Rhode Island’s PBS station, WSBE, will be able to expand its programming and operations thanks to $94.4 million it secured in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Broadcast Incentive Auction that took place over several months in the last year. Those funds, paid for by wireless companies, will allow Rhode Island PBS to move its current signal to a lower location on the television spectrum and ultimately help to “preserve the future of local public television,” says station President David Piccerelli.

A press release adds that proceeds from the auction will be held in “a board-designated Rhode Island PBS Foundation endowment and will cover the significant expenses associated with the channel move, upgrades to the production and programming equipment, and needed repairs to the physical plant,” some of which are overdue by a decade.

Piccerelli explained how the FCC conducted a “reverse auction,” the opposite of a typical auction where prices start low and bids increase each round.

The FCC placed value on every station, and opening bid prices were dictated by the population they serve, the strength of their transmitters, their geographic locations, and the reach of their transmitters. From there, the price dropped by 5 percent each round for those still in the auction if the FCC still needed to purchase a station’s signal. Stations could leave if they didn’t like the price, Piccerelli explained.

In this case, the FCC needed three signals from the Providence/New Bedford area. If four stations were in the process and one dropped out, the remaining three would become “provisional winners” and receive compensation so long as the auction was balanced on the other side, that of the wireless companies.

When the FCC completed the reverse auction with all the broadcasters, it had commitments to nationwide broadcasters of about $10 billion. It then conducted a forward auction with wireless companies and qualified investors and raised $19.8 billion, which meant it had the funds to cover the commitments it made to the broadcasters and the expenses of conducting the auction. At the end of the day, Rhode Island PBS, CW 28 and a Telemundo station became provisional winners, Piccerelli said, adding that the federal government will reap about $7.3 billion that will go to federal deficit reduction on the net of the whole auction.

In terms of what the money means for Rhode Island PBS and its viewers, Piccerelli said the money would assist Rhode Island PBS in producing more educational and local content that will be of interest to the communities it services.

“We’ll be producing more shows, documentaries, hopefully some new weekly programs that will be focused on Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts,” he said. “We’ll look [into] all other opportunities that come along the way and…make investments in different projects we feel support our mission as well as support the community around us.”

Rhode Island PBS’s public information manager, Lucie Raposo, said changes for some viewers won’t come for about two years. Cable and satellite viewers will still be able to view the two RI PBS channels at their current numbers, but over the air viewers will eventually need to re-scan their signals to find the new channel assignments when the new transmitter is operational.

Raposo adds that though the $94.4 million will allow Rhode Island PBS to complete tasks it couldn’t previously afford to complete, donations and support from members and viewers will still be necessary to support ongoing operations in programming.

Rhode Island PBS expects to receive the money in the next couple of months and by the end of this year at the latest.