Tribune Media Company announced Wednesday afternoon that it expects to receive approximately $190 million resulting from the FCC’s recently completed reverse auction for broadcast spectrum. (TVSpy)
The amount reflects the FCC’s acceptance “of one or more bids placed by Tribune Media or channel share partners of television stations owned or operated by Tribune Media,” it says. It adds, though, that the additional revenue won’t “produce any material change in operations or results for the Company.” (Deadline)
Meanwhile, the Fox TV stations group is set to receive approximately $350 million from the auction. Fox says it will “relinquish spectrum used by certain of its television stations,” though it wouldn’t say which. Fox owns 28 stations in 18 markets—including nine in the top 10 markets—covering nearly 38 percent of TV homes. (TVSpy)
The FCC had hoped to raise as much as $80 billion through the auction process on the assumption wireless providers and other digital and telco firms would jump at the chance to buy more capacity. By many accounts, the proceeds will come in under $20 billion. Fox’s announcement means it has been informed by the FCC there are buyers for one or more of the spectrum allocations the station group offered up for sale. (Variety)