Currently in Phase 7 of its broadcast incentive auction repack, the FCC said that as of Dec. 6, 697 of 987 stations being repacked (71%) have moved off their pre-auction channels, with 79% of those having fully transitioned to permanent facilities.
That is according to a blog from Jean Kiddo, chair of the Incentive Auction Task Force and Hillary DeNigro, deputy chair of the task force. The 39-month repack is scheduled to wrap up July 3, 2020. Phase 7 is scheduled to end Jan. 17, 2020.
The officials gave broadcasters credit for working hard to meet their deadlines.
“We recognize that the three-year period posed significant challenges to the affected stations and their various vendors and are pleased to report that the stations have done a great job managing their channel re-assignment projects to meet the required schedule, and that all of the stations required to vacate their pre-auction channels to date have successfully done so,” they wrote.
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