REVERSE AUCTION FINISHED
 

The FCC’s reverse auction has just concluded, with the FCC promising to pay broadcasters $86,422,558,704 to either go off the air (or channel share); move from a UHF to a high VHF or low VHF channel; or move from a high VHF channel to a low VHF channel. The FCC won’t know if it will be able to pay broadcasters the $86-plus billion until it completes the forward auction of the promised spectrum to wireless bidders. If it falls short, the commission will have to redo the reverse auction in a second stage until the numbers line up.