Padden Wants Quiet Period to End
The FCC should “immediately” end the incentive auction quiet period for broadcasters and take other steps to expedite the repacking, said Preston Padden, a consultant to station owners on the auction, in “informal comments” filed in docket 12-268 Monday. The…
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FCC should end the quiet period because broadcasters are no longer bidding in the incentive auction, and it would “harm no party” for the commission to permit “100 percent voluntary temporary channel sharing,” Padden said. Such sharing would also “expedite the post-auction transition and could give broadcasters more time to construct their new facilities,” he said. The FCC should make data available that could help identify stations that are a “bottleneck” to the repacking, Padden said. Agency and industry officials said the commission could end the quiet period early (see 1701190041).