Telemundo was the biggest winner in the FCC auction, with a $481 million price tag, followed by... [+]
Out of a total of 175 television stations that participated in the FCC reverse incentive auction, Telemundo's sister station WNBC in New York was one of the biggest winners, scoring a $214 million payout for its spectrum.
Among the Spanish-language TV media companies, Telemundo and its parent company NBC received a total of $481.6 million for its New York, Chicago and Philadelphia stations.
Rival Univision came in at $411.2 million - a slightly higher number than what CEO Randy Falco announced in the company’s earning call in February. Univision stations that gave up its spectrum were WXTX 41 in New York, WUVP 65 in Philadelphia and WXFT Unimás in Chicago.
Entravision, owner of Univision affiliates across the country, scored $263.6 million for giving up spectrum in Hartford, Monterey/Salinas and Washington, D.C., while Telemundo affiliate-owner ZGS will be compensated over $140 million for the spectrum from its stations in Washington, D.C., Hartford, Providence and Raleigh.
Five Spanish-language stations in Los Angeles will also get big payouts: KBEH-63, owned by Bob Behar's Hero Broadcasting, will receive $146.6 million; KRCA 62 (Estrella TV), owned by LBI Media will pick up $142.3 million; KJLA (LATV) will earn $135.5 million; KWHY-22, formerly owned by Telemundo/NBC and currently owned by Meruelo Media Broadcasting, will get $123.5 million; and Azteca América's KAZA-TV will collect slightly more than $91.1 million.
Comcast, which owns Telemundo, said in a statement that in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, it “retained the channel with the superior coverage and sold the second station in order to channel share as provided in the FCC’s rules. Once the three relinquishing stations vacate their spectrum, WNBC will channel share with WNJU, WWSI will channel share with WCAU, and WSNS will channel share with WMAQ.”
Univision would not yet divulge with whom it has or will strike channel sharing agreements in the markets where it gave up its spectrum.
Although most stations that participated in the auction have indicated they will seek channel sharing agreements, allowing them to continue transmitting their signal, an industry insider says it is highly likely that some stations will go off the air after they vacate their spectrum.
The FCC revealed the TV station winners today, but will not make the losers public for a couple of years. The agency didn’t disclose how many stations participated in the auction.
It was widely speculated that in Miami, Omar Romay’s América CV, embroiled in a legal dispute with Caribevisión Holdings, would participate in the auction. The company's Miami station, WJAN channel 41, was not in the winner’s list released by the FCC. However, two of its Puerto Rico stations won bids and will be picking up $13.6 million - way below the estimated $130 million price tag circulated in 2015.
Here is the list of the winning stations and final compensation:
WSNS-TV Telemundo Chicago - $141,658,837
WXFT-DT Chicago UniMás - $126,107,725
WRDM-CD Hartford ZGS - $10,574,516
WUVN Hartford Entravision Holdings - $125,568,545
KBEH-63 Los Angeles Hero License co LLC - $ 146,627,980
KJLA Los Angeles(LATV) KJLA, LLC - $ 135,542,845
KRCA Los Angeles LBI Media - $ 142,337,137
KWHY-TV Los Angeles Meruelo Media - $123,474,177
KAZA-TV Los Angeles, CA Southern California License, LLC $91,116,442
WDLP-CD Miami (WGEN-TV repeater station) Mapale LLC - $3,673,224
WIMP-CD Miami Sunshine Broadcasting Company, Inc - $3,138,184
KSMS-TV Monterey-Salinas, CA Entravision Holdings - $54,300,688
WNBC New York NBC Telemundo License LLC - $ 214,023,017
WXTV-DT New York Univision - $198,965,211
WUVP-DT Philadelphia Univision - $86,150,925
WWSI Philadelphia Telemundo - $125,903,049
WRIW-CD Providence ZGS - $33,807,537
WZGS-CD Raleigh-Durham ZGS Raleigh, Inc. - $30,120,779
KMMA-CD Santa Barbara-Santa Maria Caballero Acquisition, LLC - $173,076
WJAL Washington, DC Entravision Holdings, LLC - $25,492,333
WMDO-CD Washington, DC Entravision Holdings, LLC - $58,231,415
WZDC-CD Washington, DC ZGS - $66,182,037
Stations in Puerto Rico
WDWL Teleadoración Christian Network, Inc. - $7,780,506
WELU Senda Educational Broadcasting, Inc. - $3,756,347
WIRS AMERICA-CV STATION GROUP, INC. - $6,945,255
WKPV AMERICA-CV STATION GROUP, INC. - $6,657,792
WMEI CMCG PUERTO RICO LLC - $9,696,619
WSJU-TV AERCO BROADCASTING CORPORATION - $5,202,091
WTCV Spanish Broadcasting System Holding Company, Inc -$4,737,874
The FCC's complete list of station payouts is available here.
* Story was updated to correct that in New York it was WNBC, not Telemundo's WNJU that sold its spectrum; also added Los Angeles' KAZA-TV in the list of winning bidders.
