Fired TV Ad Salesman Testifies That He Was Used by KDOC Official

A fired ad salesman testified Tuesday that a KDOC-TV executive encouraged his secret reports of improprieties at the station but then abandoned him after he protested publicly and was terminated.

Steve Conobre said Calvin Brack, a director of the firm that owns the station, continued to ask him for information on mismanagement at the station even after his 1984 firing.

Conobre, in an Orange County Superior Court lawsuit, alleges that he was fired without cause after he refused to use phony viewer ratings in his sales pitch.

“Cal Brack said he was very concerned about the station’s image,” Conobre testified Tuesday in a Santa Ana courtroom. “He wanted me to give him any information I had or could get hold of.”

It was Conobre’s first appearance on the witness stand. A parade of other employees--past and present--have supported Conobre’s allegations in earlier testimony.

Brack, former station manager Michael Volpe and Wally George--a talk-show host and Los Angeles mayoral hopeful--and are defendants, along with Golden Orange Broadcasting Co. Inc., which owns KDOC, Orange County’s only TV station.

Conobre testified that a colleague, Linda Ford, told him how much she hated being pursued romantically by George. Ford, who was married at the time, has testified that George, who was divorced, sent her more than 70 affectionate notes and showered her with gifts and attention.

Conobre sought George out, he said Tuesday, and told George that he should leave Ford alone--that she didn’t care for him and that he was making a fool of himself.

George--who pushed for Conobre’s firing--never spoke to him again, Conobre testified.

Conobre also testified that Volpe repeatedly ordered the KDOC sales staff to use fake viewership figures. Volpe, whose contract with the station was not renewed last year, told workers to say the figures were from “ARB,” a term that is commonly understood in the broadcasting industry to refer to Arbitron, one of the two major ratings services.

In fact, KDOC did not subscribe to Arbitron, according to testimony at the trial.

Conobre testified that Volpe told salespeople to say ARB stood for the Anaheim Research Bureau--a nonexistent firm--if clients asked.

Ten days after he was fired, Conobre said, Brack told him not to worry about a job.

“He suggested I don’t look for another job,” Conobre testified. “He still wanted me to continue investigating, along the lines we had discussed, for presentation to the board (of directors).

“And he told me not to worry, that I’d be back,” Conobre testified.

Conobre is asking for unspecified damages for being fired without cause and for the medical problems he alleges that he suffered as a result.