Gray Discloses Auction Proceeds; Others Disagree About Transition Filings
The FCC decision Monday to end a broadcaster quiet period in the incentive auction (see 1702060065) had almost immediate effects. Gray Television said about 16 hours later that it expected to get some $91 million from the auction. With the rule change, "broadcasters can engage in M&A," wrote Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker to investors. NAB also backed the change, which had been requested by the broadcast industry for months (see 1610210059). Meanwhile, broadcaster, carrier and engineer replies were posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 16-306 on reporting requirements for the transition after the auction's conclusion. NAB and T-Mobile have some differences (see 1701260033), and the Competitive Carriers Association disagreed with the broadcaster association.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Gray "anticipates" taking in $90.8 million from the incentive auction, it said in a news release Tuesday. It didn't say how many winning bids that figure represents or give the location of the stations involved, saying "the actions necessary to receive the proceeds" won't lead to job losses or "produce any material change in operations or results for Gray." The company expects to receive the funds in Q2 or Q3, Gray said, and it will announce the station or stations involved "at a later date." Carriers still are subject to a quiet period.
This was the first disclosure by anyone of incentive auction proceeds, Ryvicker wrote investors Tuesday. She predicted an Augusta property was among the Gray stations involved. The company agreed to sell WAGT Augusta in the auction so it wouldn't have a duopoly in the market (see 1603240044). A Gray executive declined further comment Tuesday. Monday, NAB called the rule change "perfectly appropriate to lift some of the so-called ‘quiet rules’ that barred discussions among broadcasters prior to and during the auction." While license transfers may not occur until after the auction, the mergers and acquisitions "process can at least start for those who are interested," Ryvicker wrote Monday.
CCA wants broadcasters to have to file proposed Form 2100 quarterly, not biannually as NAB seeks. The transition progress report needs quarterly reporting "to ensure the consistent flow of information necessary to assess the progress of the transition in near-real time," the smaller and midsize carrier association said. The form needs more details "to effectively provide an accurate picture of the overall status of the transition," as CCA member T-Mobile notes, said the group.
A broadcast engineering firm agreed with some T-Mobile points, also saying the carrier's request that the forms be more detailed raises questions. That firm, Cohen Dippell, asked which FCC group or staff member "is prepared to address the multitude of issues that may arise during the transition and repacking process." Not all of the company's queries received replies, Cohen Dippell said.
The firm's president Donald Everist, who wrote the filing, told us he doesn't oppose putting more information in the broadcaster forms. What T-Mobile was "hitting on is you need a more complete picture," he said. "However, they started making it more complicated, and I think that doesn’t suit its purpose." The commission declined to comment on Everist's remark that he hasn't always heard back from agency staff when he poses queries.
NAB said T-Mobile's proposals raise concerns about unnecessary reporting requirements on TV stations, and broadcasting industry vendors could be overwhelmed with queries from those reading the forms. Don't make stations that move channels after the auction identify their vendors on Form 2100, said the association. "Armed with this information, winning forward auction bidders could contact vendors for status updates or try to convince them" via financial incentives "to prioritize stations these bidders have identified as instrumental for clearing spectrum for their individual use," it said.