Not much has changed for Toledo’s television stations after the end of an incentive auction by the Federal Communications Commission on April 13.
More than 15 years in the planning and execution, the auction was intended to free up television frequencies or spectrums the FCC could then resell to the burgeoning wireless communications sector.
The Spectrum Act of 2012 authorized the FCC to buy over-the-air broadcast spectrums from public and commercial TV stations for resale to wireless companies.
Reverse-auction bidding — where the government announces how much it might pay for each spectrum — began in May, 2016, and ended in January. That was followed by forward-auction bidding on March 30, where wireless carriers bid on spectrums made available by the stations.
Marlon Kiser, president and CEO of Toledo’s WGTE Public Media, said viewers with cable or satellite service won’t notice a difference in channel locations. Those with an over-the-air antenna might have to rescan their TV tuner to pick up a channel that has relocated to another part of the dial.
“Channel 30 participated [in the auction], but we withdrew when the prices fell through,” said Mr. Kiser. “WGTE is not being repacked elsewhere in the Ultra High Frequency spectrum. We will continue to broadcast as we always have.”
If a TV station were to be repacked — or relocating its frequency to a new channel — the FCC would pay 90 percent of the infrastructure cost. The station woud pay 10 percent.
Toledo-based Block Communications Inc., which owns TV stations in Ohio, Indiana, Idaho, and Kentucky, did not sell any frequencies. Its only Ohio property being repacked is WOHL in Lima, which will move from channel 15 to 35.
“For Block [Communications Inc., which also owns The Blade] and everyone else, [the situation is] fluid,” said Don Everist, president of Washington consulting firm Cohen, Dippell and Everist P.C. “There are rules the commission has outlined which are going to take a while for everyone to digest.”
“It’s been less than a week, and we’re in the process of finding out the status of each of these stations and what steps they may be taking,” Mr. Everist said, adding the FCC will allow a transition period up to 39 months.
It was reported in February that Bowling Green State University’s television station, WBGU-TV, will move from channel 27 to 22 after it left the auction in January.
Last week, the FCC reported that wireless bidders spent $19.8 billion to acquire new frequencies, with T-Mobile spending $8 billion, Dish TV at $6.2 billion, and Comcast at $1.7 billion. More than $7 billion was returned to the U.S. Treasury.
Contact Geoff Burns at: gburns@theblade.com or 419-724-6110.
First Published April 20, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
