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From: doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee)
Newsgroups: net.consumers,net.rumor
Subject: Re: Have YOU seen this place?
Message-ID: <466@terak.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Apr-85 13:02:46 EST
Article-I.D.: terak.466
Posted: Mon Apr  1 13:02:46 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 3-Apr-85 03:24:27 EST
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Organization: Terak Corporation, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
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Xref: watmath net.consumers:2099 net.rumor:739

> but as one of the local tv station managers says, the tv
> stations can't really decide NOT to sell the guy advertising time.

As far as I know, that station manager is lying.  Except for the "equal
time" provisions, stations certainly can (and indeed are required to)
control whose ads appear and what the content is.

Here in Phoenix we have a little furor going on because a local station
neglected to pre-screen a commercial.  The ad was aimed at children, and
asked them to phone a "976" number.  976 numbers are a marketing device
whereby the local Bell company bills each caller on behalf of the
company which has the number.  In the immediate case, each time a child
called the number, Mountain Bell added $1.85 to the kid's phone bill,
passing most of that on to the holder of the 976 number.  Some 
"latchkey" kids had run up >$50 in extra charges for their parents to
pay.

The commercial ran four times before the station manager was warned by
another station to "watch out for" those commercials.  They no longer
are being aired by that station, and all other stations in the area have
refused to run them.
-- 
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug