Nine days later, someone filed a complaint with the Federal
Communications Commission, saying the station - then called J105, now Variety
Rock 105.1 -had not made clear that the contest was winner-take-all. The commission
ultimately agreed.
Journal Broadcast Corp., the station's owner, refuted the allegation,
but the FCC this past March ordered the company to pay a $4,000
"forfeiture" for violating commission rules governing radio contests.
The company didn't pay.
On April 8, it asked the FCC to reconsider, saying the
forfeiture order was based on incomplete information, misapplied a precedent
and denied the media company due process.
And now…on April 26 - five years to the day of the prize
giveaway - Idaho 's U.S.
attorney, Wendy Olson, sued in federal court in Boise seeking the initial penalty plus interest.
According to the government, only two of the 10 promotional
transcripts provided by Journal Broadcast indicated that all of the prizes
would go to one person. Journal Broadcast argued that the contest's name,
"Ultimate Garage," also indicated that everything in the garage would
go to one person, according to court documents.
No court date has been set for this case, but a federal
judge has ordered plaintiff and defendant to come up with a litigation plan by
mid-July.
Journal Broadcast Corp. owns TV and radio stations in 12 U.S. states, including the Boise-Nampa and Twin Falls markets.
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