The FCC’s Auction 109 of of 136 FM signals and 4 AM signals has come to an end after eight days and 36 rounds of bidding with 97 of the potential licenses won.
The auction brought in $13,770,950 in bids with a net of $12,344,110 following the use of bidding credits. The two biggest items in the auction accounted for most of those proceeds with iHeartMedia bidding $6,146,000 for the Class B 107.9 Sacramento allocation that had been surrendered by Entercom in 2017 and Tabbassum Mumtaz’s Radio Brands Inc. offering $3,080,000 for the Class C3 104.1 Sanger TX that Cumulus Media turned in to the FCC in 2013. Mumtaz is the CEO of Ampex Brands that owns hundreds of chain restaurant and 7-11 franchises across the country and recently acquired the Au Bon Pain chain. He also owns fifty percent of 700 KHSE Wylie/104.1 K281CS McKinney in the Dallas market.
Nelson Rodriguez wins the Savannah GA market 99.3 Pembroke GA Class C1 for $400,000. Other high bids include Eugene Cella bidding $395,000 for a Class A on 106.9 in Fort Walton Beach FL, Sanford Cohen’s ITM LLC paying $266,000 for a 106.3 Class A in Desert Hills CA and an additional $190,000 for a Class B on 103.9 in Essex CA, and Tracy Wood bidding $212,000 for 101.1 Coupeville WA and $194,000 for 93.5 Earlimart CA.
After falling second to iHeartMedia for the 107.9 Sacramento bid, Educational Media Foundation came away with just a Class A on 103.3 Shelter Island NY covering the east end of Long Island for a $88,000 bid. Maria Guel’s Mekaddesh Group Corporation won the most allocations netting seven signals in Texas including the 101.5 Crystal Beach/Galveston TX that Cumulus Media surrendered in 2015 after the former KSTB was destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
The four St. Louis area AMs that were added to the auction all went without receiving a bid. Other noticeable allocations to not receive bids were 94.1 Keeseville NY that would’ve covered Burlington VT and 102.9 Battlement Mesa CO due to their high $75,000 opening bid requirement.
The FCC will release a public notice within the next several days that provides official notification to winning bidders, specifies the deadline for payments and long form application filing, and gives details for other post-auction procedures. This public notice will be mailed overnight to all bidders. Each bidder should review the public notice to determine its post-auction obligations. Additionally, this public notice will be posted on the Auction 109 website at www.fcc.gov/auction/109.
The full list of provisionally winning bids can be seen here:
| Bid Amount | Frequency | City | State | Cl | Winning Bidder | Winning Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $37,000 | 99.7 | Medicine Bow | WY | C3 | Valdez-Schwartz, Nanette | 30 |
| $54,000 | 100.1 | Ludlow | CA | B1 | Lynett, William R | 30 |
| $45,000 | 102.9 | Randsburg | CA | A | ENT Inc. | 32 |
| $190,000 | 103.9 | Essex | CA | B | ITM, LLC | 35 |
| $34,000 | 100.7 | Caliente | NV | A | SSR Communications, Inc. | 28 |
| $36,000 | 104.5 | Kahlotus | WA | A | Xana HD Solutions, LLC | 28 |
| $19,000 | 92.3 | Hugo | CO | A | ScarboroughRadio, LLC | 27 |
