REC now accepting advanced shows of interest for potential commercial FM Allotment auction

If you are interested in participating in a future auction for a new FM construction permit in specific communities, please contact REC. There is no obligation.

When new commercial FM stations are created, they must start as an “allotment” where a specific channel and station class is assigned to a particular community of license. This is done through a rulemaking process. Once the rulemaking is granted, the allotment is amended to the FM Table of Allotments in §73.202(b) of the FCC Rules.

There are currently about 200 vacant allotments, mainly in rural areas of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington (state), Wisconsin, Wyoming and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

See a list of the current vacant allotments (in paragraph (b)). Many, of these may be offered in a future auction. Keep in mind, this list is subject to amendment including new ones added either through rulemaking, the cancellation of license or because a previous auction construction permit was never built. Some may get removed because they were built and licensed.

The allotments (community, channel and class) shown in §73.202 are the ONLY communities that would be considered for an auction. Virtually all urban areas and most suburban areas of the United States simply have no availability to drop in new allotments in town. Most of these allotments are in rural areas while there may be some that are “rim shots” where a more populated area may be in a fringe area. Just know that there are substantial restrictions on creating or changing an allotment to serve areas that include at least 50% urbanized area as defined by the Census Bureau.

On March 9, 2023, the previous law that addressed the FCC’s authority to use competitive bidding (auctions) had terminated. This meant that the FCC was unable to use auctions. As such, broadcast and non-broadcast spectrum that would normally be auctioned off, laid dormant. The major recent legislation that was signed on July 4, 2025 by the President, also known as HR-1, included a provision that reinstates the FCC’s authority to conduct spectrum auctions, including for FM broadcast stations and FM broadcast stations. The last broadcast auction was Auction 112 for full-service television stations was in June, 2022. The last auction involving FM broadcast stations was Auction 109 in late July, 2021.

Advanced show of interest service offering

At this time and until further notice, REC will be accepting shows of interest from any party wishing to participate in an auction for one or more of these allotments. This offering is strictly to obtain a list of parties that are interested. There is no obligation and there will be no REC fees at this time. It may be months or years before the FCC announces a timeline for this auction. Once the auction is announced, we will open a full service offering at that time, but we will proactively contact those who had expressed a show of interest through this advanced offering.

To make an advanced show of interest, please send an email to lpfm@recnet.com. Phone calls and Facebook messages for the sole purpose of being added to the list will not be accepted. We will respond with a ticket number and you will be placed in our systems as a potentially interested party. You do not need to specify which allotments are you are interested in. For the initial short form application, there is no limit on the number of allotments you may want to bid on at the time. There will be only one fee for the Form 175 filing. If you are the winner of the overall auction, we will have an additional fee for the long form construction permit application.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO START A COMMERCIAL STATION IN A COMMUNITY THAT IS NOT LISTED IN §73.202(b), DO NOT PUT IN A SHOW OF INTEREST. If the community is not listed, chances are you can’t do it. Again, THERE ARE VERY FEW COMMUNITIES WHERE ALLOTMENTS CAN BE DROPPED IN and this process is not for dropping in allotments. We have other ways of handling SERIOUS inquiries regarding dropping in an allotment. Remember, even if you are successful in dropping in a new allotment, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF A CONSTRUCTION PERMIT GRANT as you may get outbid and you receive no preference as being the original petitioner.

Again, there is no fee up front for this advance show of interest. There is also no conflict of interest policy. REC’s role will be solely to assist with the short form and long form filings as well as be available to answer basic questions. REC will not take on the role of assisting with the actual bidding once the auction opens.

Again, there is no obligation. If you put in an advanced show of interest and then decide later not to participate, that is your choice.

For more information on obtaining new commercial FM construction permits through auction, please visit:
https://recnet.com/new-station-commercial

For our full rate card for commercial FM stations, please visit:
https://recnet.com/rates-2025-fm
(Rates are subject to change between now and the time of the auction based on our normal rate adjustments that are usually reviewed once per year.)

If you have any questions about the process, please contact REC Networks. The advice is always free.