Graham Sidelined at TV Station

Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Longtime consumer advocate and investigative reporter Dewayne Graham, who returned to local airwaves in late March on Equity Broadcasting’s WB42 TV, is off the air again.

The final episode of Graham on Your Side, a half-hour live call-in show in which Graham assisted viewers with various problems, aired last Friday.

Beginning in mid-April, just about two weeks after the show began, the TV station began receiving threats of legal action from two other local stations where Graham formerly worked.

Clear Channel’s KLRT-Fox 16 contended that Graham returned to a local TV station before the expiration of what they say was a 180-day noncompete clause. Graham had resigned from Fox16 in January.

The other station taking issue with Graham’s show was KATV, Channel 7, where in the 1990s he had worked as their "Seven on Your Side" consumer advocate reporter.

The Allbritton Corp. station contends it owns the Arkansas state trademark registration or service mark for "On Your Side" and that Graham can’t use the phrase.

"Because of the litigation complications with KLRT and KATV it was decided it could not move forward," says Doug Krile, Equity’s director of news and public relations of the call-in show.

Couldn’t they simply have changed the name of the program instead of canceling it?

"I wasn’t in on those discussions," Krile says, "but apparently not."

Graham says the show was an experimental one that brought in viewers but not advertisers. He was a contract employee with WB42 and is no longer affiliated with the station.

What’s next for him? Returning to his private investigation work. He’s also testing the political waters, forming an exploratory committee.