The Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition “seems to stand...

The Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition “seems to stand in stark contrast to what is in the best interests of broadcasters and broadcasting,” said NAB auction pointman Rick Kaplan in blog post on the NAB website Monday (http://bit.ly/1k9wsKg). NAB’s executive vice president was responding to testimony from EOBC Executive Director Preston Padden at a Senate hearing last week. Padden’s complaints that the incentive auction isn’t moving fast enough and could fail don’t represent the concerns of broadcasters that want to keep broadcasting, Kaplan said. The EOBC’s mission is “to make sure that its members are paid as much money as possible and paid as quickly as possible for their spectrum licenses,” said Kaplan. “The day their checks are cashed, their engagement in this auction ends; the EOBC has no interest in the subsequent repacking or consumer welfare.” NAB and the Association of Public Television Stations recognize the auction is complex, and their members don’t share Padden’s urgency, Kaplan said. Broadcasters “want to weigh the potential benefits of participation” and aren’t “quick-hit investors looking to turn a quick profit because of the government’s unique offer to buy back licenses,” said Kaplan. Congress, the FCC and the public should treat NAB and APTS rather than EOBC as representative of broadcasters, Kaplan said. EOBC’s membership is a “closely guarded secret,” Kaplan said. “I love the NAB and have the greatest respect for its leadership,” responded Padden in an email. “Auction based payments to broadcasters, based on wireless spectrum values, are the ‘incentive’ that will drive the success of the Incentive Auction and our Coalition genuinely is committed to that success."