Fact Sheet

Date:

Auction 68 began on 1/10/2007 and closed on 1/17/2007.

 
Licenses:

9 construction permits for FM broadcast stations

Spectrum
Various vacant allotments (88 MHz to 108 MHz) See Public Notice DA 06-1949 and 47 CFR 73.202.
Bandwidth:

200 kHz per construction permit

Winning Bidders:
9 Bidders won 9 Permits
Rounds:
23
Qualified Bidders
32
Licenses Won:
9
Total Licenses:
9
Net Bids
$3,264,250
Gross Bids:
$3,663,000

 
 
 

Key Dates

 

Event Date
Form 175 (Short Form) Application Filing Window Opens
11/6/2006; 12:00 noon ET
Form 175 (Short Form) Application Filing Deadline
11/13/2006; 6:00 pm ET
Upfront Payments Deadline
12/11/2006; 6:00 pm ET
Mock Auction
1/8/2007
Auction Start
1/10/2007
Auction Closed
1/17/2007
 

Construction Permits Offered

Auction No. 68 disposed of 9 construction permits in the FM Broadcast service for stations throughout the United States. The list of construction permits included 9 unsold FM construction permits from Auctions Nos. 37 and 62, which closed on November 23, 2004, and January 31, 2006 respectively. These construction permits were for vacant FM allotments, reflecting FM channels assigned in 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 applied for any vacant FM allotment as specified in Public Notice DA 06-1949, Attachment A; applications specifying the same FM allotment are considered mutually exclusive and, thus, the construction permit for that FM allotment is awarded by competitive bidding procedures. The Commission used an electronic simultaneous multiple round format for this auction.

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 is awarded a construction permit, rather than a “license.” Winning bidders are 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 are issued for an eight-year term.

New Entrant Bidding Credit

A New Entrant Bidding Credit was available for this auction. Eligibility and application requirements for the New Entrant Bidding Credit are specified in Public Notice DA 06-1949. 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:
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 filing deadline (see “Key Dates”).

Licensing Rules

47 C.F.R. Part 73.