DA 15-1191

INCENTIVE AUCTION TASK FORCE AND WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU RELEASE OPENING BID PRICES FOR REVERSE AUCTION
AU Docket No. 14-252
GN Docket No. 12-268
WT Docket No. 12-269

Released: October 16, 2015

The Incentive Auction Task Force and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau are today releasing the opening bid prices for the reverse auction (Auction 1001).  The attached spreadsheet shows the opening prices that will be offered to each full power and Class A station eligible to participate in the auction, for each of the possible bid options available to that station, calculated using the formula adopted by the Commission in the Auction 1000 Bidding Procedures Public Notice and the final baseline and constraint files released in conjunction with the _Auction 1000 Application Procedures Public Notice_.  A station is identified in the spreadsheet as “Not Needed” if the auction system has determined that the station will always have a feasible channel assignment in its pre-auction band at all of the possible auction clearing targets.

1. To participate in the reverse auction, a full power or Class A broadcast television licensee must file an application during the filing window specified in the Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN.  The filing window for the reverse auction will open at noon ET on December 1, 2015, and close at 6:00 p.m. ET on December 18, 2015.  The application must be submitted prior to the closing of the filing window.  Late applications will not be accepted.  We are releasing the opening bid prices now in fulfillment of the Commission’s commitment to provide at least 60 days for broadcasters to consider those prices prior to the filing deadline.
2. A reverse auction applicant will also be required to commit to a preferred initial bid option by March 29, 2016, in order to qualify to bid in the clock rounds of the reverse auction, but only full power and Class A licensees that have filed an application prior to December 18, 2015, that is deemed complete will be eligible to make an initial bid commitment and participate in the clock rounds.    
3. For further information regarding this matter, contact Mary Margaret Jackson at (202) 418-3641, e-mail [email protected], or email incentiveauctions@fcc.gov.

See Broadcast Auction Scheduled to Begin March 29, 2016; Procedures for Competitive Bidding in Auction 1000, Including Initial Clearing Target Determination, Qualifying to Bid, and Bidding in Auctions 1001 (Reverse) and 1002 (Forward), AU Docket No. 14-252, GN Docket No. 12-268, WT Docket No. 12-269, Public Notice, 30 FCC Rcd 8975 (2015) (_Auction 1000 Bidding Procedures PN*).

Application Procedures for Broadcast Incentive Auction Scheduled to Begin on March 29, 2016, AU Docket No. 14-252, GN Docket No. 12-268, WT Docket No. 12-269, DA 15-1183 (WTB rel. Oct. 15, 2015) (Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN). ** Prices for a participating station will decline in subsequent rounds as long as the auction system can find a feasible channel assignment for the station in its pre-auction band.  See Auction 1000 Bidding Procedures PN, 30 FCC Rcd at 9034, para. 110.  Because each station’s opening bid price can be calculated using the formula adopted in the Auction 1000 Bidding Procedures PN and publicly released data, the Commission decided that the opening prices would be provided for every station rather than requiring each licensee to make these calculations separately.  As the Commission explained, this will encourage participation and further the transparency of the auction. Auction 1000 Bidding Procedures PN, 30 FCC Rcd at 9028, para. 95.  The attached spreadsheet, and a more detailed spreadsheet showing each station’s constraints and population from the publicly released data, are also being posted on the FCC’s LEARN website, http://www.fcc.gov/learn. 

See Auction 1000 Bidding Procedures PN, para. 54 n.205 (citing id. para. 8 n.30, describing a “feasible” channel).  The auction system’s methodology for determining “Not Needed” stations is set forth in detail in Appendix J to the Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN.  An application to participate in the reverse auction filed by any “Not Needed” station will be dismissed.