FCC Satellite Auction Results

[rtt2]

Looks like Echostar won its coveted 157 slot in the auction held today. It paid $5,800,000 for it.

Rainbow DBS (VOOM) won both the 166 degree W.L. slot and the 175 degree W.L. slot. It paid $3,200,000 for each one. Bringing its total bids to $6,400,000.

Here are the results:
http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/52/charts/52press1.pdf

The fcc will not hold another day of bidding as per this notice:
http://auctionresults1.fcc.gov/Auction_52/Announcements/52_003.003



So boys and girls it looks like Echostar is the proud new owner of 157 and Rainbow DBS is the new owner of 166 & 175.

They have to pay up eventually and must meet FCC timetables for building launching and operating a satellite in these slots or risk losing them.

 

[rtt2]

I am not so sure what Voom intends to do with those two slots because they are way the hell out there. Even E*s 157 slot is pretty far out there but I can see possibilities for it.

 

[cpdretired]

I am not so sure what Voom intends to do with those two slots because they are way the hell out there. Even E*s 157 slot is pretty far out there but I can see possibilities for it.

Possibly for Alaska & Hawaii service. Also they could mirror their 61.5 feeds for the west coast. The dish is almost at the horizon on the left coast for 61.5. The 157 location would be great for Voom west of the Rockies subscribers.

 

[rtt2]

Possibly for Alaska & Hawaii service. Also they could mirror their 61.5 feeds for the west coast. The dish is almost at the horizon on the left coast for 61.5. The 157 location would be great for Voom west of the Rockies subscribers.

The only thing is that Echostar now owns the 157 slot.

Voom now owns 166 & 175

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

They own the 148 slot and now 158 they could use a Dish 500 type setup with that.

 

[rtt2]

Cablevision wins two satellite slots
By Harry Berkowitz
July 14, 2004, 8:03 PM EDT

Cablevision Systems Corp. Wednesday won the bidding for two orbital slots that could help fill a gap in its Voom nationwide satellite TV service.

The two orbital positions would allow satellites to reach mainly the West Coast.

Since Voom launched service in October, its single satellite, whose orbital position is off the East Coast, has been weakest in transmitting TV channels to the West Coast, especially the Seattle and Portland areas.

Cablevision won the two licenses for $3.2 million apiece -- the minimum required bid in the auction by the Federal Communications Commission.

Jessica Reif Cohen, a Merrill Lynch analyst, called the price a "remarkable bargain" based on past auctions.

EchoStar Communications, the nation's second-biggest satellite TV provider, won the third slot being auctioned, which reaches the western half of the nation, with a minimum required bid of $5.8 million.

Cablevision plans to spin off Jericho-based Voom as a separate publicly-traded company later this year with a budget of $482 million for 2004 even though analysts are skeptical of its prospects for success.

Meanwhile, the trade publication Adweek reported online that Voom has hired the Mullen advertising agency, whose clients include General Motors and match.com, to replace Lowe, which resigned in April after Voom said it was reviewing its choice of agencies.

As of April 23, Voom had only 8,000 subscriber homes, plus another 3,400 in which it was preparing to activate the service. EchoStar and DirecTV have a combined total of more than 22 million subscribers.

 

[rang1995]

http://auctionbidding.fcc.gov/bidding/results_bidder.htm

wonder what they are doing for MID america? where most of the DBS are..maybe hidef is a right and left coast thing % wise???

 

[mike123abc]

61.5 has good elevation for most of the lower 48. It is just the far NW like Washington/Oregon that have problems. 166 should work good for the far west, 61.5 for the rest of the country.

 

[Stargazer]

Dish Network puts up a Dish500 for the wing slots now anyways so it would give them more of a use for those Dish500 dishes for the west coast. I would say that Dish would plan on launching much of the west coast locals on that dish for 148 and 157 and use it in conjunction with a DP-44 switch for 110 and 119. If that is done and HD is put on 105 or 121 then how would people in those markets get HD since they would already be receiving four slots?

 

[Peter Parker]

Are t \here 32 transponders at each slot? Just asking.

 

[mike123abc]

Dish Network puts up a Dish500 for the wing slots now anyways so it would give them more of a use for those Dish500 dishes for the west coast. I would say that Dish would plan on launching much of the west coast locals on that dish for 148 and 157 and use it in conjunction with a DP-44 switch for 110 and 119. If that is done and HD is put on 105 or 121 then how would people in those markets get HD since they would already be receiving four slots?

Mark reported over at dbstalk.com that the release notes for the 921 support cascading a DPP44 and a DPP21 for 5 satellites now.

 

[Stargazer]

That's great news, so that solves that problem then. A SuperDish could be used with a Dish500 as 105/121, 110, 119, 148, 157 (or 105,110,119,121, and one wing slot).

 

[RBBrittain]

Are t \here 32 transponders at each slot? Just asking.

The 157 auction was for 29 of the 32 transponders; E* already owned the other three. 166 and 175 were each for all 32 transponders.