Padden: Auction Rules Could limit Payout

Preston Padden, head of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, says new regulations expected to be proposed by the Federal Communications Commission on Dec 11 could put a damper on the payouts to broadcasters during the agency’s incentive auction, discouraging their participation.

“Instead of trying to limit the prices paid to broadcasters, they [the FCC] ought to be encouraging broadcaster participation,” he said. Under one of the proposals of concern to the coalition, the agency would essentially limit the price that broadcasters could get for their channels during the auction by setting individual price caps for stations based largely on the populations the stations serve, Padden said. The proposal would give bigger stations more financial reward for participating in the auction than the smaller stations in the same market or adjacent markets, he added. new