Sangamon Valley Television Corp. v. United States

269 F.2d 221 (D.C. Cir. 1959)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The FCC conducted notice and comment rulemaking to determine the relocation of a VHF license. Signal Hill wanted the relocation and Sangamon did not. While the proceeding was pending, Signal Hill’s president repeatedly spoke to FCC Commissioners over the issues, took them out to lunch, and bought them turkeys for Thanksgiving. He even urged members of Congress to intervene. Seven weeks after the deadlines for filing comments had passed, he also submitted a letter to each Commissioner asserting his views and that letter was not placed in the public file. The station was moved. It is noted that supporters of Sangamon also had contacted the Commissioners informally.