On this day in 1989 WTVX, then in Fort Pierce, claimed victory in a suit filed against Walt Disney’s Buena Vista Television.
More after the jump.
In early 1988, WTVX, as a CBS affiliate, had entered an agreement to syndicate 130 episodes of The Golden Girls and made a down payment of $368,000. The entire contract called for a total of $2 Million. Upon WTVX’s announcement of losing its CBS affiliation, the station decided to cancel its deal with Buena Vista Television. WPTV-5 quickly snatched up the rights to syndicate The Golden Girls, however Buena Vista Television refused to refund WTVX its $368,000. Furthermore, Buena Vista claimed WTVX was still liable for for its contract and demanded they pay the entire $2 Million.
WTWV, Inc, WTVX’s then owner, filed a lawsuit against the Disney Subsidiary. Despite Disney’s attempt to get the case thrown out at Lucie St. County Circuit Judge ruled in favor of WTVX stating that Disney refund WTVX all of its money, and that WTVX was not liable for the contract.
Just one success in a long line of bad luck to come for WTVX after losing its CBS affiliation. WTWV, Inc, sold WTVX to Elton Feltner’s (a man who claimed to have so many ideas…yet so many legal problems) Krypton Broadcasting early the next year (1990). He would inevitably fail at operating the station and find himself in a lot of trouble before relocating it to West Palm Beach in the early 1990s.
~SFLTVLibrarian
