FCC Eyeing May Meeting for Incentive Auction Item

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is targeting May for a vote on an item establishing rules of the road for the broadcast incentive auction, according to sources inside and outside the commission.

Wheeler has been saying "spring" for a while, but according to sources, he is looking at scheduling the item for the May 15 open meeting.

A spokesman for the chairman would only say that "we are on track for an R&O [report and order] in the spring," as the chairman stated in his December blog.

The June meeting is set for the 13th, so it could be pushed a month and still make the spring timetable.

One source described the item as a "framework" that will still leave plenty of room for filling in details.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.