FCC Sets New Jersey and Delaware VHF CP Auction

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The FCC has asked for comments on competitive bidding procedures for Auction 90. The auction is for two VHF commercial television station construction permits, one on Channel 4 in Atlantic City, N.J. and the other on Channel 5 in Seaford, Del.

The minimum opening bid and up-front payment has been set at $200,000 for each CP.

The auction is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2011. Comments on bidding procedures are due Sept. 30, 2010 and the deadline for reply comments is Oct. 15, 2010.

By auctioning these channels, the FCC satisfies a 1982 amendment to Section 331(a) of the Communications Act of 1934.

The amendment requires the Commission allocate commercial VHF channels so that "no less than one such channel shall be allocated to each state, if technically feasible."

CommLawBlog.com has more information on this amendment, as well as the attempt by Nevada and Wyoming TV stations to use it to move into the New York and Philadelphia markets. The article is available at Movin' On Up To The East Side.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung
Contributor

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.