission to begin this auction this year, the FCC said. The FCC adopted flexible use service rules for the 3.45 GHz band in March 2021 and established procedures for Auction 110 in June. 

License winners will operate within a cooperative sharing framework that will enable commercial use by an array of service providers, while also ensuring that federal incumbents are still protected from harmful interference where and when they require continued access to the band, the FCC said. 

For more information on Auction 110, visit: https://www.fcc.gov/auction/110.

WASHINGTON—The FCC is preparing to launch a public spectrum auction for C-band spectrum with the goal of developing 5G wireless connectivity in the mid-band spectrum, according to an announcement today from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

Pai made his plans clear in a letter to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, on Monday, Nov. 18.

Pai had previously announced that he would determine how the FCC would go about making the C-band spectrum, which resides in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, by this fall. He also outlined four principles that he believed needed to be achieved through the FCC’s rulemaking on the matter: 1) that a significant amount of C-band spectrum be made available for 5G; 2) the spectrum must be made available quickly; 3) revenue must be generated for the federal government; and 4) the services currently using C-band must be protected so as to still serve the Americans who rely on them.

“After much deliberation and a thorough review of the extensive record, I have concluded that the best way to advance these principles is through an auction of 280 megahertz of the C-band conducted by the Federal Communications Commission’s excellent staff,” Pai wrote. “With a quarter-century track record of transparent and successful auctions, I am confident that they will conduct a public auction that will afford all parties a fair opportunity to compete for this 5G spectrum, while preserving the availability of the upper 200 megahertz of this band for the continued delivery of programming.”

The C-Band Alliance had its own proposal of leading a private-run auction, but Congress and many others supported a public auction run by the FCC.

Satellite operator Eutelsat said it welcomed the decision, calling it an “important first step in expediting rapidly and equitably the clearance of C-band frequencies for mobile 5G services.”

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association issued their own statement: “The chairman’s statement is good news for the fixed wireless industry, and WISPA believes it leaves open the possibility that with a few technical rule amendments/changes, the FCC could permit P2MP by an automated frequency coordinator to protect delivery of programming and quickly bridge digital divides in rural areas.”

No details on the public auction have been made available as of yet.

WASHINGTON--Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, says Congress is going to have to find the money to make up the difference between the $1.75 billion allocated for the post broadcast incentive auction repack and what it is actually going to cost and that he is on the case.

Walden was speaking at the State of the Net conference in Washington.

He pointed out that in the original incentive auction legislation, which he was instrumental in drafting, the figure had been $3 billion, but was negotiated down between the political parties to $1.75 billion. "And now, guess what, the number is about $3 billion bucks. "We have to find money to make this up. We need to make this up not only to keep our word [that those not participating in the auction would be held as harmless as possible] but to grease the skids and get the repack done."

National of Broadcasters Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny, who told the Senate Commerce Committee last week at a hearing that the new estimate of the broadcasters' price tag for the move is about $3 billion.

Walden said he was working hard to figure out the funding stream and make any other "associated changes." He called the 39-month repack a tight timeline. "We need all this to stay on track and work," he said, including for the wireless nets waiting to access the spectrum and noncommercial stations with funding issues. He said he was "shoulder to shoulder" with ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) about finding the money.

Pallone has long pushed for more money for broadcasters, but as a way to insure viewers are held as harmless as possible in the move. Bills have been introduced in both the House (Pallone's own bill) and Senate to boost funding.

The FCC got initial broadcaster estimates back in July totaling $2.115 billion, but that was before all those eligible for the money had weighed in, so it signaled it expected the number to go up. It did, to $2.139 billion in October when the FCC reviewed of those asks. That review brought the figure down to $1.864 billion, but with the FCC expecting that to tick up again once broadcasters are actually moving.

The FCC handed out an initial outlay of $1 billion (a little over half of what commercial broadcasters are getting--about 52%--and 60% for noncoms) to cover initial costs, with the rest coming in a further tranche, or tranches.

That does not include the cost of moving LPTVs or translators, which will incur costs--likely hundreds of millions--but were not included in the $1.75 billion repack fund, something Walden has previously signaled his concerns about.

NAB had not commented on that $3 billion figure at press time, but it likely included those LPTV and translator moves, as well as experiences of some radio stations, whose costs were also not included in the $1.75 billion fund.

This article originally appeared in Broadcasting & Cable.

For more information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission said it directed the U.S. Treasury to pay the broadcasters who sold spectrum in the incentive auction. In all, the FCC documents show that around 125 entities—some with multiple licenses—will be splitting a majority of the $10 billion raised in the auction. Payments will be made on 173 licenses, according to a spreadsheet released by the commission. Of the payees, 11 will be going off the air, 132 will channel share and 30 volunteered to move to a lower channel in exchange for a payment.

The 11 stations going off the air may relinquish licenses before receiving payment as long as they notify viewers and cable operators, and file a Suspension of Operations Notification and Request to Cancel License—all according to FCC rules. Those that elect to continue broadcasting during the 90-day window following receipt of payment do not have to broadcast for the entire 90 days, but still have to comply with the aforementioned requirements.

That 90-day window starts five days after the FCC payment Public Notice, which puts the off-air date at Oct. 23. If a station needs more time to go dark, it must submit a waiver request showing the FCC definition of “good cause.”

Channel-sharers will be considered channel-sharers until they miss their sharing deadline and fail to file for a 90-day deadline waiver, which they can do twice, for a total of 180 days to Jan 21, 2018.

Band-changing stations that need more time to move from the old channel to the new one may request a special temporary authority. These will be “granted only in very limited circumstances and will not extend beyond the end of the transition period,” according to the cited Broadcast Transition Procedures Public Notice released Jan. 27, 2017, para 39.

Also from the BTPPN: “Reassigned stations and band changing stations that are unable to complete construction of their post-auction channel facilities by their deadlines may seek a single extension of up to 180 days.”

Extension requests must be justified. Possible circumstances might include weather delays, nonavailability of equipment or a tower crew, tower lease disputes, “unusual technical challenges” land use and zoning issues, and/or delays related to competitive bidding compliance. In limited circumstances, the FCC will consider financial hardship, but if it does not involve bankruptcy or receivership, it better be good, and “ due to rare and exceptional financial circumstances that were unforeseeable or beyond its control.”

Any extension beyond 180 days is subject to the FCC’s tolling rule covering “specific circumstances not under the licensee’s control, such as acts of God or delays due to administrative or judicial review” and only pending bankruptcy with regard to financial hardship.

Stations anticipating the need for an extension must submit an extension application electronically via the FCC Licensing and Management System using FCC Form 2100 – Schedule 337, not less than 90 days before their deadlines.

The FCC said the “system used by the U.S. Treasury to disburse the incentive payments has a limit of $99,999,999.99 per payment, ” so for payments exceeding this amount, multiple disbursements will be made.

BOSTON—Subchannel Report has created an interactive graph showing the top 15 designated market areas ranked by compensation derived from the TV spectrum incentive auction. No.1 DMA New York topped the charts, with 10 TV stations carrying 29 networks selling for north of $1.4 billion.

Two were non-commercial and the rest commercial stations. Network O&O WNBC was the top seller in New York at $214 million—the second highest in the country after WWTO in Chicago, which brought in $304 million for Trinity Broadcast Network of Santa Ana, Calif. Both stations indicated they have post-auction channel-sharing arrangements.

For more information, check out Subchannel’s interactive chart by clicking on the image at left.

Also see...
The FCC’s spreadsheet of winning bids.

April 13, 2017
“FCC Auction’s Biggest TV Station Payout: $304 Million”
A total of 175 TV stations got payouts for giving up spectrum, and 50 wireless bidders—including Comcast/NBCU and Dish—got that spectrum, with the largest single TV station payout $304 million.

April 13, 2017
“NBC Sells Spectrum of WNBC, WSNS, WWSI”
Comcast-NBCU won bids to sell spectrum in three top-10 markets, including flagship WNBC New York, Philadelphia (Telemundo affiliate WWSI) and Chicago (Telemundo affiliate WSNS) FCC Auction's Biggest TV Station Payout: $304 Million

WASHINGTON— The Federal Communications Commission announced that Jean Kiddoo has been named chair of the Incentive Auction Task Force and that Hillary DeNigro will join her as deputy chair. Kiddoo takes over for Gary Epstein, who will retire from the commission tomorrow after serving as chair of the Task Force since 2012.

“Filling the shoes of an exemplary public servant like Gary Epstein is no easy task,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “We are very fortunate that Jean is ready to step into the role without missing a beat as the important transition phase of the incentive auction commences. She and Hillary DeNigro, the Task Force’s new deputy chair, have been spearheading the transition planning for over a year, and their continued leadership will put us in the best position to ensure a smooth post-auction transition for broadcasters, wireless companies, television viewers, and consumers.”

Kiddoo has served as deputy chair of the Task Force since June 1, 2016, primarily focusing on the post-auction transition. Before that, she served as deputy chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, where she oversaw the bureau’s Auctions, Broadband, and Mobility Divisions. Prior to joining the commission in 2014, Kiddoo spent more than three decades in private practice, most recently at Bingham McCutchen (now Morgan Lewis & Bockius), representing telecommunications, media and technology companies before federal agencies, courts, state regulatory commissions, and local authorities nationwide. Kiddoo graduated with honors from Colgate University and earned her law degree magna cum laude from the Catholic University of America. 

“Hillary has been a driving force behind the Media Bureau’s post-auction transition planning, and I am delighted that she has agreed to take on an expanded role to help oversee and coordinate the essential cross-bureau transition effort,” Kiddoo said. “She is a natural fit to help lead the Task Force during this critical period.”

