Network affiliates not interested in FCC auction, TV exec says

{mosads}He argued that the FCC’s system for scoring the value of broadcasters is discouraging stations from participating.

The FCC plans to buyback the licenses of interested TV stations and to then sell them to cellphone carriers, which have been struggling in recent years to accumulate enough airwaves to meet their customers’ skyrocketing demand for mobile data.

The auction is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue, which the government plans to use to pay for a nationwide wireless network for emergency responders and to pay down the national debt.

But the auction will only succeed if enough broadcasters agree to sell their licenses and go out of business.