Tv License Buyers Stiff The Fcc

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TV-LICENSE BUYERS STIFF THE FCC

Just weeks after conducting its first-ever auction of the airwaves, the Federal Communications Commission says many of the winners of interactive-TV licenses are coming up short. Thirty of the 178 companies that were high bidders failed to make their downpayments. As a result, the FCC says it expects to pull in only $159 million--just 60% of the $215 million it had counted on the auction to yield. The FCC's deadbeats will lose their licenses and pay penalties.EDITED BY KEITH H. HAMMONDS