Auctioning the Airwaves: Auction Systems for Broadcasting Licences

Abstract

In 1987 Alan Bond made Kerry Packer an offer he could not refuse, namely one billion dollars for the Sydney and Melbourne Channel Nine television stations. The billion dollars covered studios, transmitters and related plant and equipment, but the bulk of it was payment for the licences of the two stations. The licences gave the holder the right to use that part of the electromagnetic spectrum reserved for television broadcasting in the two largest markets in the country. Television licences are especially valuable because the government's broadcasting policy currently permits only a limited number of stations to operate in each market area.