DeNigro has served as associate bureau chief of the Media Bureau. Prior to joining the Media Bureau’s front office, she was chief of the Media Bureau’s Industry Analysis Division where she led the review of complex mergers, rulemaking proceedings, and the production of industry and market reports. She previously served as chief of the Enforcement Bureau’s Investigations and Hearings Division, overseeing hearings and directing investigations involving a broad range of matters in the telecommunications and media industries. Before joining the commission, she practiced commercial litigation at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and, prior to that, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University.

With the end of the FCC’s spectrum auction in January, it’s time to measure its damaging effects on broadcasters.

What damage, you ask? Interference to reception of your signal after the “Great Repacking.”

The FCC claims negligible interference is predicted after repacking. If so, that would be great, but wouldn’t your station manager like to know? The FCC says only co-channel and (first) adjacent channel signals cause interference. Others are worried about interference generated in DTV receivers. There are three such sources for this interference:

● Desensitization not due to receiver nonlinearity;
● Third order intermodulation (IM3) due to receiver nonlinearity; and
● Triple beats, which require three signals, also due to receiver nonlinearity.
● Triple beats are generated when there are three or more strong undesired (U) signals at the receiver’s input. They come from:
Fa + Fb – Fc, Fb + Fc – Fa and Fc + Fa – Fb

The easiest way to work with triple beats is to let Fa equal the lowest channel number, Fb equal the middle channel number and Fc equal the highest channel number.

For example, suppose the FCC allocates four UHF channels to your community. You have three U signals on channels 24, 27, and 29. Triple beats will be centered on channels: 24 +27 – 29 = 22. Also on channel 27 + 29 – 24 = 32 and Channel 29 + 24 – 27 = 26. If your station is to operate on any of these three channels, there may be interference; if your station is not going to operate on any of these three channels, you are in luck!

Fig. 1THE EFFECTS OF TRIPLE BEATS
Fig. 1 shows the number of triple beats generated by all triplets of U signals in the UHF band. There can be no triple beats where the number of U signals is less than three (that is where the name “triple beats” comes from). Fig. 1 shows this and it also shows that where the number of U signals in the UHF band is greater than four, the number of triple beats increases at an amazing rate. There will be some communities with 11 or more UHF channels; the number of U signals will be 10, 11, or more. The number of triple beats is 360, but there aren’t that many UHF channels so there will be multiple triple beats falling in some channels.

Fig. 2 shows that the spectrum of triple beats can be extremely wide. In fact, channels 37–49 won’t really be TV channels anymore, they will belong to broadband operators. Nevertheless, triple beats will fall in the broadband spectrum where formerly channels 38–51 have been auctioned. Channel 37, which was never assigned to a TV station, was—and will continue to be—used for medical telemetry, primarily in hospitals and radio astronomy.

Fig. 2 Let’s look at the column for channel 7 in Fig. 2. The lowest trace is for three U signals and is centered on channel 35. Channel 37 will have six triple beats, which will increase the noise floor of telemetry receivers.

That was the good news. The bad news comes where the number of U signals is higher. With 10 U signals, the number of triple beats falling in channel 37 is 20.

The noise power of a single triple beat is 4 dB greater than a IM3 product, assuming the same power is in the U signals. This 4 dB difference is due to the fact that three signals are involved while only two generate IM3.

Fig. 3 Fig. 3 compares noise power density per channel of triple beats with respect to the noise power of a single IM3 for a number of U signals. For seven U signals that means eight channels allocated to the repacking process. This exceeds 15 db for eight channels! It gets worse with more channels allocated. The best case, of course, is three U signals, but even then the difference is 5 dB. All of this suggests a strategy by which the channels allocated to a given community can be used to minimize such interference.

If the chief engineers in a given large DMA— where there will be more than five stations in the UHF band—were to agree on a repacking scheme to minimize the number of triple beats, perhaps the FCC could be persuaded to grant their petition. If that is to be done, now is the time to start such a program.

Note: My friend and colleague, Stanley Knight, generated the data and created the three graphics for this column. Readers might like to know that Stan I have never met face-to-face. Nevertheless he collaborates with me generating all my graphics. Thanks, Stan.

Charles Rhodes is a consultant in the field of television broadcast technologies and planning. He can be reached via email atcwr@bootit.com.

LOS ANGELES —PBS SoCal KOCE, the flagship PBS station for Southern California, including Los Angeles, announced it earned $49 million in the FCC incentive auction and will invest the one-time revenues in content, broadband distribution platforms and its financial well-being. The station said it would continue broadcasting the full line-up of PBS programs on “all four of its current channels over the air, via cable and satellite and online.”

“Our priority as the primary PBS station for greater Los Angeles is to ensure we can deliver PBS programs to the 18 million people across the six counties in our region well into the future. We retained the bandwidth necessary to accomplish that,” said Andrew Russell, president and CEO of PBS SoCal. “The one-time auction revenues allow us to achieve another important objective: to invest in expanding our mission by providing more services to more people across the region.”

PBS SoCal said it would retain most of its coverage through a channel-sharing agreement with KSCI. The reinvestment plan includes “increasing investment in PBS and other programming, making strategic investments in content production and broadband services that reach more audiences via mobile and web, and building a strong financial foundation for PBS SoCal’s future by restructuring debt and creating an investment fund that generates annual revenues.”

Russell continued, making a pitch to Viewers Like You: “PBS SoCal remains deeply committed to serving Southern California and advancing the PBS mission. While these one-time auction revenues will help us expand our mission, we are grateful for the individuals, foundations and corporations whose collective ongoing support comprises more than 80 percent of our annual budget. Your support continues to be essential – particularly as our important federal funding is under threat – to ensuring the news, public affairs, arts and science programs that are critical for an educated and informed citizenry.”

The PBS SoCal announcement noted that “the president’s budget proposes the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting, which amounts to $1.35 per citizen per year and underwrites programs such as “Daniel Tiger,” documentaries from Ken Burns, “PBS NewsHour” “Frontline” and “Masterpiece Theater.”

“There is no viable replacement for federal funding of public broadcasting,” Russell said. “The one-time funds from the spectrum auction will not come close to closing the large fiscal gap that would be left by the loss of annual federal support. Federal funding is vital seed funding that helps stations raise the local support that represents more than half of our annual budgets.”

NEW YORK—T-Mobile was the big winner in the recently concluded TV spectrum incentive auction, followed by Dish and Comcast, according to Marci Ryvicker, senior analyst at Wells Fargo, commenting on the auction results released today by the Federal Communications Commission. (See, “987 Stations Displaced, 175 Broadcasters to Split $10 Billion.”)

“We learned that the biggest winners in the auction were [T-Mobile], which won $7.99 billion; Dish, which won $6.2 billion, [and Comcast] which won $1.7 billion,#8221; Ryvicker noted in an equity research note.

“The big surprise to us was the amount of spectrum that Dish won—$6.2 billion versus our estimate of nothing—though maybe we shouldn’t be that surprised given the attractive pricing and [Dish CEO Charlie Ergen’s] penchant for purchasing spectrum; especially when it’s a ‘deal.’

“[Comcast’s] $1.7 billion was less than our $5 billion estimate, but the company did not go nationwide. It bought spectrum in only 72 of the 416 total partial economic areas, so we think it stayed within its wireline footprint. [AT&T] and [Verizon] spent a combined $900 million—far less than the $5 billion we had predicted

“We learned some interesting things from the detailed reverse-auction results.Specifically, Comcast/NBCU sold three stations [in] Chicago, NewYork and Philly for a collective $480 million. Fox sold three stations [in] Chicago, D.C. and Charlotte, N.C., for $354 million. CBS sold one Minneapolis station for $10 million.

“Stations sold in the Top-10 markets received $6.75 billion of the $10.05 billion of total reverse auction proceeds, though we’d note it was really eight of the top 10, as no stations were sold in Houston or Atlanta. The quiet period for the forward auction participants is scheduled to end on April 27 at 6 p.m., which is when down payments are due. The quiet period for reverse auction participants had already concluded.”

WASHINGTON—The incentive auction officially closed today and the TV channel repack officially began with the issuance of the Federal Communications Commission’s “Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice,” which brought a round of reactions from broadcasters, observers and administrators.

Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters:
“NAB congratulates the Commission and its staff on bringing the TV auction to a successful conclusion. While today marks a major milestone, the work is far from over. Now the FCC and the broadcast industry face the unprecedented task of moving almost a thousand TV stations—far more than originally anticipated—to new channels in very tight time frames.

“NAB also remains concerned about the impact of the auction on hundreds of radio stationsco-located on television towers. We look forward to working with the FCC and Congress to develop a balanced approach to repacking that is fair to all stakeholders, most importantly our tens of millions of TV viewers and radio listeners.”

Joint Statement from APTS, CPB and PBS
“America’s Public Television Stations, the Corp. for Public Broadcasting and PBS are working together to review and analyze the results, with the goal of ensuring that all Americans and their families continue to have access to public media’s educational programs, trusted news and public safety information services.

“Our primary concern is that hundreds of public media stations who chose not to participate in the spectrum incentive auction nonetheless will be impacted as a result of the mandatory ‘repack.’

“Mandatory repacking requires stations to move to different broadcast channels. In addition, bystander television and radio stations, which share towers with stations that are being repacked, face the potential of operating at reduced power for months to ensure the safety of the workers implementing channel changes for other stations. These stations and their audiences are threatened with potentially debilitating service disruptions. Areas served by [translators] may also be affected, with stations facing financial hardship as translators are not covered by FCC reimbursement funds.

