There's Gold In Them Thar TV Channels, But...

[Commentary] To further entice broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission released the "final" opening bids it will make for TV stations' spectrum in a reverse auction in spring 2016. The numbers are enticing -- the opening bids add up to $341.7 billion. They range from $900 million for WCBS New York to $1.2 million for KXGN in tiny Glendive (MT), with an average of $155 million and a median of $125 million. The numbers are in line with the estimated opening bids the FCC released last February on a market-by-market basis. But these latest seem more real because they are on a station-by-station basis.

At the most, apparently, the FCC needs only 400 or 500 stations, not 2,198. And the reverse auction with its "descending clock format" is designed to uncover which broadcasters in each market will accept the least amount to sell and vacate their UHF channels. When all is said and done, the FCC will spend only a fraction of the opening bid total (again $341.7 billion) to acquire the necessary spectrum. How big a fraction? The FCC's so-called Greenhill report last October estimated it would be $45 billion. And that's on the high side of what some who have taken a hard look at the auction mechanics say.