In this RBR+TVBR INFOCUS from Stephan Sloan, of Media Services Group‘s Providence office, this question is answered in depth. While nearly $442 million sounds like a lot of money to some, Sloan believes that’s an amount that can get the incentive auction done and over with.
Sick Sigma?
For the Reverse Auction portion of Stage 4, there has been a reassuringly green box and check mark around the First Component of the Final Stage Rule graphic on the Incentive Auction Dashboard
However, we can learn that the First Component is in fact not met — as noted in paragraph 22 of a document released on Dec. 9. The requirement of the First Condition of the Final Stage Rule is now that there be “market pricing,” defined by the FCC as greater than $1.25/MHz/Pop for the Top 40 PEAs.
If I add up all the bid prices, divide by 10 (MHz), and divide by pops bid for the Top 40 markets at the open of Stage 4, I find an average of $1.29.
However, that’s not the way it’s done.
