Youth Group Charges That KCBS Stole Show

The idea was simple, really: Put teen-agers in a televised talk-show format, add a few straight-talking adults and open the floor to a frank discussion of racial tension, gangs, drugs and other urban ills.

The question is, whose idea was it?

Young People for Young People, a South-Central Los Angeles teen group, charges in a lawsuit that a KCBS-TV Channel 2 program using that premise was based on the organization’s cable-TV series “Listen Up!” The suit accuses KCBS, its parent CBS, anchorwoman Bree Walker and her production company, Forward Television Inc., of copyright infringement.

When Walker produced her talk show, “Listen Up: Young Voices for Change,” last July 13 in response to the riots, she was actually stealing from the same community she was attempting to address, said the teen group’s leader.

“I just couldn’t believe it when I turned on the television and there was our show,” said Cheryl Pelt, executive director of Young People for Young People. “When the name ‘Listen Up’ flashed across the screen, my blood pressure went through the roof. This show was going to be our main vehicle for fund raising; now it was just gone.”

In a statement released Wednesday, KCBS Vice President and General Manager Steven J. Gigliotti denied any wrongdoing by Walker, her production company, CBS or his station. Walker said through a spokeswoman that the statement spoke for her too.

“By airing the program . . . it was KCBS’ intention to air a positive response to the Los Angeles disturbances in April. It is very unfortunate that Young People for Young People filed this suit and we are sorry there are negative feelings that resulted from our positive efforts,” Gigliotti said, adding that the station respected the teen group and had supported it with a CBS Foundation grant this year.

Young People produced 15 editions of its teen talk show “Listen Up!” between 1988 and 1990 for the public-access channel on Continental Cable, and the nonprofit group dreamed of taking it to commercial television. With enough sponsors, Pelt said, Young People could use the revenue to fund its self-esteem seminars in South-Central schools, youth leadership conferences and academic enrichment programs.

According to the lawsuit, the “Listen Up!” concept was copyrighted by Pelt in June, 1991. A pilot show and promotional materials were distributed to the three major networks--each of which owns a station in Los Angeles--and to the independent and public-TV stations in town. No one offered to pick it up.

On May 3 this year, Young People for Young People tried again, believing the riots made “Listen Up!” all the more timely. This time it was pitched as a special with a teen-age audience and a few adults discussing racism. Co-founder and actress Danielle Spencer (who played Dee in the “What’s Happening?” series of the 1970s) took the pilot tape and brochures to the networks and independent stations, including a coffee mug with “Listen Up! It’s more than talk . . . It’s feelings” written on the side.

Everyone but CBS returned the materials with polite no-thank-you letters, Pelt said.

The group heard nothing more until July 13, when KCBS’ program appeared. At one point during the broadcast, Walker said, “Listen up. It’s more than talk, it’s feelings,” according to the lawsuit.

“When they used the name, and then she repeated our slogan, that convinced me they were using our material,” Pelt said.

But KCBS said the show’s format was similar to at least five specials produced since 1987.

“For many years now KCBS-TV has been addressing major community issues, from gangs to earthquakes, in a town hall format. ‘Listen Up: Young Voices for Change’ followed in that tradition,” Gigliotti said. “We’re confident we will prevail in this suit.”

He declined to provide details about how the show originated.

The suit, filed Oct. 30 in U.S. District Court, estimates the damages to Young People to be in excess of $1.6 million.

Win or lose, Pelt said her teen group will still look for sponsors and a distributor for its version of “Listen Up!”