CBS Radio Sued Over Text Messages

CBS Radio is the latest broadcaster to be sued for an alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) over text messages sent to cellphones.

InsideRadio reports Elaine Bonin has filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin against sports WSCR 670 AM The Score Chicago.

Bonin claims the station used auto dialers to blast unsolicited SMS text messages to her and others in Wisconsin without their prior written consent. The suit further states that Bonin received text messages containing sports scores and sports news from WSCR on Jan. 3, Feb. 7 and Feb. 9. Bonin says she didn’t give CBS or WSCR her number and has no interest in sports.

Each unsolicited message from CBS cost her 0.3 minutes of her prepaid TracPhone allotment, the suit says. She says she never shared her cellphone number with CBS, but somehow got texts from 67011 – the Score’s texting address.

The complaint seeks class-action status for anyone in the U.S. who received a non-emergency text from CBS via an auto-dialer on or after June 7, 2012 and who didn’t give their cell number to CBS, or revoked prior consent to do so.

This comes on the heels of an $8.5 million settlement to a lawsuit brought by listeners against iHeartMedia over advertisements in text messages sent by stations.

The TCPA prohibits companies from sending texts to consumers using an auto dialer unless someone has specifically given their permission. Under the law, a broadcaster can face a civil penalty of anywhere from $500-$1,500 per text message for violations.