LPTV station owners/investors Videohouse, Fifth Street Enterprises and WMTM have told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that if Latina Broadcasters of Daytona Beach is allowed back into the auction, they should be too.
That came in a reply brief in their challenge to the FCC's exclusion of their stations from the broadcast incentive auction.
Latina and Videohouse both challenged the FCC's Feb. 12 decision that they were ineligible and both sought a stay of that FCC decision pending resolution of those challenges. The court denied the Videohouse stay request but granted Latina's, the suggestion being that Latina had a likelihood of winning the underlying appeal.
The FCC reinstated Latina in the auction on a provisional basis.
But Videohouse says it is similarly situated with Latina and that "[i]f the Court ultimately grants protection to Latina Broadcasters—as it should (and as it has already done on a provisional basis)—then Petitioners are entitled to equal treatment."
The court is scheduled to hear oral argument in the case May 9, with the actual bidding in the auction likely to begin in mid-May.
It is unclear how much of a delay a Videohouse victory would cause to the auction.
