KNBC, May Co. in ‘Over the Air’ Deal

The May Co. will receive “over the air” compensation for featuring KNBC Channel 4 news anchors in the firm’s print advertisements for television sets and VCRs, says KNBC general manager John Rohrbeck.

Faces of Channel 4 anchors appear on the screens of TV sets featured in May Co. ads that have been running in The Times. The anchors--John Beard, Kelly Lange, Linda Alvarez, Carla Aragon and Kent Shocknek have been featured to date--are not identified in the ads.

The compensation will take the form of “commercial time” on KNBC, Rohrbeck said about what he termed a “reciprocal promotional arrangement.” He said that although he couldn’t recall with certainty, he believed the idea for the promotion originated with the May Co.

The May Co. referred inquiries about the ads to company chairman Edgar Mangiafico. Calls to his office were unreturned.

Rohrbeck said in an interview that he saw nothing improper about Channel 4 news anchors appearing in the ads because “they appear on television screens all the time.” He said he felt the campaign did not constitute a commercial endorsement by the anchors.

He declined to furnish further details of the arrangement with the May Co. except to say that the anchors had been consulted about it beforehand and that “none of them had any objections.”