Comcast-NBCU won bids to sell spectrum in three top-10 markets, including flagship WNBC New York, Philadelphia (Telemundo affiliate WWSI) and Chicago (Telemundo affiliate WSNS).
That was according to the FCC's just-released list of winning bidders in the broadcast incentive auction.
The company said in each case it was holding on to the superior signal in each market, with WNBC programming sharing with WNJU, WWSI with WCAU and WSNS with WMAQ.
"In the Reverse Incentive Auction, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations relinquished spectrum in three of its duopoly markets—New York (NBC - WNBC), Philadelphia (Telemundo - WWSI), and Chicago (Telemundo - WSNS)—and received total proceeds of $481.6 million," Comcast said in a statement. "In each of these markets, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations retained the channel with the superior coverage and sold the second station in order to channel share as provided in the FCC’s rules. Once the three relinquishing stations vacate their spectrum, WNBC will channel share with WNJU, WWSI will channel share with WCAU, and WSNS will channel share with WMAQ."
(Photo via Tflynn17. Image taken on April 13, 2017 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 9x16 aspect ratio.)
