Unaffiliated Presidential Candidate Terry Eyes More FCC Ad Refusal Complaints
Unaffiliated presidential candidate Randall Terry unsuccessfully sought to buy political ads on other Washington TV stations, according to an interview with him Friday and records posted that day on fcc.gov. The FCC Media Bureau last week granted the complaint of the candidate, on the ballot in West Virginia but not states adjacent to the District of Columbia, to buy ad time on Gannett’s WUSA(CBS) (CD Nov 2 p3). Allbritton Communications’ WJLA(ABC) and News Corp.’s WTTG(Fox) also wouldn’t run Terry’s ads, which he said is prompting him to complain to the commission. He said he'll file another complaint against WUSA, because it wouldn’t accept a new request to buy ads that followed the bureau’s order in his favor. The ads depict aborted fetuses and feature criticism from Terry of President Barack Obama including allegations he sides with Muslims against Christians and Jews (http://xrl.us/bnxgh9).
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The order against WUSA doesn’t require WJLA to run Terry’s ads, WJLA said (http://bit.ly/WgkrcZ). “Inasmuch as Mr. Terry admits that he is attempting to use time purchased on WJLA to affect the election in Virginia where he is not a legally qualified candidate, we believe that Section 312 of the Communications Act does not require WJLA to grant access to his campaign. The Media Bureau’s decision does not address these statutory or other Constitutional concerns with Mr. Terry’s request for time.” The bureau for the first time applied its preferred mathematical model to determine that WUSA served part of West Virginia, saying it wouldn’t accept a map from the station’s engineer that predicted that terrain like mountains blocks the signal from reaching into the state.
Terry had sought to pay $5,440 to run a 30-second spot on WJLA’s 5 p.m. news show for Oct. 31, a request made a few days earlier showed (http://bit.ly/SEEyOy). He'd also sought to spend another $7,310 on commercials to have run on the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news and during Revenge in prime time. Terry will file an FCC complaint against the station if it continues to not accept his ad buys, he said. Allbritton continues to “stand by” WJLA’s rationale for denying access, General Counsel Jerald Fritz said. Terry’s lawyer, Patrick Purtill of Gammon & Grange, didn’t reply to messages seeking copies of any complaints that had been filed with the FCC.
Terry said he is complaining to the commission because WTTG also earlier rejected his ad purchase. The political files for WTTG didn’t show any requests from Terry or his ad buyer, Kathleen Offerman (http://bit.ly/Up6Rx5). News Corp. spokespeople had no comment. WUSA wouldn’t air his ads after Offerman resubmitted a request Thursday to make a $25,000 purchase (http://xrl.us/bnxn5j) following the bureau’s order, Terry said. He'll again complain to the commission, he said. “We are going to insist that the FCC revoke their license.” A WUSA representative had no comment.
The campaign didn’t try to buy airtime on NBCUniversal’s WRC, because the station’s signal doesn’t reach into West Virginia, Terry said. Instead, the campaign has been running ads on Nexstar Communications’ WHAG(NBC) Hagerstown, Md., he said. Those spots ran “across different day parts” on the station, Oct. 12 through Nov. 2, WHAG General Manager Hugh Breslin said. The station’s signal reaches into West Virginia, he and Terry said, as shown on its coverage map (http://bit.ly/SyEsWc). WHAG got a waiver from the FCC earlier this year, so it won’t need to post new documents to its political-ad file until July 1, 2014 (CD July 31 p11). That’s when all stations must start putting their political-ad files online. Only Big Four affiliates in the top 50 U.S. markets now need to upload such files to fcc.gov.