| $95,000 | 98.9 | Albany | TX | A | WesTex Towers, Inc. | 24 |
| $28,000 | 96.1 | Chama | NM | C3 | glover, richard m | 23 |
| $129,000 | 100.9 | Tomahawk | WI | C3 | The Salvation Poem Foundation, Inc. | 23 |
| $4,100 | 96.9 | Grand Marais | MN | C3 | Wireless LLC | 22 |
| $58,000 | 103.1 | Crandon | WI | A | The Salvation Poem Foundation, Inc. | 22 |
| $48,000 | 104.3 | Olney | TX | A | Two Way Communications, LLC | 22 |
| $19,000 | 98.9 | Rison | AR | A | Deltaplex Radio, LLC | 20 |
| $85,000 | 101.5 | Crystal Beach | TX | A | Mekaddesh Group Corporation | 20 |
| $25,000 | 106.9 | Carrizo Springs | TX | A | Mekaddesh Group Corporation | 20 |
| $6,146,000 | 107.9 | Sacramento | CA | B | iHM Licenses, LLC | 20 |
| $124,000 | 101.3 | Pigeon | MI | A | Thumb Broadcasting, Inc. | 19 |
| $89,000 | 104.9 | Maryville | MO | C3 | Eagle Communications, Inc. | 19 |
| $266,000 | 106.3 | Desert Hills | AZ | A | ITM, LLC | 19 |
| $9,800 | 94.5 | Cartago | CA | A | NYX Communications, Inc. | 18 |
| $64,000 | 103.5 | San Isidro | TX | A | Xavier Entertainment, LLC | 18 |
| $400,000 | 99.3 | Pembroke | GA | C1 | Rodriguez, Nelson | 17 |
| $51,000 | 99.9 | Custer | MI | A | Hit Radio Media, LLC | 17 |
| $1,500 | 103.3 | Junction | TX | C3 | American Broadcasting of Texas | 16 |
| $3,080,000 | 104.1 | Sanger | TX | C3 | Radio Brands, Inc. | 16 |
| $17,000 | 92.3 | Tusayan | AZ | C1 | Estrella Broadcasting LLC | 15 |
| $4,300 | 94.1 | Salome | AZ | A | Estrella Broadcasting LLC | 15 |
| $17,000 | 94.5 | Bruce | MS | A | SSR Communications, Inc. | 15 |
| $3,700 | 94.9 | Richland Springs | TX | A | QXZ MediaWorks LLC | 15 |
| $38,000 | 99.9 | Carney | MI | A | Henderson, Suzanne D | 14 |
| $7,600 | 92.7 | Tonopah | NV | A | RxDIO.com LLC | 13 |
| $91,000 | 96.3 | Houghton | MI | C1 | Houghton Community Broadcasting | 13 |
| $32,000 | 100.7 | Premont | TX | C3 | Christian Ministries of the Valley, Inc. | 13 |
| $76,000 | 106.3 | Maplesville | AL | A | WKLF LLC | 13 |
| $39,000 | 93.3 | Onekama | MI | C3 | Henderson, Suzanne D | 12 |
| $35,000 | 98.7 | Wells | TX | A | American Broadcasting of Texas | 12 |
| $9,200 | 99.3 | Marbleton | WY | C1 | Wind River Broadcasting, Inc. | 12 |
| $58,000 | 102.9 | King City | CA | A | Dimes Media Corporation | 12 |
| $47,000 | 93.5 | Carrizo Springs | TX | A | Xavier Entertainment, LLC | 11 |
| $194,000 | 93.5 | Earlimart | CA | A | Wood, Tracy K | 10 |
| $35,000 | 95.1 | Trout Lake | WA | A | Sunnylands Broadcasting, LLC | 10 |
| $31,000 | 97.9 | Englewood | TN | A | Smile FM | 10 |
| $212,000 | 101.1 | Coupeville | WA | A | Wood, Tracy K | 10 |
| $395,000 | 106.9 | Fort Walton Beach | FL | A | Cella, Eugene | 10 |
| $6,300 | 102.7 | Centerville | TX | A | Mekaddesh Group Corporation | 9 |
| $3,500 | 106.5 | Wheatland | WY | A | Michael Radio Company, LLC | 9 |
| $85,000 | 95.3 | Teague | TX | C3 | Max Frequency LLC | 8 |
| $45,000 | 97.3 | Coalinga | CA | B1 | Gomez, Nelson | 8 |
| $83,000 | 102.7 | Milano | TX | A | Max Frequency LLC | 8 |
| $138,000 | 97.3 | Orange | MA | A | Wendell, Steven | 7 |
| $46,000 | 97.7 | Cross City | FL | C3 | CircuitWerkes, Inc. | 7 |
