The FCC has rescheduled its latest auction of vacant FM allotments for Nov. 3, 2004, as advised in our April 19 update. The 288 FM allotments available for auction are shown in the attached FCC Public Notice. In order to participate in this auction, potential bidders will need to file an electronic “short form” FCC Form 175 by 6 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 6, 2004. No filing fee or engineering will be required at that time. However, an “upfront payment/minimum bid amount” for each station desired will have to be wired to the FCC by Sept. 24, 2004. Those amounts are also shown in the attached FCC Public Notice. During the auction, bids will be accepted only electronically or by telephone.
A “new entrant bidding credit” will be given to those who have up to three other media interests (full power broadcast stations, cable systems, DBS, MDS or newspapers), so long as none of them serve them the same area as the FM station on which the owner is bidding. The bidding credit is 35 percent for those who have no other media interests, and 25 percent for those who have an ownership interest in from one to three other mass media facilities.
In a separate but related matter, the FCC has announced that it will not be accepting minor change applications for authorized commercial and noncommercial FM stations during the auction application filing window, from July 22, 2004, through Aug. 6, 2004. This short-term application freeze is designed to avoid potential conflicts between existing facilities and potential bidders for the vacant allotments.
Please contact us if you would like more information regarding the available allotments or the application/auction process.