“As a result, there could be loss of universal service for significant number of Americans, especially those who live in rural areas. We look forward to working with the FCC on this unprecedented operational challenge. A smooth repacking transition, with sufficient time and reimbursement funds, is essential to protecting Americans’ access to public media’s local television and radio content and services.

“For the fraction of public television stations earning proceeds from the spectrum auction, by law, all proceeds will go to the nonprofit entity, or state or local governmental body that holds the license for that station. Such licensees are allowed to use the revenue in any nonprofit purpose they choose. 

“These one-time-only proceeds may allow some individual licensees and stations to enhance their local educational mission, increase content and services to their community, and strengthen their financial foundation. It is important to note that the national public media organizations will not receive spectrum auction proceeds.” (See, “PBS SoCal to Invest $49 Million Auction Revenues.”)

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai:
“Today marks a major accomplishment for the commission: the ‘auction’ portion of the world’s first incentive auction is officially over. The reverse and forward auctions have concluded and the results have been announced. But this process is far from over. Now, we begin the post-auction transition period.

“This day has been a long time coming. We congratulate all bidders who were successful in the incentive auction, and we applaud all of those past and present commission staffers who worked so diligently on every aspect of this complex undertaking. We have only reached this point because of their tremendous skill and dedication to this groundbreaking endeavor.

“Again: While we celebrate reaching the official close of the auction, there is still much work ahead of us. It’s now imperative that we move forward with equal zeal to ensure a successful post-auction transition, including a smooth and efficient repacking process.”

Marci Ryvicker, senior analyst at Wells Fargo:
“We learned that the biggest winners in the auction were [T-Mobile], which won $7.99 billion; Dish, which won $6.2 billion, [and Comcast] which won $1.7 billion.

“The big surprise to us was the amount of spectrum that Dish won—$6.2 billion versus our estimate of nothing...” (See the rest of Ryvicker’s assessment at “T-Mobile Takes the Most TV Spectrum for $8 Billion.”)

Preston Padden, formerly director of the Economic Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, a seller’s coalition that speculated the auction would raise as much as $80 billion from wireless providers:

“The broadcasters showed up and, except for T-Mo, the carriers did not. [Incentive Auction Task Force Chairman] Gary Epstein deserves an award for five years of public service.”

WASHINGTON—The auction results are in and the new TV channel assignments are out. A total of 987 TV stations will be moved in the upcoming 39-month repack, and 175 broadcasters who sold spectrum in the auction will split the $10 billion offered up for it by wireless providers. With today’s release of the Federal Communications Commission’s “Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice,” the 90-day shot clock also begins on repack construction and modification applications and reimbursement estimates, making them due July 12, 2017.

“More than $10 billion will go to 175 winning broadcasters that elected to participate in the incentive auction and repurpose their airwaves for mobile use,” the commission said. Of those, the highest price paid to a station went to WWTO-TV in Chicago, licensed by the Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, Inc., which will receive $304 million. New Jersey Public Broadcasting will get $332 million for two stations.

Of the winners, 30 stations will receive money for agreeing to move to a lower channel and 133 others will relinquish their licenses”and channel share, the commission said. A total of 12 winning TV stations that agreed to go off the air indicated they had no pre- or post-auction channel-sharing arrangement and are therefore likely to go off the air. (See sidebar, Going Dark?)
GOING DARK?
Stations with no pre- or post-auction channel-sharing arrangement who agreed to go off the air in the auction application, include:
WAGT, Gray-owned NBC affiliate in Augusta, Ga., where Gray also owns CBS affiliate WRDW and low-power license WAGT-CD, for $40.8 million.

WPBO in Charleston-Huntington, W.V., licensed to Ohio State University, for $8.8 million. (Announced by OSU March 3.)

WAOH-CD in Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, the Media-Com Television-owned, Class A Retro TV affiliate, for $ 1.8 million.

KATA-CD in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas, the Mako Communications,-owned Class A Shop LC affiliate for $19.6 million.

WFXI in Greenville-New Bern-Washington, N.C., the Esteem Broadcasting-owned Fox affiliate, for $42 million.

WBKI-TV in Louisville, Ky, the L.M. Communications-owned Fox affiliate, for $20.7 million.

WWJS-CD a Louisville, Ky., independent Class A owned by John W. Smith Jr., for $10 million.

WDLP-CD in Miami - Ft. Lauderdale, the Mapale-owned Class A Axteca affiliate, $ 3.7 million.

WNYJ-TV in New York, an independent owned by FSINJ, for $121 million.

WMEI in Arecibo Puerto Rico, an independent owned by Corporate Media Consultants and Max Media, for $ 9.7 million.

WSJU-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a SuperLatina TV affiliate owned by Aerco Broadcasting Corp., for $5.2 million.

KSPR in Springfield, Mo., a Schurz Communications-owned CW, for $0, (according to the FCC’s winning bidders listed in Appendix A of the Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment PN).

In addition to the 30 stations that agreed to move into VHF territory, another 957 non-winning stations will have to change channels, for a total of 987. Channel-reassignment data and details are available at the commission’s transition data website.

“The first group of stations to move channels is scheduled for Nov. 30, 2018,” the release said. Those stations now have 18 months to move.

The first-of-its-type TV spectrum incentive auction auction officially concluded March 30, raising gross revenues of $19.8 billion, with a net of $19.3 billion after bidding credits, and $7.3 billion for the U.S. Treasury after subtracting the $10 billion to be paid out to the 175 broadcasters who sold spectrum, another $1.75 billion for the congressionally mandated TV station relocation reimbursement fund, and around $275,000 for the cost of creating and holding the auction.

The $19.8 billion in gross receipts for 84 MHz was in line with the $19.4 billion raised in the 2008 auction of TV channels 52-69 comprising 108 MHz, but less than half of the $44.1 billion raised in the 2015 sale of Advanced Wireless Frequencies in the 1.7 and 2.1 GHz bands, and far less than the most enthusiastic estimates of around $80 billion. A total of 50 wireless bidders won 70 MHz of spectrum in the incentive auction. Another 14 MHz will serve as guard bands and be available for wireless mics and unlicensed devices. 

Today’s Public Notice was expected to hit in mid-April and was preceded last week with information about how to receive renumeration for relinquished spectrum and for moving expenses. Congress ordered that $1.75 billion be set aside to reimburse broadcasters involuntarily displaced by the auction, with the exception of the 3,778 translators licenses and the 1,965 non-Class A, low-power TV licensees. These translator and LPTV licensees are also not guaranteed to receive a channel assignment in the repacked TV band and consequently may be left stranded without spectrum. An auction official said the commission is planning to release a “procedural” Public Notice to determine how many channels are available for those 5,743 licensees.

For more TV Technology coverage, see our spectrum auction silo.

Also see… April 13, 2017
“PBS SoCal to Invest $49 Million Auction Revenues”
PBS SoCal KOCE, the flagship PBS station for Southern California, including Los Angeles, announced it earned $49 million in the FCC incentive auction and will invest the one-time revenues in content, broadband distribution platforms and its financial well-being.

April 13, 2017
“Ryvicker: T-Mobile Takes the Most TV Spectrum for $8 Billion”
T-Mobile was the big winner in the recently concluded TV spectrum incentive auction, followed by Dish and Comcast, according to Marci Ryvicker, senior analyst at Wells Fargo, commenting on the auction results released today by the Federal Communications Commission.

April 13, 2017
“Repack Reax”
The incentive auction officially closed today and the TV channel repack officially began with the issuance of the Federal Communications Commission’s “Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice,” which brought a round of reactions from broadcasters, observers and administrators.

April 6, 2017
“T-Mobile Paints Rosy Repack”
T-Mobile says the government’s TV channel-repacking methodology will beat expectations.

March 17, 2017
“NAB Seeks Repack Reconsideration”
The NAB and others in the broadcasting community have long held this 39-month window is insufficient to move as many as 1,274 full-power and Class A TV stations—notwithstanding as many as 3,150 low-power TV and translator licensees—into the 16 remaining TV channels.

Feb. 6, 2017
“FCC Updates TVStudy Repack Software”
TV IX check mode is said to support the 1 percent coverage contour increase and the 5 percent population decrease thresholds to be used during the first 90 days after the Incentive Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice is released in the coming weeks. 

March 15, 2016
“AT&T Supports Regional Repack”
The 800 MHz rebanding involved a repack of public safety radio users in spectrum adjacent to cellular frequencies. AT&T, expected to be one of the biggest buyers in the upcoming TV spectrum incentive auction, wants to take possession of that spectrum as soon as reasonably possible.

Sept.. 26, 2014
“T-Mobile: 84 MHz of UHF Spectrum Can Be Reclaimed With Limited Impact on TV”
Fewer than 400 stations—representing less than 20 percent of all existing licensed broadcasters, many of them outside of the major markets—need to participate in the incentive auction to clear 84 MHz of spectrum for broadband use.”

WASHINGTON—The assignment phase of the TV spectrum incentive auction will commence March 6 and run through March 30, which will signal the start of the TV station repack process, beginning with a public notice announcing the end of the auction.

Once this assignment-phase bidding is complete, the end of the auction will be officially announced in an Auction Closing and TV Station Reassignment Public Notice, noting all new channel assignments for displaced TV stations.

With regard to the assignment phase, forward auction bidders who won—at least one block of paired spectrum in one wireless licensing partial economic area—will vie in the assignment phase for specific frequencies in those PEAs.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the schedule in a Public Notice released today. The commission will hold one practice auction starting Wednesday, Feb. 22, and one mock auction starting Tuesday, Feb. 28. A pre-recorded, webinar-type assignment phase tutorial and a 32-page user guide was released today as well.

