More LPTV Broadcasters Request DC Circuit Stay of Incentive Auction
Three low-power TV broadcasters asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for an emergency stay of the incentive auction, joining two similar requests from several Class A broadcasters, according to court filings. Free Access & Broadcast Telemedia,…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Word of God Fellowship and Mako Communications petitioned the FCC for such a stay but were rejected by the Media Bureau Thursday, shortly before the motion was filed with the D.C. Circuit. The LPTV broadcasters have ongoing cases in the D.C. Circuit with oral argument scheduled for May 5 (see 1603090078), and want the court to halt the auction until those cases are decided. “A brief postponement to consider challenges to the Commission’s mistreatment of LPTV will not prevent timely completion of the auction. The public interest thus strongly favors a stay,” the motion said. The incentive auction is to begin March 29. “A delay would disserve consumers as well as eligible entities who have made extensive preparations for the auction based on the current schedule, including securing financing and deferring other business plans,” the Media Bureau said in its rejection of the earlier petition for a stay