Entercom hit with payola lawsuit

Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Entercom Hit With Payola Lawsuit

In a suit filed today in New York State's Supreme Court, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer alleges that Entercom traded airtime for trips, gifts, promotional items and other forms of payments. The suit also charges that Entercom staff solicited and accepted payments from record label execs and developed internal programs — which were supported and directed by senior management — to sell airtime to labels.
The lawsuit included 67 pages of attachments that detailed communications between Entercom station staff and record label execs regarding the alleged illegal activities.
Spitzer says, "By accepting secret payments in exchange for airtime, Entercom compromised its radio programming and violated state and federal laws. What makes this case especially egregious is the extent to which senior management viewed control of the airways as an opportunity to garner illegal payments from record labels."
Meanwhile, Spitzer is also challenging the FCC to step up its payola enforcement. "Almost a year after payola was exposed in significant detail, the FCC has yet to respond in any meaningful way," he says. "The agency's inaction is especially disappointing given the pervasive nature of this problem and its corrosive impact on the entertainment industry."
Entercom did not immediately return an R&R call seeking comment.