NAB on Incentive Auctions: No 'Win' for Broadcasters Who Remain

Rick Kaplan, executive VP of strategic planning for the National Association of Broadcasters, plans to tell Congress that there are three things that will determine whether the incentive auctions succeed: 1) maximizing revenue; 2) preserving a healthy broadcast business; and 3) "avoiding harmful interference among services." But even if it does all those things, NAB does not see the auctions as a win for broadcasters.

That is according to Kaplan's testimony for a July 23 spectrum policy oversight hearing on the incentive auctions in the House Communications Subcommittee. Kaplan said that maximizing revenue in order to "pay for [the auction] itself, provide compensation for the volunteering broadcasters, pay to relocate the non-volunteer broadcasters and invest in a nationwide interoperable public safety network" means pairing spectrum nationwide, not adopting a variable band plan that could have it "gobbling up" more spectrum in some markets "simply because it can." NAB also said it means a "measured repacking" of stations that minimized the impact on translators and low-powers. "Every megahertz reclaimed through repacking, especially in the West, threatens to eliminate television service to thousands of viewers who rely exclusively on translators [and low powers] for news, weather and emergency information." He said that is particularly true in tribal areas.