The assignment phase is essentially where the FCC packs wireless bidders into Chs. 38-50 according to the 416 PEAs comprising the United States and its territories. In this sense, the assignment-phase system identifies “contiguity outcome for each PEA or PEA group,” the grouping of PEAs, bidding options and a detailed schedule of assignment-phase auction rounds.

The practice auction data will become available for preview Wednesday, Feb. 22 10 a.m. Eastern, with the first practice round beginning at noon ET and comprising seven total rounds the running through Friday, Feb., 24. The mock auction preview opens Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. ET, with the first round starting at noon and comprising nine total rounds running through March 2.

Auction officials previously said they expect assignment-phase bidding to “take several weeks” given the number of PEAs—416—in which both reserved and unreserved spectrum must be assigned.

Also see...
Feb. 2, 2017
“FCC@3.0: OET-69, Public Interest, Yes; Tuner Edict, No”
Next-generation broadcast television will launch with public interest obligations but not must-carry nor a tuner mandate under rules proposedThursday by the Federal Communications Commission.

Jan. 27, 2017
“Post-Auction: 39 Months or Bust”
Stations that simply cannot complete construction of new broadcast facilities within the 39-month timeframe may “may seek a single extension of up to 180 days,” to operate on a temporary facility the PN said.

Jan. 26, 2017
“FCC Clarifies Assignment Phase”
“The final price that a winning bidder must pay for a license it wins in the assignment phase will be the final clock phase price for the category of license it won within a given PEA, adjusted by the percentage of any impairment to the frequency block, plus any assignment phase payment, all reduced by any designated entity bidding credit.” “xxx”

For more TV Technology coverage, check our ATSC 3.0 silo.

CINCINNATI—Following the FCC’s lift of the quiet period on station groups being able to publicly share their auction results, the E.W. Scripps Company has officially announced that it will not receive proceeds from the auctioning of broadcast spectrum.

“We pursued several channel-share arrangements with ourselves and other broadcast partners that would have allowed us to continue to operate our stations and serve our local communities while supporting the government in its attempt to recapture some broadcaster spectrum,” said Brian Lawlor, senior vice president, broadcast, for Scripps. “However, none of the spectrum we or our partners offered was selected during the auction process because the prices available in the auction fell below the value we ascribed to it. Scripps will continue to serve each of our local communities using our full spectrum capacity as allocated by the FCC.”

The FCC’s forward spectrum incentive auction closed on Friday, Feb. 10.

NEW YORK—Tribune Media announced that it anticipates receiving approximately $190 million in pre-tax proceeds from the Federal Communication Commission’s recently completed reverse auction for broadcast spectrum.

Tribune indicated that the commission accepted one more if its bids or those of its channel-sharing partners: “ The anticipated proceeds reflect the FCC’s acceptance of one or more bids placed by Tribune Media or channel share partners of television stations owned or operated by Tribune Media during the auction to modify and/or surrender spectrum used by certain of such bidder’s television stations.” Tribune said it did not expect any “material change in operations” as a result of the spectrum sale.

Both Gray and Fox TV announced expected proceeds of $91 million and $350 million respectively, and both indicated there would be “material change in operations,” with Gray going so far as saying there would be no job cuts. Tribune, however, is the first among sellers to mention channel sharing, although presents the most likely scenario for selling spectrum without materially affecting operations.

Tribune owns and/or operates 42 TV stations reaching 50 million TV households. The company said it expects proceeds in the second half of 2017.

See more TV Technology coverage at our spectrum auction silo.

WASHINGTON—The comment period has been extended for weighing in on the TV channel repack reporting requirements proposed Jan. 10 by the Federal Communications Commission. Comments are now due Feb. 17 with replies due Feb. 27.

“The Media Bureau hereby extends the filing deadlines for public comment in the pending proceeding proposing to require certain broadcast television stations that are not eligible to receive reimbursement from the TV Broadcast Relocation Fund but must transition to new channels during the post-auction transition period to provide progress reports,” the commission said in a Feb. 6 Public Notice.

The comment deadline was initially set for Feb. 6, but the Public Notice was not published in the Federal Registeruntil Feb. 2.

The proposed rules would require periodic progress reports from all auction-eligible TV stations, including those not eligible for reimbursement from the $1.75 billion relocation fund to be set aside from auction proceeds. Stations eligible for reimbursement comprise all full-power and some Class A stations involuntarily assigned to a new channel. Stations ineligible for reimbursements include reverse auction winners, non-Class A low-power TV stations and translators.

For more TV Technology coverage, see our spectrum auction silo.

Also see...
Jan 27.2017
“NAB Asks for Repack Reporting Tweaks”
Yes or no does not always the question answer, the National Association of Broadcasters told the folks at the Federal Communications Commission regarding a proposed form for periodic channel-repacking reports. 

Jan. 10, 2017
“FCC Seeks Feedback on Repack Reporting Process”
Stations eligible for reimbursement comprise all full-power and some Class A stations involuntarily assigned to a new channel. The PN said a “small number of Class A stations are not protected during the repacking process, and if displaced as a result of repacking will not be eligible for reimbursement.”

WASHINGTON—Incentive auction organizers will boost the amount bid prices will increase between rounds starting Wednesday, Feb. 1. The Federal Communications Commission auction team said opening bid prices will be increased incrementally by 10 percent between rounds versus the 5 percent increase in effect up to now.

“This 10 percent increment will be reflected in the next round clock prices announced after the last round of bidding on Tuesday,” the commission team said on the spectrum auction dashboard.

The last 10 rounds of this, the fourth and final stage of the forward auction where wireless providers bid on TV spectrum, have raised on average a little under $21 million per round. Round No. 17 was still underway as of Monday afternoon.

Proceeds by Round:
Round 1: $17.7 billion

R2 Raised $508,164,087
R2 Total: $18,208,164,087

R3 Raised: $91,318,500
R3 Total: $18,299,482,587

R4 Raised: $55,399,540
R4 Total: $18,354,882,127

R5 Raised: $58,949,560
R5 Total: $18,413,831,687

R6 Raised: $26,192,300
R6 Total: $18,440,023,987

R7 Raised: $21,500,000
R7 Total: $18,461,523,987

R8 Raised: $22,114,400
R8 Total: $18,483,638,387

R9 Raised: $21,415,000
R9 Total: $18,505,053,387

R10 Raised: $17,459,400
R10 Total: $18,522,512,787

R11 Raised: $23,013,000
R11 Total: $18,545,525,787

R12 Raised: $19,763,600
R12 Total: $18,565,289,387

R13 Raised: $18,588,000
R13 Total: $18,583,877,387

R14 Raised: $23,408,000
R14 Total: $18,607,285,387

R15 Raised: $20,336,000
R15 Total: $18,627,621,387

R16 Raised: $21,688,000
R16 Total: $18,649,309,387

WASHINGTON—The closing criteria of the television spectrum incentive auction have been met at $18.2 billion in bids for 70 MHz of public airwaves. The closing criteria—i.e., clearing costs plus expenses and a benchmark bid price— were finally met after 43 weeks and four separate stages targeting progressively less spectrum.

Stage 4 targeted 84 MHz, which participating broadcasters agreed to vacate for $10 billion in the fourth-stage reverse auction that ended Friday, Jan. 13. The clearing cost criteria comprised this $10 billion ask, plus the $1.75 billion Congress allocated to move broadcasters as well as the administrative costs of holding the auction, for a total of just over $12 billion.

Bidding in the fourth-stage forward auction commenced at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18. By noon, the clearing cost criteria was met with bids totaling more than $17.7 billion from participating wireless providers, or $17.2 billion after discounts for rural and smaller entities, but still enough to cover the $12 billion. However, bids fell less than three cents short of the benchmark bid price of $1.25 per MHz/Pop (one megahertz of spectrum passing by one person in a given market area), triggering a second round of bidding.

Second-round bids totaled $18.2 billion, or $17.7 billion after discounts, and slightly surpassed the $1.25 MHz/Pop benchmark at $1.2570, for the 70 MHz available out of the 84 MHz clearing target after consideration for guard bands.

The next step involves implementation of the spectrum reserve rule in which “each Category 1 product for which at least one reserve-eligible bidder has processed demand at the time is split into two products: reserved and unreserved,” according to the Federal Communication Commission’s auction dashboard. “Reserve” refers to 30 MHz of spectrum set aside in each wireless geographic area for wireless providers who hold less than one-third of available low-band spectrum in a license area.

“In order to provide bidders with additional time to bid in the first round after the spectrum reserve has been implemented, round 3 will be extended to six hours. It will be held tomorrow, Jan. 19, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Eastern.”

There will be no bidding on Friday, Jan. 20, due to the inauguration. Bidding will resume in two-hour increments on Monday, Jan. 23, at 10 a.m and 2 p.m.

The auction will close when demand no longer exceeds supply, as it now does in several wireless geographic units. Once the auction closes, an assignment phase where winning bidders of generic frequency blocks will be able to bid on specific frequencies, will begin.

Addendum: Outgoing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler issued the following statement after the final stage rule was met:

“The world’s first spectrum incentive auction has delivered on its ambitious promise. Reaching the Final Stage Rule means the benefits of the auction are indisputable. We will repurpose 70 MHz of high-value, completely clear low-band spectrum for mobile broadband on a nationwide basis. On top of that, 14 MHz of new unlicensed spectrum—the test bed for wireless innovation—will be available for consumer devices and new services. The auction will provide $10.05 billion to broadcast television licensees who participated and billions towards deficit reduction.

