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Larry Crain To See Trial in Suit As One Ends

3 min read

The civil dispute over a Little Rock radio station has come to an abrupt end with businessman Larry Crain buying out his disgruntled partner’s interest.

Readers may recall the details of the case from our March 9 Outtakes column, which noted that Crain had recently been found in contempt of court by Circuit Judge Cristi Beaumont. The judge held that Crain was “deliberately thwarting” the work of a court-appointed receiver, who took over business operations at Capital City Broadcasting LLC.

Crain was sentenced to a five-day suspended jail sentence, which required him to comply with the receiver.

CCB was formed by Crain and radio executive Steve Renfro to operate KKSP-FM, 93.3, in Little Rock, which it had done since 2012. The receiver was appointed after Renfro filed a complaint with the court stating the company had become “deadlocked in the management and operation of its affairs.”

Days after the case appeared to be heating up, with an appeal filed by Crain to the Arkansas Court of Appeals, the parties reached a settlement and asked for the case to be dismissed.

In an order dated March 11, Beaumont wrote that “[b]ased on the parties’ representations to the court … all claims among and between them have been compromised and settled.” Beaumont also set aside her previous rulings and dismissed the court-appointed receiver.

Two days later, Crain’s attorney, Charles Darwin “Skip” Davidson, asked that the appeal also be dismissed, a request granted later that week.

Davidson said in an interview that Crain had purchased Renfro’s share in the business, which severed their only business partnership. He said Crain will now have full control over the station.

Davidson said he wasn’t sure what changes would be made to the station with Crain having full ownership.

“I’m sure Larry will evaluate all his options and make a good business decision about how to proceed,” he said.

Another lawsuit against CCB, Crain Media Group LLC and Crain himself is heading to trial in Washington County Circuit Court. In that case, Bo Mattingly’s Sports Personality LLC argues that Crain has not been following the terms of their contract at the station.

Sports Personality states that the parties entered into a two-year contract that took effect Jan. 1, 2013, which gave CCB exclusive rights to broadcast the show in Little Rock. The contract was renewed through Dec. 31, 2016, but Crain has refused to honor that agreement, according to the complaint.

The complaint also argues that Sports Personality has raised issues about a “lack of marketing the show to new affiliates, lack of promotion of the show, lack of or declining advertising sales as well as plaintiff’s knowledge that CCB had breached the confidentiality terms … by leaking the payment terms to a competitor of plaintiff’s show.”

Sports Personality asked the court for a preliminary injunction ordering CCB to follow what it said were the terms of the contract, including the renewal.

Davidson said that during a hearing last week the court denied Sports Personality’s request and that the case would move on to a trial.

“We look forward to presenting our evidence to a jury because we believe that a jury will find CCB has met all of its obligations,” Davidson said.

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