Auction introduction

Overview of the project

How we work with stations

List of frequencies

Legal memo on procedures

Contract for SRG services

About SRG

 CPB will cover half the fees charged to licensees that contract with SRG and PRC for direct assistance with the auction process.
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FCC AUCTION OF FM FREQUENCIES
A "Discount" for Public Radio Stations

Bidding Credit
The bidding credit rule (Section 73.5007) says that a 35% bidding credit will be awarded if neither the winning bidder nor any individual having an attributable interest in the winning bidder has an attributable interest in "any other media of mass communications." Communications attorney John Crigler has surfaced new information that indicates the entire 35% bidding credit will be made available to licensees operating only noncommercial broadcast services (including licensees with noncommercial services located on the commercial band).

Eligibility for bidding credits is established at the time the short form application is filed. A bidder will not lose its eligibility if it subsequently acquires one or more stations in the auction or converts a noncommercial station to a commercial station after filing the application.


To: Station Resource Group

Fr: John Crigler

Re: ATTRIBUTION RULES

Dt: December 14, 2000

This memo addresses the question of whether noncommercial educational stations are "attributable" for purposes of determining qualifications for "new entrant" bidding credits awarded in the upcoming auctions for non-reserved FM frequencies.

Section 73.5007 of the Commission's Rules awards a 35% bidding credit to a winning bidder if the winning bidder, "and/or any individual or entity with an attributable interest in the winning bidder, have no attributable interest in any other media of mass communications." A 25% bidding credit is awarded if the winning bidder, and any individual or entity with an attributable interest in it, have an attributable interest in no more than three "mass media facilities."

The question is whether NCE stations are considered to be "mass media" or "mass media facilities". The answer is contained in an unpublished opinion, Minnesota Christian Broadcasters, Inc., Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, 1800B3-TSN (Mass Media Bureau, 2000), which held that NCE stations were not attributable. In the Pequot Lakes ruling, FCC staff found that a noncommercial entity which was the licensee of four NCE-FM stations, one in the same market as the frequency on which it was bidding, was nonetheless entitled to a full 35% new entrant bidding credit. The ruling specifically holds that "NCE-FM stations will not be counted for purposes of applying the new entrant credit." This decision was reached even though the frequencies on which the bidder's existing NCE-FM stations operated were non-reserved frequencies. The staff rejected the argument that these stations should be attributable because they could be converted to commercial use after the auction. The staff ruled that "in attributing media interests for purposes of determining eligibility for the new entrant credit, we stated that we would determine those interests as of the deadline for filing short-form applications."

The staff ruling establishing that noncommercial stations are not attributable for purposes of the new entrant bidding credit has been appealed to the full Commission and could be modified or reversed. For now, however, it is the law. While the decision gives noncommercial entities a potential advantage over commercial entities who have other broadcast interests, it will confer that advantage on secular and religious noncommercial entities alike. In fact, it is worth noting that the entity that obtained the bidding credit was a religious organization.