FCC Should Lower Reverse Auction Decrement, EOBC Says

The FCC should lower the amount by which prices in the reverse auction decline between rounds, the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition said in an informal comment filed in docket 12-268 Monday. The FCC proposed dropping the prices for broadcasters as much as 5 percent in each subsequent round, and making that “decrement” subject to change based on bidding activity. Instead, the FCC should fix the reverse auction bidding decrement at 1 percent of a station’s opening price, in each round of the reverse auction, EOBC said. “A 5 percent reduction in the initial rounds of the auction is far too large,” EOBC said. “Changing the decrements during the auction adds an unnecessary level of complexity.” At that rate, stations could see price drops of close to $45 million in a single round, and all prices “will fall by more than 30 percent in just the first eight rounds of bidding,” EOBC said. “This rapid decline will not provide any opportunity for broadcasters to make critical decisions about how to participate in the auction.” A fixed decrement would allow broadcasters to “easily determine the exact dollar amount by which their bids will fall each round,” coalition Executive Director Preston Padden said.