FCC Launches Incentive Auction Help Site

With only days until TV stations have to decide whether to participate in the FCC's broadcast incentive auction, the commission has launched an auction sub-site to give broadcasters, forward auction bidders, and consumers a one-stop destination for "all relevant information about the auction."

According to Charlie Meisch, senior advisor for communications and public affairs, for the Incentive Auction Task Force, the site will be updated throughout the auction process, expected to take several months, as well as during the post-auction transition period, which will take several years.

Related: TV Stations Eye Selling Spectrum Twice

The site includes a primer for broadcasters and wireless bidders as well as a calendar, a Q&A section for TV viewers wanting to learn about the impact of the auction on them, and an explanation of how the auction works.

The incentive auction begins March 29, but when it ends will depend on various factors, including whether the FCC clears its initial spectrum target or has to adjust the target and start again. That, in turn, will depend on how many broadcasters participate.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.