Auction Application Windows Moved Back

open at noon EST Dec. 8, and close at 6 p.m. EST Jan. 12. The window for Form 175, the forward auction application, is from noon EST Jan. 26 to 6 p.m. EST Feb. 9. The reason for the extension is the release of revised opening bid numbers, the PN said. Though the FCC released opening bids for all broadcasters a few weeks ago (see 1510160065), those numbers have had to be recalculated, the PN said. Since the auction order requires broadcasters to have 60 days notice of their opening bids before the deadline for participating, the window had to be moved when those prices changed, the PN said. The revised price numbers “correct a handful of files” for accuracy, the PN said. “For 99 percent of stations, the change to the opening bid prices using the corrected data is minimal -- less than one percent.” One station, WNJU Linden, New Jersey, had its information changed because it changed locations to One World Trade Center in New York, making it the highest-priced station in the auction, displacing WCBS in that role. WCBS' opening price in the auction dropped from $900,000,000 to $888,687,000 as a result of the change, according to the PN. The changed application date won't cause other delays in the auction, an FCC official told us. The changed window doesn't affect other auction processes, and the original auction schedule was created with enough cushion to allow for such adjustments, an FCC official told us.