Impact of auction likely not till 2018

TV spectrum sale will boost MATC

It will take awhile before the impact of last week’s television spectrum auction hits Milwaukee PBS and its licenseholder, Milwaukee Area Technical College — likely not till late 2018, leaders of both institutions said Monday.

When it does, the $89.4 million MATC will get for vacating the broadcasting spectrum of WMVT-TV (Channel 36) will be focused on access to and affordability of education at the technical college, said MATC President Vicki J. Martin.

Martin said Monday the move would have “no impact on the quality of the viewing experience” for viewers of Channels 10 and 36.

While WMVS-TV (Channel 10), WMVT, and the World, Create, PBS and weather digital subchannels will continue, three subchannels will disappear once the changes go into effect: the classical and jazz music channels airing on Channels 36.4 and 36.5 (Channels 978 and 979, respectively, on Spectrum Cable), and the traffic-cam channel on 36.6 (Channel 36.6 on Spectrum), according to Milwaukee PBS General Manager Bohdan Zachary.

When the technical changes are complete, Zachary noted, over-the-air viewers will need to do a channel re-scan — not just for the public TV stations but for other TV stations involved in the spectrum auction: WCGV-TV (Channel 24), getting compensation of $84.3 million; WVCY-TV (Channel 30), $79.3 million; and WMLWTV (Channel 41), $69.7 million.

No need to rush to adjust your set: Zachary said the FCC will roll out the changes market by market, and they won’t go into effect here till next year.

Martin said the proceeds from the spectrum auction won’t go into MATC’s coffers before the end of 2017, with decisions made about where the one-time influx of millions of dollars will be spent made early the following year. Some of the options for the cash could require a legislative change.