“There is still a long road ahead to successfully implement the post-auction transition of broadcast stations to their new channels and bring the new wireless and unlicensed spectrum to market. This will be an extremely important task for my successor and the new commission; I wish them well.

“Now that we are assured of a successful auction, however, it is appropriate to acknowledge and thank some of those who helped us get here; a list that begins with our staff. For more than four years, Gary Epstein, chair of the Incentive Auction Task Force, has led a team of professionals more than 100 strong to assure that our actions were carefully coordinated and considered the public and stakeholder interests from all angles. The Task Force has worked tirelessly on this auction since 2012 and they have my deepest thanks.

“Congress made the incentive auction possible – both by passing the Spectrum Act in 2012 and through its continued guidance and oversight – thanks to the leadership of Reps. Upton, Waxman, Walden, Eshoo, and Pallone, and Senators Rockefeller, Thune, and Nelson. Committee staff, together with the staff of our federal agency partners, including NTIA and OMB, collaborated to draft a momentous piece of legislation designed to advance the goals of making more spectrum available for licensed and unlicensed use, funding an interoperable public safety network, and reducing the federal deficit.

“My predecessors as chair, Julius Genachowski and Mignon Clyburn, set the process in motion for this auction as well as for the 2014 AWS-3 auction, together with fellow Commissioners Robert McDowell, Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly. Congratulations to all on a job well done.”

WASHINGTON—The $80 billion windfall predicted from the TV spectrum incentive auction failed to materialize eight months in. While broadcasters heeded the forecast and priced 126 MHz of TV spectrum at $86 billion in the first stage of the auction, wireless providers topped out at $23.1 billion for the 100 MHz offered for sale.

Demand in subsequent stages remained tepid, despite claims to the contrary in the months preceding the auction, when spectrum fever reached an apex with the prognostication of $80 billion in revenue.

“Perhaps the notion of a ‘spectrum crisis’ peddled in Washington for the last seven years is not as acute as policymakers were led to believe,” said Dennis Wharton, executive vice president of Communications for the National Association of Broadcasters, after the first stage of the auction concluded in late August.

FIRST OF ITS KIND
The incentive auction, which commenced March 29, is the first of its kind, with a two-step process where broadcasters name their price in a reverse auction and wireless providers bid in a forward auction.

The process is carried out on a software platform that shuffles stations into channel assignments between reverse auction rounds as the prices fall in 5 percent decrements. At zero, the reverse auction concludes, clearing costs are posted and forward auction bidding is scheduled. If bids fail to cover clearing costs and demand equals supply in the 40 top wireless licensing areas, the process starts again at a lower clearing target.

A second stage that started Sept. 13 brought the clearing target down to 114 MHz, which broadcasters priced at $54.6 billion in October. Wireless bidders came back a few days later at $21.5 billion for the 90 MHz offered, after a single, two-hour round of bidding.

By early Dec. 1, broadcasters priced a third-stage 108 MHz clearing target at $40.3 billion, while forward-auction bidding on Dec. 5 topped out at $19.7 billion for 80 MHz, also after a single, two-hour round.

Dan Hays, principal of PwC’s Strategy& said stage three results indicated wireless providers’ priorities have changed.

“The relatively quick completion of the third stage of the forward auction comes as no surprise given pre-auction indications from potential purchasers and the current state of the mobile industry in the United States,” he said. “Despite strong commitments to date from buyers in the forward auction, top-line proceeds may struggle to make it north of $20 billion as operators’ capital spending priorities have seemingly shifted away from spectrum at this time.”

At press time, the auction was set to proceed to a fourth stage with the reverse auction starting Dec. 13. Depending on continued broadcaster participation, the clearing target would fall to 84 MHz. (This article first appeared in the December issue of TV Technology magazine.)

AUCTION COULD CLOSE SOON
Clearing targets are based on 6 MHz increments— the bandwidth of a TV channel— but the spectrum is being sold to wireless providers in paired, 5 MHz blocks, with a portion designated to interference buffer zones. Consequently, buyers are bidding on less spectrum than broadcasters are selling.

This gap narrows significantly at 84 MHz because broadcast and wireless spectrum would be divided by a channel now occupied by radio astronomy. This would leave more channels for the post-auction TV station repack, meaning the FCC would have to provisionally “buy” fewer stations. E.g., 126 MHz left just nine TV channels in each market; 114 MHz left 11; 108 MHz leaves 12; and 84 MHz leaves 16 TV.

Marci Ryvicker Hays noted that at 84 MHz, “a significant reduction in the cost to clear broadcasters is likely, bringing the auction to a close after the start of the new year.”

Like Hays, Wells Fargo Senior Analyst Marci Ryvicker predicted a fourth stage before forward auction bidding concluded in the third.

“We still think this new $40 billion ‘ask’ is way too high for the incentive auction to conclude in Stage 3,” she wrote in an analyst note. “This should not be a surprise as we have been saying for a long time that the auction will take multiple stages—at least four—and that the most likely outcome is somewhere in the $25 billion to $35 billion range. We are thinking more on the low end at this point.”

That $25 billion target is half-a-million shy of a 2011 Congressional Budget Office projection for median net auction proceeds at 84 MHz, after broadcasters are compensated. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which authorized the auction, pegged proceeds at $28 billion, with $15 billion of that going toward a $30 billion extension of unemployment benefits.

Over time, these projections grew, particularly as broadcasters pushed back and speculators joined forces in the “Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition,” led by former Disney lobbyist Preston Padden.

By October of 2014, the FCC released a report from New York investment bank Greenhill & Co., which cited “independent studies” that projected proceeds of $45 billion for 126 MHz. A footnote in the report revealed that the independent study comprised a June 13, 2014, ex parte filing describing a meeting among FCC staff and EOBC representatives, in which the $45 billion was extrapolated directly from a pledge by AT&T to buy 20 MHz for $9 billion.

In February of 2015, a month after 65 MHz of 1.7–2.1 GHz advanced wireless spectrum brought nearly $45 billion in the AWS-3 auction, the commission issued a revised Greenhill report that valued just the top stations in each of the 210 TV markets at $39 billion. The EOBC followed with a Kagan estimate predicting overall auction proceeds of up to $80 billion, while J.P. Morgan’s Alexia Quadrani stayed in the $25 billion to $35 billion range given the impact of AWS-3 on bidder cash reserves. The two biggest bidders in AWS-3, AT&T and Verizon, together spent $28.5 billion. In 2008, the two providers spent $16.3 billion in the 700 MHz auction of TV Channels 52–69, which raised $19.1 billion for 108 MHz in 261 bidding rounds over 38 days.

When third-stage bidding ended after one round in December, Padden called the auction “a joke.”

“This is not an auction. It is a joke and an abuse of the broadcasters, the FCC and the public who will be put through a disruptive repacking process that increasingly looks unjustified. The question is why the carriers lobbied so hard for a statute to authorize an auction of spectrum they don’t want. The carriers now have twice walked away from blocks of spectrum they told Congress was ‘vital’ and for which they predicted bidding as high as [$48 billion],” Padden said in an email, citing a Feb. 15, 2011 white paper.

See more TV Technology coverage at our spectrum auction silo.
Articles, documents referenced:
FCC Unveils Opening Prices in Forward Auction
Oct. 14, 2016—For example in top market New York, the closing clock price per spectrum block at the end of stage one of the forward auction was $477,249,780. The opening clock price in stage two increases 5% to $501,113,000. ~ B&C

Historic Incentive Auction Begins
March 28, 2016— The FCC’s auction system will determine a spectrum-clearing target between 42 and 144 MHz based on how many and which stations participate. ~ TV Technology

J.P. Morgan: FCC's 600 MHz incentive auction likely to fetch only $25B to $35B
Feb. 11, 2016— “Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we expect lower demand in this auction, as carrier balance sheets are stretched by the last auction and recent acquisitions—we don't expect Dish to be a substantial bidder, and private equity demand will be lower due to restrictions on Designed Entity bidding and the long time to usability.” ~Fierce Wireless

Sprint Bids Incentive Auction Adieu
Sept. 28, 2015— Sprint is sitting out the upcoming TV incentive spectrum auction. Marcelo Claure, CEO of the nation’s No. 4 carrier made the announcement on Saturday… Sprint also sat out last year’s AWS-3 auction, which raised around $45 billion and ignited new interest in the TV spectrum incentive auction. ~ TV Technology

Bidding and Prices in the AWS-3 Auction
May, 2015— The AWS-3 auction was a highly successful auction for taxpayers as it raised over $41 billion and freed up 65 MHz of spectrum…. In the 600 MHz auction, the setting will be similar with the exception that competitive carriers, especially those with little low-band spectrum, will be much more eager to acquire the low-band spectrum and AT&T and Verizon will be much more eager to foreclose this possibility. ~ Peter Cramton, Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland.

