Red Wolf tries to bring down Citadel
"If you will not sell me your station I will squash you like a bug." Those, according to Red Wolf Broadcasting Corporation owner John J. Fuller, are the words of Citadel Chairman/CEO Farid Suleman, upon being spurned as suitor for Fuller's New London CT-market station WBMW-FM. Since then, hostilities have gotten out of hand, according to Fuller's counsel, Arthur V. Belendiuk of Smithwick & Belendiuk, in a filing submitted to the FCC.
According to Fuller's testimony, at the same session, Suleman said, "I will pay some kid to listen to your radio station and play the same songs you play." Fuller said his Arbitron ratings actually increased. WBMW went from a 12+ base Arbitron rating of 6.0 Fa02 to 8.9 Fa04, compared to Citadel's WQGN-FM, which went from 7.0 to 4.3 over the same period.
All well and good. The problem came when Red Wolf applied for an FM translator to increase the station's range. Three area residents all contributed virtually identical letters in support of an Informal Objection to the translator filed by Citadel. It turns out that one of the residents is the mother-in-law of a Citadel employee, and the other two were acquaintances alleged to be doing their Citadel-employee friends a favor.
Red Wolf charges that Citadel proceeded to file false charges against Fuller with the local police, and tried to coerce further statements out of both employees and the three area residents it involved in the case.
"When Citadel failed to squash Red Wolf through fair competition, it resorted to making knowingly false statements before the FCC," charges Belendiuk. "One false statement led to another, which inevitably led to yet another falsity, which in turn lead to the subornation of perjury and numerous material representations. In the end nothing was left of the truth or of Citadel's character qualifications."
Red Wolf is requesting that the "...FCC assess appropriate sanctions against Citadel, up to and including revocation of its broadcast licenses."
RBR observation:
We've seen stories like this one before - - in particular, going after Clear Channel seemed to rise to the level of a cottage industry for awhile - - and such cases never seem to go anywhere. Of course, a high hurdle of proof is necessary for any action to be taken. Oftentimes, complainants could detail the appearance of misconduct but couldn't quite bring home the goods when it came to an actionable smoking gun.
In any case, this is by no means the first time we've heard big v. little stories such as this. The story begs the question, should the ownership rules be such that big national groups can't bully small local owners around? Or is the free market the only answer, no matter how ugly? Your thoughts, please.
Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
