Business radio station not quite all there; lawsuits louder than signal.Business radio station not quite all there; lawsuits louder than signal A Century City business radio station broadcasting out of Mexico, which went off the air in March 1989, has re-emerged, selling airtime on its XEK-AM 950 frequency. But it seems to be having trouble maintaining its satellite feed, buying equipment, transmitting programming, paying employees and even answering its phone. At least one radio executive is taking legal action against station owner Carlos Alvarado, claiming he has been swindled, and another has contacted the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. about what may be an illegally boosted broadcast. XEK-AM was operated in 1988-89 by the Financial Broadcasting Network, which was liquidated DAMAGES, LIQUIDATED, contracts. When the parties to a contract stipulate for the payment of a certain sum, as a satisfaction fixed and agreed upon by them, for the not doing of certain things particularly mentioned in the agreement, the sum so fixed upon is called liquidated damages. (q.v. in bankruptcy. FBN FBN Fly By Night FBN Fictious Business Name FBN Furniture Brands International, Inc. (stock symbol) FBN Florida Board of Nursing FBN Fibrillin FBN First Bank of Nigeria Plc FBN File Box Number FBN Federal Base Networks was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May, 1990; the company had sought to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since November of 1989, but it was revealed in court that there were virtually no assets to reorganize. Sources said station owner Alvarado, who had been leasing the station to FBN, re-emerged in December 1990 and put the station back on the air, airing syndicated talk programming from Florida. The signal still is difficult to pick up in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. because it is broadcast from so far south, one of the problems FBN had. A recent employee at XEK-AM in Century City said Alvarado announced last spring that he would soon begin broadcasting local business talk programming from Hollywood studios. However, his Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. satellite feed was lost when bills weren't paid, the source said. The employee, who left because pay-checks still hadn't been issued by the end of July, said Alvarado's equipment never arrived, so "the signal was still pretty crappy crap·py adj. crap·pi·er, crap·pi·est Vulgar Slang 1. Inferior; worthless. 2. Miserable; poorly. 3. Mean; contemptible. ," yet the station has been selling airtime to programmers for a couple months. Repeated phone calls to the radio station's Century City office went unanswered. An Asian broadcast executive says he was bilked out of $320,000 that he gave to station owner Alvarado with a promise from Alvarado that he would upgrade XEK-AM's signal and air his Korean programming network. James Ahn, co-owner of Korean-U.S. Community Broadcasting Inc., said he gave Alvarado the money as a deposit, "but he (Alvarado) never delivered a proper signal." When Alvarado asked him for a second $300,000 to buy more equipment, Ahn said that's when he "gave up." Ahn now is leasing time on KFOX-FM 93.5 in Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (rĭdŏn`dō), city (1990 pop. 60,167), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1892. Once a commercial port for Los Angeles, it is a residential and resort city with a protected harbor and an excellent marina. . "When we contracted with them (XEK-AM), they were supposed to give us a clear signal on the air," said Yong Chang, general manager of Korean-U.S. Community Broadcasting Inc. "They never had a good signal, and we never got a refund. He made some swindle swindle v. to cheat through trick, device, false statements or other fraudulent methods with the intent to acquire money or property from another to which the swindler is not entitled. Swindling is a crime as one form of theft. (See: fraud, theft) or whatever. We are in a lawsuit right now." Ahn said he's suing for $5 million. Leonard Lieberman, owner of KKHJ-AM 930, a Spanish music station, said he has contacted the Federal Communications Commission about XEK-AM because the station is publicizing that it broadcasts on 10,000 watts, when it is only authorized for 2,500 watts. A stronger signal could interfere with KKHJ's signal in some parts of Orange or San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. counties. "I heard they were talking about going to 20,000," said Lieberman, whose father sold XEK-AM to Alvarado 13 years ago. "There was one time our engineer said they were doing things with their signal, so we called the FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. ." Ahn said Alvarado promised him that he had FCC approval to go to 20,000 watts but then failed to produce evidence of that when pressed. Andy Lightbody, who hosted "Technology Today," a daily half-hour program on XEK-AM in June and July, said his program went off the air this month because "they had some transmission problems or satellite problems or something." |
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