Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition is Not a Group for Spectrum Speculators, Padden Says
Members of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition shouldn’t be mischaracterized as spectrum “speculators” and the group hasn't highlighted speculator issues in its advocacy on the TV incentive auction, Executive Director Preston Padden said Monday in a blog post. The…
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group doesn't disclose its member roster. Padden said he has had many discussions in which the other party suggests the issues that group raises are “not issues for real broadcasters,” he said. “It is unfair and inaccurate to describe our members as ‘speculators’ simply because they have expressed an interest in participating in the auction under the appropriate terms.” Coalition members include owners of big-four network-affiliated stations, affiliates of smaller networks and independent stations, he said. “Every Station in our Coalition has viable business options other than participating in the auction,” he wrote. “But these broadcasters recognize that, in many instances, the market value of their spectrum as repurposed for wireless use may be greater than the amount they would be willing to accept to relinquish that spectrum. If this makes them ‘speculators,’ then I guess so too are Lin, Meredith, Tribune, CBS and Fox -- all of which publicly have indicated that they are evaluating the potential benefits of auction participation.” The issues the coalition raises, including the importance of a fair and transparent process as well as that of pricing that will get many broadcasters to take part, aren't speculator issues, Padden said. They're “issues that should be important to any broadcaster interested in the auction, and, as a result, to anyone interested in the success of the auction.”