Posted by 13 PINS on January 05, 2013 at 02:20:23:
Someone should tell her that Merlin is uh, broke and probably can't afford to pay her the equivalent $30,000 combined salary of 2 full time
radio station employees.;-) -->
Patti Blagojevich has filed suit against a local radio station for using the likeness of her husband, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is about
10 months into serving a 14-year federal prison sentence for corruption.
In her lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County's Law Division, Ms. Blagojevich says Merlin-owned WIQI-FM/101.1 “used advertising
(featuring her husband's photo) specifically on billboards to attract attention, increase listeners and increase revenues.”
The lawsuit refers to an ad campaign that ran in May on buses and trains of the Chicago Transit Authority and on billboards around town. The
billboards showed Mr. Blagojevich next to the words “He Never Listens to FM News 101.1.”
The lawsuit says Merlin, which declined to talk about the lawsuit, “believed that the advertisements featuring Mr. Blagojevich would be fun and
get people's attention.”
Merlin is headed by former Chicago Tribune exec Randy Michaels. He is based in Cincinnati and could not be reached for comment.
Ms. Blagojevich, through her lawyers, previously complained to Merlin management about the billboards. In a September story in Crain's about
Merlin, a sales executive said of the Blagojevich ads, “It was nothing but bad publicity for the stations and Merlin.” The lawsuit seeks
$30,000.