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The FCC expects to include protections for stations that take part in the auction, Genachowski said. “The plan could allow broadcasters to set a reserve auction price below which their licenses wouldn’t transfer,” he said. Or it could guarantee a floor payment for broadcasters’ spectrum “while allowing for participation in the upside above that level,” he said. Genachowski said he’s confident enough stations will participate in the auction to meet the commission’s spectrum goals. “Some people have asked what happens if the incentive auction doesn’t work,” he said. “I don’t believe it will come to that, or that our country can afford for it to come to that."It won’t take many stations to reach the goal, Genachowski said. “If a relatively small number of broadcasters in a relatively small number of markets share spectrum, our staff believes we can free up a very significant amount of bandwidth,” he said. He asked broadcasters to work with the FCC on the proposal, “fleshing it out, improving it where appropriate and finding a real win for the country and all stakeholders."Broadcasters want to see more details, said Michael Fiorile, CEO of the Dispatch Broadcast Group and chair of the NBC Affiliate Board. Protections for auction participants don’t interest Fiorile because Dispatch won’t be selling spectrum, he said. Fiorile said he’s more concerned about what happens if stations on the same channels as his in nearby markets decide to participate. To Genachowski’s “credit, he’s said he’s going to put together a technology group,” Fiorile said: “We'll be anxious to see what comes out” of the effort.Genachowski’s appeal to broadcasters’ patriotism resonates with NAB members, but his information about how the U.S. stacks up in wireless against other countries is misleading, said Robert Hubbard, Hubbard Broadcasting CEO and MSTV chairman. “You're comparing us against countries that don’t have a wired telephone system or a built out media system,” he said. And the FCC should be more forthcoming about the details of what channels in the TV band it’s seeking to repurpose, Hubbard said. “They spent $20 million and they won’t tell us what they'll need to accomplish this in terms of the number of channels and where they are,” he said. “Without that it’s just back to being rhetoric.”