CBO Puts Broadcaster Auction Cut at 25-75 Percent
April 21, 2015—The CBO also hasn’t moved far from its original estimate for how much the auction is likely to net for the fed, from $24.5 billion in 2011 to a median of $25 billion now, according to correspondence between the CBO and a lawmaker. ~ TV Technology

Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition Filing
Feb. 19, 2015— Even the more conservative Kagan estimate predicts Incentive Auction revenues to reach between $60 billion and $80 billion.~ EOBC FCC Filing

Kagan: Wireless Should Be Ready, Able for 2016 Auction
Feb. 18, 2015— The Big Four wireless carriers —Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint— and "very possibly" others, will be "fully engaged and sufficiently capitalized bidders" in a 2016 broadcast incentive auction that could raise as much as $80 billion from those wireless carriers. That is the major takeaway from a just-released Kagan study commissioned by the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, which is definitely hoping that is the case. ~ B&C

FCC Proposes Top Station Opening Bids Totaling $39 Billion
Feb. 9, 2015—We took $38 billion and sliced that up per the interference formula, [the number of people covered by signal, and the number of signals with which it overlaps.] The major differences is the first Greenhill figures were estimated high-end payouts. It was a top-down approach. This is maximum opening bids designed to reflect robust auction participation. ~ TV Technology

FCC Aims to Clear 84 MHz of TV Spectrum
Dec. 11, 2014—Regulators today approved proposed proposals to clear 84 MHz of TV spectrum, establish opening bid prices and develop procedures to close the 2016 incentive auction. I.e., they suggested rules to recommend for final adoption in a Public Notice approved in a 3-2 party-line vote. ~ TV Technology

$45 Billion Auction Projection Rests on AT&T’s DirecTV Acquisition Pledge”
Oct. 2, 2014—The $45 billion being proffered as potential incentive auction proceeds was derived from AT&T’s commitment to spend $9 billion on 20 MHz of TV spectrum if its bid to buy DirecTV goes through. ~ TV Technology

Obama Signs Spectrum Auction Authority Bill
Feb. 23, 2012—The government expects to end up with around $15 billion from TV spectrum auctions after the set-asides. The sum is already calculated into offsetting $30 billion to extend unemployment benefits, also covered in the bill. ~ TV Technology

“Reclaimed TV Spectrum Valued at $28 Billion in Obama Jobs Bill”
Sept. 12, 2011—President Obama’s proposed jobs bill assumes that incentive TV spectrum auctions will bring around $28 billion in proceeds. ~ TV Technology

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission today set a third-stage clearing target of 108 MHz for the TV incentive spectrum auction. Bidding in the third-stage reverse auction will start Nov. 1, 2016.

“Under the band plan associated with this spectrum clearing target, 80 MHz, or eight paired blocks, of licensed spectrum will be offered in the forward auction on a near-nationwide basis.” the commission said in a Public Notice issued today, and illustrated below. The 108 MHz target places two reassignment blocks beneath Ch. 37, which is reserved for radioastronomy.

(Auction observers have told TV Technology that the next clearing target—84 MHz—would yield a more practical band plan in that Ch. 37 and its buffer spectrum would help separate broadcasting and wireless broadband frequencies, and less spectrum would have to be designated for guard bands—defined in gray hashmarks in the illustration.) In designing the auction, the commission created band plans that considered 11 potential clearing targets, from 42 to 144 MHz.

Clearing targets for each round, according to an FCC spokesman, are determined by a procedure “with objectives of maximizing the number of Category 1 licenses and minimizing overall impairments,” the FCC’s auction term for interference.“We could only “skip” a rung in the ladder if it didn’t achieve these objectives.”

The 108 MHz third-stage clearing target was set after the second-stage forward auction did not close at 114 MHz, nor the first at 126 MHz. The second-stage forward auction—where wireless companies bid to buy TV spectrum—raised $21.5 billion for 90 MHz, less than half of the $56.5 billion at which broadcasters agreed to sell 114 MHz in the second-stage reverse auction.

In the first-stage forward auction, wireless providers bid $22.5 billion for the 100 MHz yielded by the 126 MHz clearing target, falling well short of broadcasters’ $86 billion ask. (The amount of spectrum broadcasters are selling comprises the clearing target. The amount wireless providers bid on comprises the clearing target less the frequencies designated as buffer zones, or guard bands.)

For more coverage, see TV Technology’sspectrum auction silo.

WASHINGTON—The spectrum auction will move into a third stage. The second stage of the TV spectrum incentive auction closed after the first round, with the forward auction portion raising $21.5 billion, less than half of the $56.5 billion asking price for 114 MHz of broadcast TV spectrum. (Update: $56.5 billion represents the clearing price. Broadcasters asked $54.6 billion in aggregate for 114 MHz.) The second-stage forward auction, in which wireless providers bid on TV spectrum, commenced this morning and concluded within a few hours. (Update: make that, “two,” hours.)

The first stage started in late March and concluded Aug. 30 after 27 rounds of bidding yielded only $22.5 billion, well short of the $86 billion broadcasters were asking for 126 MHz of spectrum—the first stage clearing target. The second stage started Sept. 30 at a lower clearing target of 114 MHz of spectrum. The reverse portion, in which broadcasters provisionally sell their regional 6 MHz spectrum licenses, closed last Thursday with broadcasters asking $54.6 billion for 114 MHz across the country. Today’s result came in more than $35 billion short, triggering yet another stage of the auction at a lower clearing target, either 108 or 84 MHz, according to the commission’s proposed band plans, illustrated below.

Update: The National Association of Broadcasters issued the following brief statement, attributed to NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton:
“NAB is surprised by the results of wireless carrier bidding in the second stage of the FCC’s TV auction. Broadcasters look forward to the third stage of bidding and a successful completion of the auction.”

Additional update from Marci Ryvicker, senior analyst at Wells Fargo:

“This afternoon, the forward portion of stage two began, and ended after a single round, which was completely unexpected. It looks to us like the quick end was because either one bidder dropped out or one bidder chose to reduce their demand by one block per license area. And the rules state that the forward auction simply ends when bidding activity has stopped—i.e. demand does not exceed supply—for Category 1 blocks in the 40 high-demand markets.”

Ryvicker said the $21.5 billion raised on 114 MHz in stage two implies a 61¢ per MHz/Pop value for the broadcasters and 90¢ per MHz/Pop for the forward auction participants, figuring $21.5 billion on 24.2 billion MHz/Pops demanded.

“So while the $21.5 billion figure is lower than stage one’s $23.1 billion, the price or value of spectrum... per MHz/Pop was actually up slightly for the broadcasters at 61¢ in stage two versus 59¢ in stage one; and flat for the forward participants at 90¢ [per] MHz/Pop.”

The FCC expects to release details about stage three next week, she said.

“On the positive side, it means the auction is moving much more quickly than we had thought,” Ryvicker wrote. “On the negative side, it means that there wasn’t enough demand for this amount of spectrum,” 90 of the 114 MHz offered for sale, less a 24 MHz buffer zone.

“We do think there is demand for spectrum—just not this much. Remember that we (and the Street) had been targeting stage four—84 MHz to be cleared, 70 MHz to be sold—this entire time, to get about $30 billion of gross proceeds. This $30 billion on 70 MHz implies a $1.37/MHzPop price to the forward auction participants. This is still very possible; remember, prices rose about 4 to 5 percent per round in stage one with active bidders, and now is likely to happen sooner rather than later.

For more, check out TV Technology's spectrum auction silo.

WASHINGTON— The second stage of the TV spectrum incentive auction has closed at a clearing target cost of $54.6 billion, north of twice what the $23.1 billion wireless providers bid in the first stage of the forward auction. The first stage targeted 126 MHz of spectrum, which broadcasters put on the block for more than $88 billion. This time, they’re asking for $54.6 billion for 114 MHz.

“The conclusion of the second stage of the reverse auction is an important waypoint for the auction proceedings,” offered Dan Hays of PwC Strategy&. “While the first stage started with an ambitious 126 MHz spectrum clearing target and sky-high opening bids, forcing the FCC to lock in many stations at high costs early on, the second stage is clearly different, as shown by today’s results.”

“The significant reduction in the targeted net proceeds of the reverse auction shows just how effective the auction mechanisms can be in bringing together supply and demand. However, at over $54.6 billion to broadcasters, or roughly $56.5 billion in total, we believe that the clearing cost is still well beyond striking distance for the budgets of mobile network operators. A third stage of the auction, and perhaps even a fourth, is now all but a certainty. For broadcasters, this is a clear indication of a rapid decline in interest at lower prices, effectively calling the bluff of the wireless industry and demanding that they come to the table ready to pay up.”

HOLLYWOOD—There are more moving parts in the broadcast TV business than a Swiss watch with tectonic-sized components. There are three major dynamics at play: the transmission signal form, the virtualization of the plant that generates it, and the spectrum upon which it travels.

The signal form is under major renovation by the Advanced Television Systems Committee. The developing transmission standard—ATSC 3.0—holds the promise of 4K and mobile, targeted advertising, on-demand, data delivery and perpetual youth. That last one is iffy, but 3.0 may need creative marketing. It will not work with a single existing TV set, and there will be no spare channel to make the switch. There are very smart people behind 3.0, but from 10,000 feet, it looks like a heavy lift.

Concurrently, we have an acceleration of “function collapse,” which referred to the software impact on the hardware that yielded things like channel-in-a-box. So you didn’t need so many boxes.

Now, we’re moving into an era where you don’t need no stinkin’ boxes. Those boxes are now code strings sitting on a server somewhere in the “cloud.” This media facility virtualization is just beginning, but it appears to be inevitable in the face of new display forms coming down the pike at a rapid clip. Think ABC’s move into virtual reality for news. There will never again be a time when display platforms are static.

And finally, the spectrum auction looms, not unlike the contrived “crisis” created to justify it. Will it work? Sprint tapped out; Verizon is indifferent. The biggest group of sellers that we know of consisted of around 80 TV stations—out of about 2,000 full-power and Class A TV licensees. What will free TV and local news look like afterward? Who knows?

All I do know is that I see more folks in the broadcast community focused on doing their jobs than selling out.

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters’ opening bid prices are out. The Federal Communications Commission today released the opening bid price that it will offer each broadcaster in the 2016 TV spectrum incentive auction. It provides the opening bids for the three participation options: relinquishment (including channel-sharing), moving from a UHF to a VHF, or a high VHF to a low VHF.

