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Competing applicants for 50 new stations work out settlements
Some 50 new TV stations may be taking to the airwaves now that applicants for the channels have settled scores of competing bids.
In a flurry of deal making that saw millions of dollars change handsnone of it going to the governmentthe competing applicants late last month struck deals among themselves. The applicants were taking advantage of an FCC window-closed Jan. 30that allowed competing applicants to either merge or drop their applications in exchange for cash. The FCC normally forbids such payoffs, but it temporarily waived its rules in order to reduce the backlog of license applications.
"This is the greatest era I've ever seen," said Paxson Communications chief Lowell "Bud" Paxson, whose company scooped up licenses for six new stations before last month's deadline. Also leading the license derby were Washington-based WinStar Broadcasting and Little Rock, Ark.-based Kaleidoscope Foundation. WinStar, a subsidiary of...