Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 26, 1990 TAG: 9004260743
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jim DeSchepper, general manager and vice-president of WSLS-10 in Roanoke, said he received a call Wednesday from the station's lawyers, who had been informed by the U.S. Justice Department that the investigation was off.
Channel 10, WDBJ-7 of Roanoke and WSET-13 of Lynchburg all reported in newscasts Wednesday night that a federal grand jury impaneled in February 1989 has been dismissed.
Justice Department spokesman Joe Krovisky confirmed today that the investigation has been completed, but declined to elaborate.
David McAtee, president and general manager of WSET, said today that the station is "delighted that the dark cloud of uncertainty has finally been lifted."
Officials from the stations have denied that price-fixing ever occured in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market.
From the beginning, federal officials have said little about the probe, except that it would examine "the prices, terms and conditions on which advertising time is sold on the stations."
Because the investigation has been done in closed-door grand jury sessions, few details have emerged.
But based on subpoenas issued by the grand jury, the investigation has focused on CBS affiliate WDBJ-7 of Roanoke, NBC affiliate WSLS-10 of Roanoke and ABC affiliate WSET-13 of Lynchburg.
The grand jury has met on a monthly basis in Roanoke, and dozens of witnesses have been called to testify.
All three network affiliates were asked to provide documents and sales records when the grand jury began its investigation in February of 1989. Sales representatives and accounting officials from the stations have also been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.
Federal officials have requested boxloads of documents and spent hours grilling witnesses. "It was very time-consuming and expensive," DeSchepper said of the investigation.
The probe has been run by anti-trust lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., who have declined to comment.
But a source close to the investigation said today that the lawyers decided to release the grand jury this week - without asking for indictments - after reviewing the evidence accumulated during the probe.
"Basically, they packed up their bags and went home," the source said.
Price-fixing occurs when several companies get together to agree on prices to be paid by customers. In the case of television stations, the customers are advertisers who buy air time.
Federal anti-trust laws prohibit an agreement by two or more companies that restrains competition in the marketplace or is likely to restrain competition. That could include conspiracies to form a monopoly and raise prices artificially high, or to cut prices low enough to drive other competitors out of business.
by CNB