Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 27, 1990 TAG: 9004270383
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: 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 attorneys, 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 reported in newscasts Wednesday night that a federal grand jury impaneled in February 1989 had been dismissed.
Justice Department spokesman Joe Krovisky confirmed Thursday that the investigation has been completed, but declined to elaborate.
David McAtee, president and general manager of WSET, said the station is "delighted that the dark cloud of uncertainty has finally been lifted."
Officials from the stations have denied that price-fixing ever occurred 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.
All three network affiliates were asked to provide documents and sales records. Sales representatives and accounting officials have been subpoenaed to testify.
Federal officials requested box loads of documents and spent hours grilling witnesses. "It was very time-consuming and expensive," DeSchepper said.
The probe has been run by antitrust attorneys from the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, who have declined to comment.
But a source close to the investigation said Thursday that the attorneys decided to release the grand jury this week - without asking for indictments - after reviewing the accumulated evidence.
"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.
Federal antitrust laws prohibit any agreement by two or more companies that restrains competition or is likely to restrain competition.
The probe in Roanoke was not the first time that federal attorneys have spent months investigating possible price-fixing among television stations, only to drop the effort without filing charges.
Similar grand jury investigations were called in the late 1970s in Pittsburgh and Kansas City.
by CNB