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In what could become a precedent-setting case, two syndicators are challenging the sale of WCLQ-TV, Channel 61, on grounds that the new owner's home-shopping programming doesn't serve the public interest.
Embassy Communications, a Los Angeles-based television programming syndicator, has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission to protest the purchase of WCLQ by Home Shopping Network Inc. of Clearwater, Fla.
The syndicator claims it lost a total of more than $3 million from broken contracts for the situation comedies, "The Facts of Life," "Good Times" and "Archie Bunker's Place," along with 30 movies. All the programs had been scheduled for broadcast on WCLQ. Embassy made similar claims in a separate filing protesting HSN's purchase of Baltimore television station WKJL.
HSN has been attracting attention in the industry through its recent purchase of nine...