More than 20 companies may be eligible to bid for many Upper Midwest FM allotments in an FCC auction this summer that could potentially pit regional broadcasters against national bidders.
Two future FM stations in Iowa, two in Wisconsin, two in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and one each in Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota are among 139 allotments nationwide that will be included in Auction 109, which is scheduled to begin July 27.
The FCC said in a July 1 public notice that 114 bidders are qualified to participate in the auction nationally.
Existing regional broadcasters including VCY America, the Salvation Poem Foundation, Houghton Broadcasting, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Flood Communications, Heartland Communications, Results Broadcasting of Rhinelander, and Sunrise Broadcasting are among those deemed qualified to bid for some of the allotments.
The number of potential bidders for Upper Midwest allotments ballooned since a previous FCC public notice one month ago, since 18 applicants updated their paperwork to select all 139 allotments nationally for potential bidding.
They are American Broadcasting of Texas, Aurora Media LLC, Bold Gold Media Group L.P., Educational Media Foundation, Estrella Broadcasting LLC, Brian Henry, Max Frequency LLC, Point Eleven LLC, Brian Rickman, Rubin Broadcasting, RxDIO.com LLC, Smile FM, SSR Communications, Sunriver Broadcasting, Thumb Broadcasting, Upbeat Frequency LLC, Xana HD Solutions LLC, and Jordan Zeller. Additionally, QXZ Media Works LLC selected all 135 FM allotments for bidding but didn’t express interest in four AM allotments.
Despite selecting so many allotments for potential bidding, many of the prospective bidders provided upfront payments that are only enough to cover bidding on a few of the allotments. The Educational Media Foundation made the highest upfront payment of $210,000, followed by VCY America at $185,000.
Two allotments in northern Wisconsin generated the most interest regionally, with 24 qualified bidders for 103.1 Crandon and 27 for 100.9 Tomahawk.
Meanwhile, the FCC found that a few other potential bidders were not qualified to bid.
In addition to the 19 national bidders listed above, these potential bidders have also selected specific regional allotments:
Dunkerton, IA (Waterloo market): 103.9 class A (6kW/100m)
Trinity Communications, Inc.
VCY America, Inc.
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
Rockford, IA (Mason City market): 92.9 class A (6kW/100m)
Trinity Communications, Inc.
VCY America, Inc.
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
Carney, MI (Escanaba market): 99.9 class A (6kW/100m)
Adam Bernier
Suzanne D. Henderson
Michael Radio Company, LLC
Venite Adoremus, Inc.
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
Houghton, MI: 96.3 class C1 (100kW/299m)
Houghton Broadcasting
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Trinity Communications, Inc.
VCY America, Inc.
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
Grand Marais, MN: 96.9 class C3 (25kW/100m)
Paul E Cannon Sr.
Michael Radio Company, LLC
Wireless LLC (added since June public notice)
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
Gackle, ND (Jamestown market): 99.1 class C1 (100kW/299m)
The 19 national bidders listed above
Bayard, NE: 98.1 class A (6kW/100m)
Flood Communications West, LLC
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
Crandon, WI: 103.1 class A (6kW/100m)
Heartland Communications (added since June public notice)
Michael Radio Company, LLC
Results Broadcasting of Rhinelander, Inc.
The Salvation Poem Foundation, Inc.
Venite Adoremus, Inc.
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
Tomahawk, WI: 100.9 class C3 (25kW/100m)
Albert Broadcasting (added since June public notice)
Heartland Communications (added since June public notice)
Michael Radio Company, LLC
Sunrise Broadcasting, LLC
The Salvation Poem Foundation, Inc.
VCY America, Inc.
Venite Adoremus, Inc.
Wireless LLC (added since June public notice)
+ the 19 national bidders listed above
This article was originally posted on June 3 and was updated July 2.