Radio Host allegedly broke deal


by Tony Blais
edmontonsun.com
Sunday September 14th, 2008

Edmonton radio personality Rob Christie and Capital FM are being sued for $550,000 by Magic 99 FM who alleges Christie broke an agreement when he jumped stations.

In an Aug. 27 statement of claim, Rawlco Radio Inc., which owns and operates Magic 99 FM, alleges Christie, whose real surname is Lowe, had signed a 2005 agreement to produce and host a morning show on Magic 99.

Rawlco alleges the agreement also contained a clause preventing Christie from working at any other Edmonton radio station for one year following any termination.

However, Rawlco claims Christie terminated the agreement on July 25 and then told them on Aug. 13 he was going to Capital FM to host their morning show.

The statement of claim also alleges that Newcap Radio Inc., which owns and operates Capital FM, induced Christie to breach the agreement.

As a result of the "blatant breaches" of the agreement by Christie and Newcap's inducement, Rawlco claims it has lost and will continue to lose listeners and advertisers and has suffered damage to its image and a loss of profit.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Blais_Tony/2008/09/14/6762561-sun.html

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Whine whine - maybe the $550k will help them juuuuust stay in the black.

Quoted Text

As a result of the "blatant breaches" of the agreement by Christie and Newcap's inducement, Rawlco claims it has lost and will continue to lose listeners and advertisers and has suffered damage to its image and a loss of profit.

They've lost listeners?  It's not like they really had that many to start with...they launched with a 2.8, managed a 4.1 at their top end and have since slipped back to a 2.8 - where they've held steady.  They'll have a tough time proving that Christie jumping ship has cost them anything.

As for losing money, to the best of my knowledge, Rawlco had to show some rather detailed financial reports to the CRTC during the last hearing while they were applying for a second license - and as far as I know, those reports showed the company was losing money in Edmonton.  So if Christie was such an asset to the radio station, why weren't they making money while he was running the AM drive?

As for the image of Rawlco, all you have to do is talk to any former employee...I think they'll be able to give a pretty good idea of Rawlco's image (ever notice there's a lot of FORMER Rawlco employees out there?).

Caller_9 is right...they've lost non-compete cases in the past - and is a year reasonable?  Not bloody likely...

Could Rawlco not also have asked for a court injunction to keep Christie off the air at Capital FM? Also, it appears there was no contractual agreement between Audie and Corus when he jumped ship at Joe FM.  Either that, or Corus didn't care.

I heard from a semi reliable source that Audie's contract was up and the company was dragging it's feet resigning him. Be interesting to see how it shakes out with Rob though. Between severance and signings, Newcap has spent a bundle in Edmonton over the past couple of years.

Those clauses which prevent a person from working for the competion for a fixed period of time after termination, contract completion or legal notice are not binding whether the contract is in writing or not. Gord has no chance of winning this one.

I wonder how the rest of the staff feels knowing Rawlco's out of money, their image is shattered, the ratings are in the crapper and all because of one guys exit.  Must be GREAT for moral around that place. If one guys exit does that to a radio company, they should look at the big picture and the out while they can!

I noticed the newspaper said "Rawlco" and not just "Rawlco Edmonton."  

Maybe we could all pitch in with a Hot Dog sale or something and the proceeds can help keep the lights on  

Cry me a Magic River.....

Quoted from VU meter

I wonder how the rest of the staff feels knowing Rawlco's out of money, their image is shattered, the ratings are in the crapper and all because of one guys exit.  Must be GREAT for moral around that place. If one guys exit does that to a radio company, they should look at the big picture and the out while they can!

I noticed the newspaper said "Rawlco" and not just "Rawlco Edmonton."  

Maybe we could all pitch in with a Hot Dog sale or something and the proceeds can help keep the lights on  

I don't know if it's good for a  moral, but it can't be good for morale.

Teasing, but it's a pet peeve...

Injunction?  LMAO

Stopping a radio dj from working is not something of an injunctive nature.

Kind of amusing to see the way the legal rulings have gone lately. Used to be, station managers would use non-compete clauses as major leverage over on-air types. It was the "ace up the sleeve" for managers because these clauses usually only worked one way. Seldom did station managers worry about sticking to their side of the contract when they decided to "go in a different direction" with the on-air sound. Now, the court rulings are starting to punch big holes in the non-compete clauses, it's a different world.

There are quite a few US states that have made those agreements unlawful.  Latest was New York.

If they are going to court, it is obvious that Rawlco still does not know how to write one of those things.  I can imagine that the agreement is the same one I signed as a swing jock in the mid-90's.

$550K?  Ha Ha!  You have to bill that much revenue before you claim to have lost it.

They ought to be happy he's gone. Look at the money they'll save. That station had lousy ratings before and will always have lousy ratings no matter who is on the morning show. Smooth Jazz or what ever you want to call it, is a narrow niche format especially in a market like Edmonton. Right wing talk, country and hard rock will always dominate there.

If they were paying Rob for the time he was off the air, they might - just might - have a legit beef. Otherwise, somebody still screwed up on the decimal point placement.

Meanwhile, Christie's a real Talent and I have to wonder what Gord was thinking when he took him on in the first place.

No way that pro Talent is going to knuckle under and accept "The Rawlco Way".

From everything I've read about his new company on here, is the Newcap Way any better/worse than the Rawlco way?