Summary

July 27, 2021 - August 5, 2021
Rounds:
36
Bidding Days:
8
Qualified Bidders:
114
Winning Bidders:
67
Licenses Held by FCC:
42
Gross Bids:
$13,770,950
Net Bids:
$12,344,110

Fact Sheet

Winning Bidders:
67
Rounds:
36
Qualified Bidders:
114
Licenses Won:
97
Licenses Held by FCC:
42
Total Licenses:
139
Net Bids:
$12,344,110
Gross Bids:
$13,770,950
DateAuction 109 bidding began on 7/27/2021 and concluded on 8/5/2021
Construction Permits

4 construction permits for AM broadcast stations

135 construction permits for FM broadcast stations

Spectrum

Various vacant AM permits (540 kHz to 1600 kHz)

and FM allotments (88 MHz to 108 MHz)

See Public Notice DA 21-361 and 47 CFR 73.201-202

Bandwidth

AM: 10 kHz per construction permit

FM:  200 kHz per construction permit

 

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

Key Dates

 EventDate
 Auction Tutorial available no later than4/14/2021
 Short-Form (FCC Form 175) Application Filing Window  opens4/28/2021; 12:00 noon Eastern Time (ET)
 Short-Form (FCC Form 175) Application Filing Deadline5/11/2021; 6:00 pm ET
 Upfront Payment Deadline6/16/2021; 6:00 pm ET
 Mock Auction7/23/2021
 Auction Start7/27/2021

Construction Permits Offered

Auction 109 will offer four construction permits in the AM Broadcast service for stations in the St. Louis radio market and 135 construction permits in the FM Broadcast service for stations in various locations throughout the United States. 

AM Construction Permits.  Auction 109 will offer four construction permits in the AM broadcast service for four previously licensed AM stations in the St. Louis radio market, the license renewals of which were dismissed with prejudice in a hearing before the Commission’s Administrative Law Judge and the call signs deleted.

FM Construction Permits.  Auction 109 will also offer 135 construction permits in the FM broadcast service.  The construction permits to be auctioned include 129 FM permits that had previously been listed in the inventory for Auction 106, as well as six additional permits. 

Permissible Operations

AM Broadcast – A station licensed for the dissemination of radio communications intended to be received by the public and operated in the AM broadcast band.

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 and Construction Requirements

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 CFR § 73.3598).  Licenses will be issued for an eight-year term.

New Entrant Bidding Credits

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 21-361.  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 interests in other media of mass communications that are attributable to the applicant and its attributable interest holders:  

  • A 35% 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 CFR § 73.5008;
  • A 25% 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 CFR § 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 CFR § 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 an attributable interest in a medium of mass communications, may cause diminishment or loss of the bidding credit.

Licensing Rules

47 CFR Part 73


 

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