OUCH! Guardian awarded half of SF Weekly's ad revenue

[Liberal_in_LA]

Looks like the Weekly was using the sort of tactics Wal-mart was accused of using to kill off the local store competition

Guardian awarded half of SF Weekly's ad revenue
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Commissioner Everett Hewlett's order would give the Guardian its first substantial payment on the March 2008 verdict. Jurors found that the Weekly, with cash infusions from its Phoenix parent company, was selling ads below cost to try to drive its locally owned competitor out of business.

The ad revenue would be "a very significant" amount, as much as $200,000 a month, said Jay Adkisson, a lawyer for the Guardian.

The Weekly's parent company, Village Voice Media Holdings, will ask a state appeals court to overturn the ruling, said Andy Van De Voorde, the company's executive associate editor. He said the Weekly would stay in business regardless.

The parent company argued at a hearing before Hewlett last month that seizure of the ad revenue would violate the rights of Village Voice Media's main creditor, the Bank of Montreal, which has lent the chain $80 million.

The chain's 14 publications include the Village Voice and the LA Weekly.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/10/BA8B1CDD3P.DTL#ixzz0hpZry2o0