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Start Free Trial NowTitle: Federal appeals court upholds renewal of KVBC-TV's license
Description: 3B; KSNV
Federal appeals court upholds renewal of KVBC-TV’s license By Steve Adams Donrey Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court has ruled the owners of KVBC-TV, Channel 3, in Las Vegas should be allowed to contin ue to operate the station. The U.S. Circuit Court of Ap peals for the District of Columbia said Wednesday the Federal Com munications Commission acted properly in deciding to renew KVBC’s license. Former Nevada state Sen. Wil liam Hernstadt has waged an eight-year battle to wrest Channel 3’s broadcast license from Valley Broadcasting Co. But the FCC and appeals court have rejected Hem stadt’s claims that Valley Broad casting should lose its license for making false statements to the fed eral agency. The appeals court was unusually swift in deciding the case, as a three-judge panel heard arguments only last week. The terse ruling by Judge Abner J. Mikva did not discuss the merits of the case. Hernstadt has seven days to seek a rehearing. His only other re course would be to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. Hemstadt’s Washington attor ney, Robert Healy, had no com ment on whether the decision might be appealed. Gerald Rourke, an attorney for KVBC, said he believes the station easily would prevail in any appeal. Because the case does not involve conflicting lower court rulings or constitutional issues, the Supreme Court is unlikely to grant a review, he said. “The odds will be greatly against him (Hernstadt),” Rourke said. “They always are in a case like this.” The challenge to KVBC’s license is based on errors in Valley Broad casting’s reports to the FCC on station ownership and manage ment. Hemstadt’s attorneys ac cused the company of intentionally misleading the FCC and alleged that shareholders set up a “sham” sale of company stock to avoid re payment of a government loan. Valley Broadcasting said the er rors were inadvertent and for the most part of little consequence. The company counterattacked by informing the appeals court of Hemstadt’s conviction in 1983 for slander of a GOP gubernatorial candidate on KWU-TV, Channel 5, which Hernstadt owned and managed at the time. Hemstadt’s allegations against Valley Broadcasting were given lit tle weight by federal regulators. An FCC administrative law judge said errors in KVBC’s reports were un intentional and described the dis puted stock transaction as “a bona fide arrangement” that fell through for lack of cash. The administrative judge also praised Valley Broadcasting’s re cord in operating Channel 3 since 1979. KVBC aired more news and public affairs programming than Las Vegas’ other stations and com piled a superior record, the officer said. An FCC review board ■ unani mously agreed with the adminis trative judge, and the FCC refused to review the decision. The appeals court ruling simply affirmed the decision to renew Val ley Broadcasting’s license for an other five years. Three judges — Mikva, Stephen F. Williams and Clarence Thomas — heard lawyers argue the case on Nov. 27. The license fight began in 1983, and has generated more than 2,500 pages of testimony, according to the FCC. It is the second protracted fight over the station’s license in as many decades. Valley Broadcasting obtained the license in 1979 after the FCC took it away from West ern Communications, a subsidiary of Donrey Media Group, for fraud ulent billing of advertising. The Donrey Media Group owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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Clipped 6 months ago
- Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Dec, 7 1990 - Page 23