## Facts

- The FCC used “fast-track” auction procedures for AM broadcast construction permits, conducting a limited pre-auction analysis and deferring full technical review until after the auction.
- Alvin Lou Media, Inc. (ALM) and Powell Meredith Communications Company (PMCC) filed mutually exclusive short-form applications for a new AM station in the Las Vegas, Nevada area; a third applicant sought a station in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- The FCC’s Media Bureau found no dispositive 47 U.S.C. § 307(b) service-distribution preference requiring resolution before auction and set the applications for competitive bidding.
- ALM argued PMCC’s application was technically defective (including interference concerns and asserted conflict with international obligations involving Mexico) and sought a pre-auction technical review, reconsideration, and a stay.
- The FCC denied ALM’s requests based on its policy of not conducting full technical reviews until the post-auction, long-form stage.
- ALM declined to participate in the auction; PMCC became the sole bidder and won.
- The FCC later affirmed denial of ALM’s pre-auction challenges (2004) and denied further reconsideration petitions (2008).
- ALM petitioned for review in the D.C. Circuit; the FCC moved to dismiss for lack of Article III standing.

## Issues

1. Whether ALM had Article III standing to challenge the FCC’s decision to defer full technical review of mutually exclusive applications until after an AM auction.
2. Whether, under 47 U.S.C. § 309(j)(5) and the Administrative Procedure Act, the FCC acted lawfully in allowing auction participation based on “acceptable for filing” showings and postponing full technical scrutiny until post-auction.

## Decision

- The court denied the FCC’s motion to dismiss, holding ALM had standing based on alleged competitive injury from having to bid (or decide whether to bid) against an application ALM claimed was invalid.
- Applying Chevron, the court upheld the FCC’s interpretation of 47 U.S.C. § 309(j)(5) as permitting different standards for auction participation and license grant.
- The court affirmed the FCC’s orders, holding the fast-track procedure and denial of ALM’s petitions were not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.
- The court rejected ALM’s argument that the FCC was required to resolve alleged technical defects in PMCC’s proposal before the auction.
- The court held that postponing full technical review did not invalidate the FCC’s pre-auction § 307(b) process.

## Legal Principles

- Under 47 U.S.C. § 309(j)(5), the FCC may set different standards for auction participation than for granting a license, including requiring only information sufficient to deem an application “acceptable for filing” pre-auction.
- Chevron deference applies to the FCC’s reasonable interpretation of § 309(j)(5) concerning the sequencing of auction participation requirements and post-auction licensing review.
- The FCC may rationally defer comprehensive technical review until after an auction where it uses pre-auction certifications and retains post-auction authority to review, penalize, or disqualify noncompliant winners.
- Earlier comparative-hearing practices do not compel full pre-auction technical feasibility determinations in the modern auction-based licensing framework.
- A disappointed applicant may have standing to challenge auction procedures when it plausibly alleges competitive injury traceable to those procedures and redressable by judicial relief.

## Conclusion

The D.C. Circuit held that ALM had standing but upheld the FCC’s AM fast-track auction regime, concluding that § 309(j)(5) permits the FCC to use a limited “acceptable for filing” screen before the auction and to defer full technical compliance review until the post-auction licensing stage.


Alvin Lou Media, Inc. v. FCC, 571 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2009)