Paxson Communications Corp. has changed its mind, and it won't take the
Federal Communications Commission to court for postponing an auction of
TV-station-controlled spectrum.
Last Friday, the FCC decided to delay the scheduled June 19 auction until
Jan. 14. Upset about that ruling, Paxson suggested that it might go to court to
force the commission to hold the auction as planned.
On Wednesday, Paxson spokeswoman Nancy Udell said the company dropped
litigation plans mainly because the Jan. 14 auction would likely occur before
the courts had a chance to rule on Paxson's claims.
'The date of the auction would probably be the same in the end,' she
said.
Paxson owns 19 stations in the band of channels (60 through 69) that the FCC
plans to auction in January to wireless phone and data companies.
The company is hoping to collect hundreds of millions of dollars from auction
winners as compensation for ceasing analog broadcasting in the 60-through-69
band on a firm date in the near future.
