Noncoms Ask FCC to Axe U-to-V Auction Discount

In a meeting with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler and key members of his incentive auction team, representatives of CPB, PBS and the Association of Public Television Stations said the FCC should pay stations who are moving from a UHF to a VHF just as much to get off that spectrum as if they were giving it up entirely to get out of the business or share channels, according to a filing at the FCC. The FCC is proposing to pay U-to-V movers only about two-thirds of what it pays for stations vacating and exiting or vacating and sharing. But the noncommercial broadcasters told Chairman Wheeler a discount for moving to the VHF band -- most noncoms are UHF -- was "inconsistent with the purpose of the auction, which is to use market mechanisms to determine the value that a broadcaster is willing to accept to relinquish its current channel."

They said the FCC should get rid of the discount and let competition for spectrum set the price for relinquishment. The discount is because movers, rather than sharers, will still take up 6 MHz of spectrum, albeit in the VHF band. But since that is where stations are being repacked, the more free spectrum there is in the VHF band, the more stations that can be moved from the UHF band and repacked there, and the more spectrum freed up. But if the FCC decides not to ditch the discount -- and it is expected to stick with the pricing differential -- the noncoms said it should give them a bidding credit, similar to the credit being offered small businesses in the forward auction of reclaimed spectrum for wireless.