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CBS Decides to Pull Illegal Dr. Phil Supergraphic from Building
The Dr. Phil supergraphic at 10801 National Blvd. | Photo via a blog dedicated to the building
To the astonishment of building tenants and just about everyone else, an illegal supergraphic went up last week on the same building that was used by the city as an example of the verboten advertisements. In late January, the building at National and Westwood Boulevard--then with a Tropicana supergraphic--was used as a press conference backdrop to talk about fire department safety concerns and how the city is looking to have stricter penalties.
Soon after, 23 counts of criminal charges were filed by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo against the building owner, advertising company and various others connected to the building. But that didn't seem to matter--last week, the building owners let the advertising company install a new supergraphic for the Dr. Phil Show and are trying their best to preempt the charges in court.
After we asked the Dr. Phil show last week what they thought about being an unwilling participant in the middle of this controversy, they e-mailed LAist this morning saying that the billboard is being taken down as soon as possible. "We would rather have people view our shows than block their views,” a CBS spokesperson said.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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