FCC Closes Docket on 'Spectrumless' Station Sale

The Federal Communications Commission has closed the docket on the proposed sale of the post-auction assets of Hero Licenseco's KBEH Oxnard (CA) to KWHY-22 Broadcasting, Los Angeles (CA) accepting the withdrawal of the license transfer application by the parties. Hero had proposed to sell its license and must-carry rights after also submitting the winning bid to sell the spectrum of KBEH in the broadcast incentive auction.

The FCC opened a docket on the sale, asking for comment on that first-of-its-kind proposal to sell the license of a station that no longer had spectrum—the FCC had allowed such auction winners to retain their license and must-carry rights, which the stations signaled they planned to use by sharing spectrum with another station and so staying on the air, though the FCC did not mandate they do so even after signaling that was their intention. KBEH struck such a sharing deal with KWHY, which remains the case, apparently, after the sale was called off.