FCC Issues Payment Guidelines for Incentive Auction, Repack

Broadcasters and cable operators who want to get compensated for post-incentive auction repack expenses, and broadcasters who want to get their incentive auction winning bid payments, need to read the latest Federal Communications Commission public notice. That notice, released on the eve of the March 30 close of the incentive auction, says it contains "essential steps that Payment Applicants must take before receiving incentive payments based on winning reverse auction bids or payments from the Television Broadcaster Relocation Fund (the Fund) for expenses eligible for reimbursement." That includes how to enter and update bank account information, tracking those payments, and the impact of ownership changes.

The notice reads, "Before the Commission can direct disbursement of incentive payments, a winning bidder must certify its agreement with and acknowledgement of specified payment terms and provide necessary information regarding the account to which the incentive payment should be made." The FCC can't yet say when broadcasters will be getting their money, since it depends on when the forward auction bidders pony up the cash for their spectrum. Broadcasters will get their winnings in a lump sum, with stations in the first phases of the repack getting the money first if the FCC is not able to hand it all out at once. The FCC will release a "Ready to Pay" public notice when it is ready to pay broadcasters, or multiple notices if it has to pay the first-phase stations first. That will depend on how much and when they collect from forward auction bidders.