Clear Channel Radio sued over the cancellation of The Tom Joyner Show on V103 WVAZ

The company that produces "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" on Monday filed suit in Dallas against Clear Channel Broadcasting over the nationally syndicated radio program's cancellation by Chicago's WVAZ-FM 102.7 this spring.

The suit, filed by Reach Media in Texas' Dallas County District Court, alleges breach of contract by Clear Channel and claims Reach is out more than $800,000 in affiliation fees and net advertising revenue lost from May until the end of this year.

"We do not comment on pending legal matters, however, related to this filing we will only state that we were given no notice to 'Tom Joyner Morning Show's' termination from WVAZ," Reach said in a statement. "We do expect Clear Channel to compensate 'The Tom Joyner Morning Show' as specified in our contract."Clear Channel Radio Chicago, in its own statement, said it is "company policy not to comment on legal matters.”

Joyner's show was dropped by Clear Channel's V103 after 13 years on March 23. The move to replace it with Steve Harvey's syndicated program, which had been airing on sister station WGCI-FM 107.5, came without warning.

Reach's suit says it should receive $116,644 in affiliation fees for May through the end of this year and $694,416 in lost net advertising revenue for the same period, with $426,144 for the morning show and another $268,272 for Joyner's weekend highlights program.

By the way Reach Media is a media syndication company that was founded by Tom Joyner and his sons. A few years ago Radio One bought into the company and are now part owners of Reach Media. Read more in the Chicago Tribune>>