14 RKO Radio, TV Stations Denied License Renewals
WASHINGTON — An administrative law judge at the Federal Communications Commission today denied renewal of RKO General Inc.’s licenses for 14 radio and television stations, including three in Los Angeles, saying the company’s dishonesty is unprecedented for a broadcaster.
“No case ever before decided by this commission presents dishonesty comparable to RKO’s,” Judge Edward J. Kuhlmann wrote in a 75-page decision.
RKO General officials in New York said they had not seen the decision and would not comment on it until they had read it.
The company can appeal the decision to the commission. It will keep all its licenses until all appeals are exhausted.
The stations involved are: KHJ-TV, KHJ-AM and KRTH-FM, Los Angeles; WHBQ-TV and WHBQ-AM, Memphis, Tenn.; WOR-AM and WRKS-FM, New York; WRKO-AM and WROR-FM, Boston; WGMS-AM, Bethesda, Md.; WGMS-FM, Washington; KFRC-AM, San Francisco; WAXY-FM, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and WFYR-FM, Chicago.
The various licenses have come up for renewal over several years. The FCC delayed acting in those instances, giving RKO the opportunity to sell the stations and leave the broadcasting business.
The dispute involving RKO has been before the FCC for 20 years. The trouble stemmed from the company’s lack of candor in connection with an investigation of its parent corporation, then known as General Tire & Rubber Co., now Akron, Ohio-based GenCorp.
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