Auction 98: FM Broadcast

Summary

July 23, 2015 - August 6, 2015

Rounds:

Bidding Days:

Qualified Bidders:

Winning Bidders:

59 Bidders won 102 Permits

Licenses Held by FCC:

Gross Bids:

$5,083,700

Net Bids:

$4,121,140

Recent Releases
Major Releases

8/12/2015
Winning Bidders

7/9/2015
Qualified Bidders

6/17/2015
Applications to Participate

4/22/2015
Procedures

11/30/2022
ORDER (DA 22-1240)
Final Default Payment Letter, The ERIE Radio Company, LLC
Assessed the final default payment obligation for The ERIE Radio Company, LLC with respect to its defaulted bids on construction permit FM1090-A (Westfield, NY) in Auction 98

Fact Sheet

Date:

Auction 98 began on 7/23/2015 and closed on 8/6/2015.

Licenses:

131 construction permits for FM broadcast stations

Spectrum:

Various vacant allotments (88 MHz to 108 MHz)
See Public Notice DA 15-452 and 47 CFR 73.202

Bandwidth:

200 kHz per construction permit

Winning Bidders:

59 Bidders won 102 Permits

Rounds:

Qualified Bidders:

Licenses Won:

102

Licenses Held by FCC:

Net Bids:

$4,121,140

Gross Bids:

$5,083,700

General information and associated licensing parameters are provided below. Public notices provide specific information regarding this auction. This fact sheet includes:

Key Dates
Construction Permits Offered
Permissible Operations
License Period
New Entrant Bidding Credit
Licensing Rules

Key Dates

Event	Date
Auction Tutorial Available (via Internet)	5/18/2015
Form 175 (Short Form) Application Filing Window Opens	5/18/2015; 12:00 pm ET
Form 175 (Short Form) Application Filing Deadline	5/28/2015; 6:00 pm ET
Upfront Payments Deadline	6/29/2015; 6:00 pm ET
Mock Auction	7/20/2015
Auction Start	7/23/2015
Auction Closed	8/6/2015

Construction Permits Offered

Auction 98 will offer 131 construction permits in the FM Broadcast service for stations in various locations throughout the United States. These construction permits are for vacant FM allotments, reflecting FM channels assigned to the FM Table of Allotments, 47 C.F.R. § 73.202(b), pursuant to the Commission’s established rulemaking procedures, and are designated for use in the indicated communities.

Pursuant to the policies established in the Broadcast Competitive Bidding First Report and Order, in this auction applicants may apply for any vacant FM allotment as specified in Public Notice DA 15-452 , Attachment A; applications specifying the same FM allotment will be considered mutually exclusive, and, the construction permit for that FM allotment must be awarded by competitive bidding procedures. The Commission will use a simultaneous multiple round format for this auction. Qualified bidders are permitted to bid electronically using the Internet or by telephone.

Permissible Operations

FM Broadcast - A station employing frequency modulation in the FM broadcast band and licensed primarily for the transmission of radiotelephone emissions intended to be received by the general public.

License Period

A winning bidder will be awarded a construction permit, rather than a “license.” Winning bidders will then be required, within a specified time period, to construct their facilities and file an application for a “license to cover construction permit” to obtain a license for the constructed facilities (see 47 C.F.R. § 73.3598). Licenses will be issued for an eight-year term.

New Entrant Bidding Credit

A New Entrant Bidding Credit will be available for this auction. Eligibility and application requirements for the New Entrant Bidding Credit are specified in Public Notice DA 15-452 . Applicants that qualify for the New Entrant Bidding Credit are eligible for a bidding credit that represents the amount by which a bidder’s winning bid is discounted. The size of a New Entrant Bidding Credit depends on the number of ownership interests in other media of mass communications that are attributable to the applicant and its attributable interest holders:

A 35 percent bidding credit will be given to a winning bidder if it, and/or any individual or entity with an attributable interest in the winning bidder, has no attributable interest in any other media of mass communications, as defined in 47 C.F.R. § 73.5008;
A 25 percent bidding credit will be given to a winning bidder if it, and/or any individual or entity with an attributable interest in the winning bidder, has an attributable interest in no more than three mass media facilities, as defined in 47 C.F.R. § 73.5008;
No bidding credit will be given if any of the commonly owned mass media facilities serve the same area as the broadcast station proposed in the auction, as defined in 47 C.F.R. § 73.5007(b), or if the winning bidder, and/or any individual or entity with an attributable interest in the winning bidder, has attributable interests in more than three mass media facilities.

Bidders intending to divest a media interest or make any other ownership changes, such as resignation of positional interests, in order to avoid attribution for purposes of qualifying for the New Entrant Bidding Credit must have consummated such divestment transactions or have completed such ownership changes by no later than the short-form application filing deadline (see “Key Dates”). Events occurring after the short-form application filing deadline, such as the acquisition of attributable interests in media of mass communications, may cause diminishment or loss of the bidding credit.

Licensing Rules

47 C.F.R. Part 73