| $3,900 | 105.1 | Haynesville | LA | A | Peebles Broadcasting Group Inc | 7 |
| $49,000 | 97.3 | Bogata | TX | A | Max Frequency LLC | 6 |
| $2,000 | 98.3 | Big Lake | TX | C2 | Matos Barreto, Juan C | 6 |
| $78,000 | 98.9 | Lake Isabella | MI | A | Smile FM | 5 |
| $56,000 | 102.9 | Narrowsburg | NY | A | Bold Gold Media Group, L.P. | 4 |
| $88,000 | 103.3 | Shelter Island | NY | A | Educational Media Foundation | 4 |
| $50,000 | 94.5 | Sagaponack | NY | A | Bark Out Loud Dogs Media, LLC | 2 |
| $2,500 | 104.3 | Albin | WY | C3 | Michael Radio Company, LLC | 2 |
| $5,000 | 105.9 | Rising Star | TX | C3 | Henderson, Suzanne D | 2 |
| $5,000 | 107.5 | Rawlins | WY | C2 | Michael Radio Company, LLC | 2 |
| $37,000 | 92.1 | Cottonwood | CA | A | Bustos Media Holdings, LLC | 1 |
| $25,000 | 92.9 | Rockford | IA | A | VCY America, Inc. | 1 |
| $18,000 | 93.5 | Roscoe | TX | A | WesTex Towers, Inc. | 1 |
| $7,500 | 94.1 | Boardman | OR | C3 | Xana HD Solutions, LLC | 1 |
| $20,000 | 94.7 | Overgaard | AZ | C1 | Estrella Broadcasting LLC | 1 |
| $21,000 | 95.1 | Hale Center | TX | C1 | Matos Barreto, Juan C | 1 |
| $25,000 | 95.5 | Edgefield | SC | A | Glory Communications, Inc | 1 |
| $10,000 | 95.9 | Skyline-Ganipa | NM | A | Davis, Don | 1 |
| $7,500 | 97.1 | Stratton | CO | C1 | KNAB Inc. | 1 |
| $10,000 | 97.3 | Jefferson | NH | A | Lakes Media, LLC | 1 |
| $2,500 | 97.9 | Encino | TX | A | Mekaddesh Group Corporation | 1 |
| $16,000 | 98.1 | Bayard | NE | A | Flood Communications West, LLC | 1 |
| $10,000 | 98.5 | Ft. Bragg | CA | B1 | Rubin Broadcasting, Inc | 1 |
| $2,300 | 98.5 | Rule | TX | A | WesTex Towers, Inc. | 1 |
| $750 | 98.9 | San Isidro | TX | A | Mekaddesh Group Corporation | 1 |
| $15,000 | 99.1 | Gackle | ND | C1 | Zeller, Jordan | 1 |
| $7,500 | 99.3 | Eckley | CO | C1 | KNAB Inc. | 1 |
| $20,000 | 99.5 | Paragonah | UT | A | Frandsen, M. Kent | 1 |
| $1,500 | 100.3 | Clayton | OK | A | Mega Moo radio company | 1 |
| $15,000 | 100.5 | Fort Stockton | TX | C | Mekaddesh Group Corporation | 1 |
| $25,000 | 100.9 | Westfield | NY | A | The ERIE Radio Company, LLC | 1 |
| $25,000 | 101.5 | New Albany | MS | A | Kennedy Broadcasting, LLC | 1 |
| $45,000 | 101.7 | New Augusta | MS | A | Blakeney Communications, Inc. | 1 |
| $7,500 | 102.1 | Lockney | TX | C3 | GRACE COMMUNITY CHRUCH OF AMARILLO | 1 |
| $3,500 | 102.7 | Cora | WY | C2 | Wind River Broadcasting, Inc. | 1 |
| $5,000 | 103.3 | Mullins | TX | A | Goehl, Bradley S | 1 |
| $60,000 | 103.9 | Dunkerton | IA | A | VCY America, Inc. | 1 |
| $15,000 | 104.1 | First Mesa | AZ | C | Across Nations | 1 |
| $1,500 | 104.9 | Sells | AZ | A | Estrella Broadcasting LLC | 1 |
| $10,000 | 105.3 | Huntington | UT | C3 | Eastern Utah Broadcasting Company | 1 |
| $7,500 | 105.5 | Lovelady | TX | A | Mekaddesh Group Corporation | 1 |
| $25,000 | 106.1 | Abingdon | IL | A | Galesburg Broadcasting Company | 1 |
| $29,000 | 107.5 | West Rutland | VT | A | Vermont Public Co. | 1 |
| $7,500 | 107.9 | Raymond | WA | A | Sunnylands Broadcasting, LLC | 1 |
| $7,500 | 107.9 | Boonville | CA | A | Henry, Brian | 1 |
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com