Entercom To FCC: We Didn’t Know

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A top legal counsel for Entercom has told the FCC that the company’s top brass had no prior knowledge of a contest held on January 12, 2007 at one of its radio stations in Sacramento that resulted in the death of a 28-year-old mother of three.


Michael Dash, Entercom’s VP/Deputy General Counsel since May 2006, told the Commission that neither the company’s officers nor its directors or agents participated in or had prior knowledge of a water-drinking competition at Top 40 KDND-FM “107.9 The End,” Law360.com reports.

However, the lack of awareness may not be a strong enough excuse to avoid a prolonged battle over the station’s license.

Renewed trouble for Entercom began in late October, when the FCC directed the company to come to Washington, D.C. and defend itself in front of an Administrative Law Judge intent on discovering whether or not the license renewal of KDND may proceed.

The Hearing Designation Order was met with a variety of responses from D.C. communications attorneys who spoke with RBR + TVBR.

At issue with the Commission is a contest held on the KDND morning show, the now-infamous “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” promotion. The winner of a Nintendo Wii, as determined by the station, would be the contestant who was able to drink water at regular intervals for the longest time without urinating or vomiting.

Among the concerns addressed by the FCC was that Entercom’s Sacramento management and staff “formulated, promoted, conducted and aired over the station an inherently dangerous contest in which one listener-contestant died of water intoxication and many others suffered serious physical distress.”

This could prove to be the crux of an FCC Administrative Law Judge’s argument, as the fact Entercom’s corporate leadership was unaware of the promotion may be inconsequential, given the size of the company and the empowerment of local staff to make decisions pertaining to station contests and on-air content.

Still, Entercom has the burden of proof in this matter, as Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth attorney Peter Tannenwald told RBR + TVBR in October that a renewal hearing is different than a revocation hearing, a much more concerning matter for a radio station owner.

In response to the renewal hearing, Entercom President/CEO David Field offered an official comment on the matter — one that reflects his entire company’s long-held focus on putting the community first.

A civil court verdict on the matter has already cost Entercom millions of dollars in damages in legal fees. In October 2009, after 26 days of testimony and deliberation, a Sacramento Superior Court jury found Entercom negligent in the death of the contestant. Entercom was ordered to pay the contestant’s family more than $16 million in damages.