RKO Pictures

RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) Pictures is an American film production company.

RKO General

At its height, RKO General's broadcasting holdings included KHJ-AM-FM-TV Los Angeles, KFRC-AM-FM San Francisco, WHBQ-AM-FM-TV Memphis, CKLW-AM-FM-TV Detroit/Windsor, WNAC-TV, WRKO-AM and WROR-FM Boston and WOR-AM-FM-TV New York. The radio stations became famous as some of the leading adult contemporary, rock and top 40 stations in the world. However, RKO General's real legacy may be the longest licensing dispute in television history.

Related Topics:
KHJ - Los Angeles - KFRC - San Francisco - WHBQ - Memphis - CKLW - Detroit - Windsor - WRKO-AM - Boston - WOR - New York - Adult contemporary - Rock - Top 40

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RKO General's licensing saga began in 1965 when it applied for renewal of the license for KHJ-TV in Los Angeles. Fidelity Television, a local group, challenged the license. At first, it charged RKO General with second-rate programming. Later, and more seriously, Fidelity claimed General Tire made its vendors purchase advertising time on RKO stations if they still wanted to sell General Tire's products. The RKO General and General Tire executives who testified before the Federal Communications Commission rejected the accusations. An administrative judge found in favor of Fidelity, but the FCC remanded the matter for further findings in 1972. While the KHJ hearings were underway, RKO faced a license challenge for WNAC-TV in Boston. The FCC conditioned renewal of RKO's license for KHJ-TV on the WNAC proceeding. When RKO applied for renewal of WOR-TV in New York, the FCC conditioned this renewal on the WNAC proceeding as well.

Related Topics:
1965 - Federal Communications Commission - 1972

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The Canadian government forced RKO to sell its CKLW stations to Canadian interests in 1970.

Related Topics:
CKLW - 1970

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On June 21, 1974; an administrative law judge renewed WNAC's license despite finding that General Tire had engaged in reciprocal trade practices. However, in 1975, one of the original competitors for WNAC-TV asked the FCC to take another look. It alleged that General Tire bribed foreign officials, maintained a slush fund for American campaign contributions and misappropriated foreign corporate funds. The proceedings dragged on for six years.

Related Topics:
June 21 - 1974 - 1975 - Slush fund

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On June 6, 1980; the FCC stripped RKO of the licenses for KHJ, WOR and WNAC. Factors in the decision were the reciprocal trade practices of the 60s, false financial filings by General Tire, and gross misconduct by General Tire in non-broadcast fields. The ultimate basis for the revocation, however, was RKO's dishonesty before the FCC. RKO denied numerous allegations of corporate wrongdoing on General Tire's part during several proceedings from 1975 to 1977. However, in 1977, as part of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settlement, General Tire released a report in which it admitted to an eye-popping litany of corporate misconduct. The FCC found that RKO had displayed a "lack of candor" regarding General Tire's misconduct and thus threatened "the integrity of the Commission's process." RKO appealed the decision to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The court upheld the WNAC revocation solely on the grounds of RKO's dishonesty. It ordered a rehearing of the proceedings for KHJ and WOR. WNAC was sold to New England Television, a merger of two of the original competitors for that station, and renamed WNEV-TV. It has since become WHDH-TV.

Related Topics:
June 6 - 1980 - 1975 - 1977 - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - WHDH-TV

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In 1983, General Tire persuaded Congress to pass a law that would require the FCC to automatically renew the license of any VHF television station that voluntarily relocated to New Jersey. At that point, RKO General officially moved WOR-TV's city of license from New York to Secaucus, New Jersey. However, it essentially remained a New York station. Ironically, WOR-AM began in nearby Newark and didn't move to New York until 1941. A year later, General Tire reorganized its far-flung corporate interests into a holding company, GenCorp. General Tire and RKO General became the leading subsidiaries of the new company.

Related Topics:
1983 - Congress - New Jersey - Secaucus, New Jersey - Newark - 1941 - GenCorp

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In 1987, FCC administrative law judge Edward Kuhlmann found RKO unfit to be a broadcast licensee and stripped RKO of all of its licenses. Kuhlmann based his ruling on numerous instances of misconduct on RKO's part. Among other things, RKO misled advertisers about its ratings, engaged in fraudulent billing, lied to the FCC about a destroyed audit report and filed false financial statements during the WNAC proceedings. The group by this time included WOR-AM-TV and WRKS-FM (the former WOR-FM) in New York, KHJ-TV and KRTH-AM-FM (the former KHJ-AM-FM) in Los Angeles and eight other radio stations. GenCorp and RKO planned to appeal, claiming that it had fired every party responsible for the misconduct. However, the FCC told RKO that it would almost certainly deny any appeals and strip the licenses, and urged RKO to sell the stations in order to avoid this indignity. Over the next two years, RKO dismantled its broadcast operations. WOR-AM went to Buckley Broadcasting, WRKS to Summit Communications and KRTH-AM-FM to Beasley. WOR-TV was sold to MCA and became WWOR-TV, while KHJ-TV went to Disney and became KCAL-TV. RKO was forced to sell the stations at considerably less than market value (the group was estimated to be worth at least $750 million).

Related Topics:
1987 - MCA - WWOR-TV - Disney - KCAL-TV

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