Each was calculated based on the Aug. 11 Bidding Procedures Public Notice, and the bidding constraint data—population served and interference factor, particularly—released yesterday in the Applications Procedure Public Notice. That notice defined the broadcaster filing window for the reverse auction as noon, Dec 1, through 6 p.m. on Dec. 18.

A full-power or Class A will have to file during the filing window, set for noon, Dec. 1 through 6 p.m., Dec. 18. These applications are not binding until Marc 29, 2016, the day the reverse auction begins. Applications will not constitute a binding commitment, but after Dec. 18, no other station will be able to apply to participate in the auction.

There are a number of stations for which the commission was able to keep in the pre-auction TV band, and are defined as “not needed” in the accompanying .pdf with the opening bids for all stations, TV Technology will continue follow up on this information:
/portals/0/Reverse Auction Opening Prices 101615 Attachment.pdf

Joe Snelson

SEATTLE—A Federal Communications Commission request for comment on a proposal to reserve one vacant UHF TV channel in each geographic area of the U.S. for use by unlicensed white space devices and wireless mics has unleashed criticism from an array of television industry organizations.

Joe Snelson, president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers noted that just a few years ago, the commission had issued plans to assign two dedicated channels—in most markets on each side of UHF channel 37—for wireless microphone use. “The ground rules have changed several times from the original two channels,” he said, “and it seems like it keeps moving.”

(As this story went to press for the July issue of TV Technology, SBE had not yet provided formal comments to the NPRM. However, the FCC did suspend the comment period deadline, originally set for Aug. 3.)

In its response to the NPRM (15-146), the Radio Television Digital News Association said that, in television markets where a broadcast station is located on that previously dedicated wireless microphone spectrum, “news operations in that market would be left without assurances that they could cover breaking news to the extent possible in other local markets.

“This approach would run counter to the commission’s [previous] finding that some exclusive 600 MHz spectrum is necessary for licensed wireless microphone operations,” the association continued. “Having already slashed its allocation for wireless microphones by two-thirds down to 4 MHz, the commission cannot feasibly reduce it any further.”

The proposed sharing of spectrum with WSDs has been a particular sticking point in the commission’s proposal. “White space” refers to channels in the television band that are not licensed to broadcasters in a particular television market, but are licensed to broadcasters in other markets. A WSD would determine whether it could operate without interfering with a broadcaster in any particular market by accessing a database detailing which channels are open to WSD use.

A broad coalition of industry associations representing broadcasters and advocates for users of unlicensed wireless WSDs has asked the FCC to reconsider its proposal to prevent the relocation of TV stations to areas of the broadcast spectrum used by such unlicensed devices and wireless microphones. The National Association of Broadcasters is among that group, and has also filed its own comments to the NPRM.

“We’re not against the concept of white spaces,” said Dennis Wharton, executive vice president for communications for NAB. But he pointed to flaws in the WSD database that render it ineffective.

There are fewer than a thousand WSDs that have been sold and are in use at this point. Purchasers of WSDs are not required to obtain licenses to operate them, but must register them with information such as name and address, email address and device location information.

Any review of these submissions quickly turns up intentionally errant submissions. One registrant gave the latitude and longitude a WSD of a spot in the Atlantic Ocean, about 500 miles off the shore of Cameroon. Because there are no TV band licensed broadcasters at that location, the WSD would determine it could operate on any channel, likely causing interference with licensed users. Bogus WSD user information such as John Q. Public, a frequently used 123 Jump Street address and phony email addresses would hinder the ability to contact the owner of an interfering WSD.

“Having geo-location attached to those devices seems to make sense to us,” said Wharton, who also suggested using some system of query and response via email during the WSD registration process.

MULTIPLE DATABASES
Fig. 1: Example of KAET studios wireless microphone protection filing as translated to a point-radius (circle) pattern. On the right is a much smaller resultant protected area. (Demonstration)
The WSD database is actually a group of databases, supplied by multiple vendors, which are required to be synced every 24 hours, at a minimum. Referring to this multiple databased system, Karl Voss, chief engineer at Phoenix public station KAET-TV, said “the biggest thing is they never decided to have one vendor do the database.”

He detailed differences in the way the databases are put together, noting an example that one vendor does not allow describing a licensed user’s WSB protection area as a polygon, even though the FCC’s rules require that polygons be allowed (Figs. 1 and 2). When he entered the information as a polygon, after syncing, “in one database it showed up as a circle.” The circle description would have afforded much less actual protected area when seen by a WSD.

Voss, who is also a frequency coordinator for the National Football League, described another problem with the multiple databases and their need to sync every 24 hours. In the worst case, information entered into database A could take 24 hours to reach database B, and since WSDs are only required to query a database every 24 hours, the combination of the two delays could mean a database entry could take 48 hours to reach a particular WSD.

Fig. 2: Example of KAET studios wireless mic protection filing submitted as a polygon. On the right is the resultant protected area. (Demonstration)
He said in practical terms, in the week before an NFL game “I have been blocking out every frequency known to man at any event that I’m doing, just so the white-space devices are absolutely shut down.”

Such a broad brush approach is necessitated by the last-minute nature of frequency coordination at such events.

“I don’t have any idea until the last moment what wireless microphone or IFB frequency is going to be used by the host broadcaster,” he said. “We may coordinate things a week in advance and then I find out that the vendor shipped different equipment, and then we have to throw away our coordination plan and start all over again with different frequency blocks.”

With all this doom and gloom, it should be noted that white space technology offers “if you can’t beat them, join them” opportunities. “We have been looking at providing WSD equipment that will work in those channels,” said John Payne, chief technology officer at microwave equipment manufacturer IMT. “From the ENG vendor side, for applications like wireless cameras, it gives us opportunities to provide solutions to broadcasters.”

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—An FCC official acknowledged that the commission would drop its requirement to impose “dynamic reserve pricing,” a rule that garnered stiff opposition from broadcasters. The announcement came during a webinar on spectrum auctions sponsored by NewBay Media and featuring representatives from the FCC and the broadcast industry.

Opponents predicted that the DRP policy—which was designed to encourage broadcasters to participate in next year’s spectrum auctions—would have allowed the commission to lower opening bid prices if not enough stations entered the bidding process. Even some commissioners opposed the rule, with Kevin O’Reilly commenting at the NAB Show in April that dynamic reserve pricing “complicates things unnecessarily and also can short-change broadcasters in the value of their stations.”

On Thursday’s webinar, Howard Symons, vice chair of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force, said that the commission would not recommend adopting dynamic reserve pricing. “It was an effort to avoid overpaying certain stations but in response to the many comments we got, we recommended not adopting that.”

FULL STEAM AHEAD
Despite the numerous delays in starting the spectrum auction, there was general consensus among the speakers that the March 29, 2016, launch date—now just eight months away—would hold and that broadcasters who want to participate need to plan ahead.

“This thing is moving quickly,” said Rick Kaplan, executive vice president and general counsel, legal and regulatory affairs for the NAB. “For those who are thinking of participating, they should be very active right now. For those interested in channel sharing, those deals need to be done now.”

Preston Padden, executive director of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, a group of about 40 TV stations planning to participate in the auction, praised the auction rules. “You can enter into a sharing deal after the auction and it can last for five years. There’s a lot of flexibility there,” Padden said. “The staff and the chairman have recommended to kill dynamic reserve pricing which was a creation of the devil.”

Preston added that “A lot of good things have happened and I prefer stations look at this auction as a huge ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity. The only question a broadcaster has to ask himself is to look at that opening price. Entering the auction is a no-risk proposition and could lead to a great opportunity.”

Mark Aitken, vice president of advanced technology for Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the nation’s largest owners of TV stations was more skeptical, adding that SBG would not participate in the auctions.

“If you enter the auction and agree to participate,” he said, “the opening bid price—which may not well be the offering price as we descend through the auction—if you don’t want to sell, you may have to sell just simply by entering the auction. Only put your feet in the water if you’re willing to leave.”

MIND THE ‘DUPLEX GAP’
The FCC’s recent proposal to place a certain number of stations in the “duplex gap”—where current ENG and wireless mic spectrum currently calls home and opponents claim could cause interference for high-power TV stations—was discussed, with Aitken commenting that “I’m still scratching my head” over the proposal.

Adding that one of the major implications for such a proposal would be interference, Aitken said that “the duplex gap is a traditional part of a spectrum-separated two-way approach to using the spectrum. Unless you’re willing to put forward major studies to show otherwise, you’re talking about a very non-traditional unproven approach that is greatly dependent on separations and power levels used.”

The NAB this week proposed a compromise to the FCC that would allow placement of stations in the duplex gap for a maximum of six markets. Kaplan said during the webinar that “if you can limit [using the duplex gap] for six markets, we’ll take the six and move on.”

Symons added that while the commission recognizes the importance of the duplex gap, its proposal will create the least amount of harm while ensuring maximum participation. “We want the system to be able to assign those few stations to the place in the wireless band where they interfere with the fewest number of people on an aggregate nationwide basis,” he said. “In many instances, that could be the duplex gap, because the interference to the licenses would be minimized.”

THE IMPACT OF FUTURE STANDARDS
The broadcast industry is in the midst of developing ATSC 3.0, the next-generation broadcast standard which proponents say would not only promote more efficient spectrum use, but would add an IP component. Aitken characterized the current standard as a “handicap” for broadcasters.

