FCC: Auction Opening Broadcaster Bids Released

[mvcg66b3r]

Broadcasters’ opening bid prices are out. The Federal Communications Commission today released the opening bid price that it will offer each broadcaster in the 2016 TV spectrum incentive auction. It provides the opening bids for the three participation options: relinquishment (including channel-sharing), moving from a UHF to a VHF, or a high VHF to a low VHF.

A full-power or Class A will have to file during the filing window, set for noon, Dec. 1 through 6 p.m., Dec. 18. These applications are not binding until March 29, 2016, the day the reverse auction begins. Applications will not constitute a binding commitment, but after Dec. 18, no other station will be able to apply to participate in the auction.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0002/fcc-auction-opening-broadcaster-bids-released/277179

http://www.tvtechnology.com/portals/0/Reverse Auction Opening Prices 101615 Attachment.pdf

 

[vchimpanzee]

Why would anyone want to move to low VHF?

I hope no one does in my area.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

From Northpine.com:

There's no way around the fact that the spectrum auction will lead to reduced broadcast TV service in several ways:
-Fewer news voices if TV stations with news departments shut down.
-The loss of programming when stations go off the air completely or have to drop multicast channels as part of a channel-sharing arrangement.
-Reduced picture quality for some networks because of channel-sharing arrangements.
-Signals that are more difficult to receive because VHF channels, especially VHF Low, are difficult to receive with indoor antennas and more suspectible to interference.

The auction will, of course, also mean job losses at stations that shut down completely.

 

[joebtsflk1]

Three and four local newscasts per market may be unsustainable, I fear. The erosion of broadcast TV usage, particularly among younger generations, doesn't bode well. Mercenary owners may choose to go VHF Low if cable and satellite penetration in their markets is high. Small markets adjacent to each other could merge entirely.

Really, is there anything so compelling on most CW affiliates that warrants their survival, and for that matter, much of the daytime schedule on Fox affiliates? (Same could be said for almost ALL of daytime..)

 

[vchimpanzee]

One detail that they forgot when saying how bad VHF is: you also have to have the right antenna. If you don't have one of the old antennas designed for VHF because the so-called digital or HD antennas do a better job with UHF, which most digital stations are, you're out of luck if you're too far away.

One of my digital antennas came with rabbit ears but they didn't work. I was just too far away, Fortunately, the station got so many complaints, and they were able to do this, that they went back to UHF.

 

[Pat3]

if people would stop using those cheap "digital" indoor antennas and get a real antenna on the roof that picks up all UHF and VHF channels you'd be surprised what you can pick up. Unless you live on top of a mountain, most rabbit ears I've seen only have decent reception for 25 miles or less.

 

[Ccook55]

Aren't digital channels 2 through 6 (low VHF) supposed to be eliminated somewhere down the line? If so, moving there certainly wouldn't be an option.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Aren't digital channels 2 through 6 (low VHF) supposed to be eliminated somewhere down the line? If so, moving there certainly wouldn't be an option.

I think that was just a fantasy of people like us.

We were hoping for an expanded FM band. An obvious problem with that is that no one would want to move there and have all their listeners have to spend the money on a new receiver.

 

[umfan]

I presume if no one is willing to bid the opening price that the auction for those stations simply doesn't happen. I think there could prove to be far less interest in the purchase of this spectrum than thought at these prices.

 

[Morgan Wick]

if people would stop using those cheap "digital" indoor antennas and get a real antenna on the roof that picks up all UHF and VHF channels you'd be surprised what you can pick up. Unless you live on top of a mountain, most rabbit ears I've seen only have decent reception for 25 miles or less.

Which is the problem. So long as most people have to go to that kind of effort, broadcast TV really isn't a very viable option for most cord-cutters, and that's a big reason why cord-cutting hasn't been the boon to broadcast most people thought.

A next-generation broadcasting standard should be designed to maximize reception on mobile devices to at least 90% of a given market. Mobile is what will keep broadcasting alive and give it a leg up on cable once again as the linear television market contracts.