The results on Pallilo's trial: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2959484 Pallilo wins court battle to remain on the air Judge denies bid to keep talk-show host off KBME By DAVID BARRON Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle A state district judge refused Tuesday to grant an order keeping radio talk-show host Charlie Pallilo off the air at the newly launched all-sports station KBME (790 AM). Infinity Broadcasting, which employed Pallilo until last month at KILT (610 AM), asked state District Judge Randy Wilson for a temporary injunction requiring Pallilo to abide by a six-month "non-compete" clause in his Infinity contract. The injunction would have kept Pallilo from appearing at 790, where his afternoon show debuted Monday, until May. Wilson, however, refused to grant the motion. So while Pallilo missed his Tuesday show because of a 4 1/2 -hour court hearing, he will be back on the air today. "It's a fair ruling, and I'm happy with the outcome," Pallilo said. Attorney Martin Wickliff, representing Infinity, argued that the non-compete clause remained in place even after Pallilo's two-year contract expired in September. However, Brian Zimmerman, Pallilo's attorney, said that since Pallilo did not receive specific compensation for the non-compete clause, which was not present in his first three-year deal with Infinity, he was free to appear immediately on KBME. "It (the clause) is non-enforceable," Zimmerman said. "They (Infinity) didn't give him anything he didn't already have — his skill, experience and expertise." However, Clear Channel Radio Houston, which owns KBME, did give Pallilo a substantial increase in his annual six-figure salary as part of a three-year contract. He also received a $20,000 "talent fee" and compensation for remote broadcasts and will receive a $100,000 bonus if his show ranks in the top five among men ages 25-54 in any of the next three quarterly Arbitron ratings. Pallilo's contract also included a provision that would have been prohibitively expensive for Infinity to match, as it had the right to do: a $10,000 bonus any time that five minutes of his afternoon show is pre-empted by a Rockets or Comets game. Since KBME does not have the rights to Rockets or Comets games, which appear on KILT, that clause will never be triggered at his new job. Wickliff said Infinity will consider an appeal to the 1st or 14th Court of Appeals here. "We lost on a technicality and not on the validity of a non-compete," said Laura Morris, general manager of Infinity's Houston stations, including KILT.
I meant to post last night to let you guys know but had other things going on, as you can imagine. There is no spin for this. We are swallowing our medicine and looking forward to programming against him. All of you attornies should find that bit about Rockets preemption interesting. It should tell you where the Rockets stand on their priority list for broadcasting. clm
This is why I will probably remain loyal to 610. I like Charlie but I only get a chance to listen to 'drive-time' for about 20 minutes a day anyway and half of that is commercials. On the other hand, I can listen to the morning show from 6-9. Plus I hate ESPN radio. Not a big fan of Clear Channel. Not a big fan of Ken Charles. Chance, chalk me up to your side.
Regardless, a $20,000 "talent fee" ain't nothing to sneeze at. I wonder if Lord will get the same offer?
I have to say, so far I'm still 610 guy. I like the local flavor. I'll probably be switching back and forth in the afternoon depending on the topic. Now around lunch time I can't stand to listen to Rome and his clowns er I mean clones. I'm not sure what 790 has during the lunch hour.
Same here. Actually it works out pretty nicely because the two stations seem to take commercial breaks at different times. So when one of them goes to commercial, I flip to the other.
Once again... why is everybody making it out to be Xbox vs. PS2??? Do some of you guys refuse to watch FSN, because you're an "ESPN guy?" Do some of you guys refuse to watch NBC because you're a "CBS guy?" No... you watch your favorite shows on whatever channel they come on. If you like Charlie's show, you'll listen... if you don't, you won't... but nobody is asking anybody here to state their "allegience" to one or the other. They're both FREE... and when one is in commercial, I will listen to the other... from 11-2, its nothing but national programming on both anyways. (Rome is more entertaining, but DP has better guests... and baseball talk)
I think MarC is an ok guy and his takes aren't bad, but his voice reminds me way too often of Ted Baxter.
I dont live in Houston so this really doesnt effect me. But if I DID, Nick you make the points I would make. Just pick and choose the shows one wants to hear and go with it. Competition is good. In the end the FAN will be the winner.
Both stations are only as good as the callers...and that being said, both programs are virtually unlistenable to a knowledgable sports fan. They had a guy on one of the 2 stations the other day...he called in to state that Dominic Davis was clearly a top 5 RB in the NFL. So the host amused him by rattling off names and saying to the caller to let him know if he would rather have these guys than Davis.. Holmes (when healthy) - caller rather have davis LT - toss up Edge - no Taylor - no Dillon - no Jamal Lewis - possibly Shaun Alexander - no McCalister- no Portis - no When you have to deal with this type of stupidity, I guess its hard to make valid points and have people actually comprehend them
Hahaha... I remember him... CP made him look foolish (as he does to most of the ignorant callers, which will probably scare them away from his show, which inherently makes it better).
Not if he can bring them up the in theratings like they want. They'll make up the money easily with ad revenue. But as Chance said, that's highly unlikely. The bottom line is we have two sports stations now and can switch back and forth during commercials, boring callers and the gawd awful point spread experts.