“The impact of ATSC 3.0 could fundamentally change the nature of how people connect to their services,” he said. “3.0 standardization is underway and we’re very soon going to have a candidate standard.” In response to a question from the audience about whether the necessary equipment will be available by the time of channel repacking, Aitken replied “absolutely.”

One of the opportunities that ATSC 3.0 could offer is to allow stations to lease spectrum to wireless carriers, which Symons warned would not be as advantageous to broadcasters as combining channels after the spectrum auctions.

“For those broadcasters who may think that [a new standard] provides an opportunity to lease to carriers, I would only point out that one of the benefits of the opportunity presented by the incentive auctions is to combine individual broadcast channels into a more powerful contiguous whole,” he said. “That, taken that way, is of greater value to carriers than one-off deals, market by market or station by station. So I think that’s just a factor broadcasters should keep in mind as they consider the range of opportunities, including the auction and advanced standards that may be presented to them.”

There has been some intra-industry discussion of coordinating channel repacking with the deployment of ATSC 3.0 but Symons shot that idea down. “We have consistently encouraged the industry to develop next-generation standards and when and if they bring us a rulemaking recommendation to adopt it, we will obviously consider it expeditiously,” he said. “But the auction’s on its own schedule. We have long ago decided we’re not going to delay it.”

Nevertheless, Symons emphasized the FCC’s objective for the spectrum auctions vis a vis the broadcast industry.

“A healthy robust broadcast industry is a very important part of our nation’s communications ecosystem and we look forward to having that part of the ecosystem thrive,” he said. “We look at this auction as Congress intended it—as a market mechanism for repurposing some of the 600 MHz band and spectrum for future uses. We think both of those objectives—repurposing spectrum for future mobile broadband uses while ensuring a healthy broadcasting industry—are not mutually exclusive objectives.”

SECAUCUS, N.J. – Let’s start the bidding. In an effort to clear out space for new equipment and technology, Video Equipment Rentals has announced that it will auction its excess inventory through Tiger Group with an online auction. Online bidding began today, July 7, and will close bids for items in live auction style on July 14 at 10:30 a.m.

VER is offering a range of A/V rental products that include video gear, computer presentation, digital, broadcast and audio from Sony, Canon and other manufacturers. According to Tiger Group, the combined value of all items being auctioned equals $10 million. The full catalogue can be seen at www.SoldTiger.com.

Previews of the equipment will be held July 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the VER warehouse, 60 Enterprise Ave. N., Secaucus, N.J.

Fig. 1: Operating at 17.2 kHz, the Alexanderson alternator rotating armature radio transmitter at the Varberg Radio Station at Grimeton near Halland Sweden is the only one of its type in the world.

THE BIG ISLAND—To understand the concerns about spectrum availability and the value of spectrum, it’s worth taking a look at the history of spectrum usage, how spectrum is valued, and what the impact of the demand for greater wireless data bandwidth and associated spectrum needs will have on broadcasting.

WHAT SPECTRUM IS MORE VALUABLE?
The UHF TV spectrum at 600 MHz has been called “beachfront property” for wireless carriers but before buying that property, it might be worth asking if today’s “beachfront property” might be underwater tomorrow. Looking at the history of spectrum usage, could this spectrum be worth less in 2020 than it was when the National Broadband Plan was released in 2010? This month I’ll present some historical data and some technical arguments that support my assertion that, as demand for data bandwidth increases, the value of higher frequency spectrum increases and that of lower frequency spectrum decreases.

It may be hard to believe, but at the dawn of the 20th century frequencies below 1 MHz were considered the best ones for communications. Large RF alternators were used to generate high power RF signals at frequencies below 50 kHz. One is still operational on 17.2 kHz (Fig. 1). Amateur radio operators were disappointed when the Radio Act of 1912 restricted private radio transmission to wavelengths above 200 meters (1500 kHz), but found the higher frequencies actually allowed longer range contacts.

In the last 100 years, amateur radio operators have found their higher frequency allocations, well into the GHz bands, limited or shared as other users discovered the value of their previously undiscovered higher-frequency spectrum.

I got my first job in broadcasting more than 45 years ago and at that time AM radio (540–1600 kHz) was king and FM radio (88–108 MHz) was a stepchild that got little respect. Today, except for a few stations in larger markets, listeners tuning into AM radio are likely to hear the same programs (usually sports talk) delivered nationwide by satellite. Programming has moved to FM, and even all-news AM stations are finding outlets on FM radio, if not as the primary service, as a digital HD-Radio sub-channel.

After the transition to digital TV, even the FCC recognized that UHF spectrum was at least equal to VHF spectrum. Based on the incentive auction rules, UHF TV spectrum is now valued significantly higher than VHF TV spectrum. History shows that through time, higher frequency spectrum becomes more valuable, although the technical and economic reasons for that vary.

THE LIMITS OF SHANNON
Fig. 2: Comparison of distance-based path loss models with unity gain antennas. The curves labeled “Empirical NYC” are the experimentally derived mmW models based on the NYC data. These are compared to free space propagation for the same frequencies and the 3GPP UMi model for 2.5 GHz.
Let’s look at the technical reasons first. In my article “Reviewing Next-Generation Error Correction Codes,” I explained the “Shannon Limit,” the maximum error-free data rate that could be sent over a given amount of bandwidth for a given signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The obvious conclusion is that more bandwidth provides a greater data rate for a given SNR. The lower the frequency, the lower the available bandwidth.

Designing RF systems that can use bandwidths more than 5 percent of the center frequency is difficult. At 600 MHz this equates to 30 MHz; at 5 GHz this equates to 250 MHz—more than eight times the bandwidth and eight times the data rate for a given SNR. This makes higher frequencies more useful. If someone tried to put a 200 kHz-wide FM signal in the medium wave AM band, there would have only been room for five stations! Wider bandwidths and higher speeds demand higher frequencies.

Some of you may be asking, “What about MIMO and directional antennas?” The advantage again goes to the higher-frequency spectrum. The reason is that the directivity of an antenna is related to its size in wavelengths. For MIMO to be effective, it requires at least two receive antennas isolated from each other. The longer wavelengths (lower frequencies) in the UHF or lower bands make it more difficult to isolate antennas, especially in the confined space of smartphones and even tablets compared to higher-frequency spectrum. One wavelength at 600 MHz is about 20 inches, while at 5 GHz, the wavelength is less than 2.4 inches.

One of the advantages of lower frequencies is that they can travel great distances. I regularly receive KNX (1070 kHz) from Los Angles after dark while driving in Hawaii. Properly designed UHF and VHF stations, assuming no terrain obstructions, can provide a decent signal all the way to the radio horizon. Lower frequencies are also passed through foliage and through windows. This ability to get indoors, to get through the trees, is one reason 600 MHz spectrum has attracted the interest of wireless carriers. However, Shannon’s Limit still applies, limiting the number of users a site can support. As the number of users grows it will be difficult to increase the bandwidth, and thus the data rate, enough to accommodate them, even after using directional antennas to provide sector coverage.

FREQUENCIES OR SITES?
As cell sites become overloaded, wireless carriers increase capacity by adding more sites, so each one serves a smaller number of customers. As the service area of each site is reduced, the long-range coverage of UHF frequencies becomes less important and limiting interference more complicated. We’ve already seen Verizon shift traffic from its 700 MHz LTE spectrum to its 1700 MHz spectrum in urban areas. As demand for bandwidth grows, even reallocating the entire UHF TV band for wireless broadband won’t be sufficient.

With a large number of closely spaced cell sites, there is no advantage in using UHF spectrum (500–800 MHz) for wireless broadband. As sites become denser, it is easier to move to higher frequencies with wider RF bandwidth. More bandwidth equals higher data rates and more users. At much higher frequencies with shorter wavelengths, it’s possible to use massive MIMO with very directional beams. Researchers at NYU Wireless (an academic research center focusing on wireless, computing and medical applications), have successfully tested wireless links in New York City using 28–60 GHz spectrum. Last fall, Samsung tested 5G technology in New York as well, delivering data rates more than 1 Gbps over distances up to 2 km using 28 GHz spectrum.

Who will be the winner in the battle for wireless bandwidth? Look at companies developing technology for spectrum well above that commonly used today. The need for more base stations will benefit those companies with the ability to inexpensively deliver very high data rates to antennas on roof tops and light pole tops.

Cable companies are in a great position to move their business from delivering fast, wired Internet to delivering wireless Internet just as fast or faster. It isn’t surprising CableLabs has joined NYUWireless.

Another option—if some data bandwidth can be sacrificed—is a mesh network, where base stations connect to each other to move data across the network. Such a network could be built inexpensively using unlicensed spectrum, similar to Metricom’s 900 MHz Ricochet network that, until it shut down in 2001, provided higher data rates than most cellular companies could provide.

What about broadcasters? The maximum frequency allocated for conventional TV broadcasting is 698 MHz and that may drop to 608 MHz or less after incentive auction repacking. Being limited to 6 MHz of bandwidth, the only way broadcasters will be able to deliver higher data rates and prettier pictures to viewers will be to move to a new transmission standard. ATSC 3.0 will allow broadcasters to trade-off robustness for and increase in the data rate and that loss in robustness can be offset by building single frequency networks—multiple transmitters using the same channel—to deliver a stronger signal to viewers unable to get a strong signal from the main transmitter. Such coverage could still be useful after 5G technology allows essentially unlimited wireless Internet.

I welcome your comments. Email me atdlung@transmitter.com.

Want to learn more about how the upcoming spectrum auctions will impact your business? Be sure to attend "Spectrum Auction Preparation: What You Don't Know Will Hurt You," Thursday, July 23 at 2:30 p.m., EST.