NBC seeks to bar Spanish rival in L.A.

NBC Universal is trying to kick a Spanish-language TV station off the air in Los Angeles, escalating a long-simmering feud between the entertainment giant and Mexico’s second-largest broadcaster.

Invoking a rarely used morals clause, NBC Universal on Thursday petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to deny renewal of the broadcast license for KAZA-TV Channel 54. It claimed that the Mexican company running the station, TV Azteca, was corrupt and thus lacked “the character qualifications” required by federal law.

NBC’s objection is believed to be the first character-based challenge to the renewal of a TV station license since 1979.

Thursday’s complaint follows a series of accusations between NBC Universal and TV Azteca that started when NBC began expanding its presence in Mexico.

NBC Universal contends that TV Azteca felt so threatened that it manipulated the Mexican legal system in an effort to force it out of the country.

“In Mexico, TV Azteca has used strong-arm tactics -- including armed raids -- against legitimate U.S. business operations in Mexico to prevent them from competing lawfully against TV Azteca in its home country,” NBC Universal wrote in its 34-page complaint.

In September, according to the complaint, about 40 armed Mexican authorities wearing bulletproof vests raided a Mexico City production studio filled with 14-year-old girls and their mothers who were being filmed for the TV series “Quinceanera” for NBC’s Spanish-language network in the U.S., Telemundo.

The raid followed a Mexican court order to halt production because the host of the show had a contract with TV Azteca.

“Some of the police officers were riding in a TV Azteca van with the logo obscured with white cardboard, while others arrived in police vehicles with their license plates removed,” NBC Universal said of the Sept. 22 raid in its petition.

NBC moved the production of the series, which was already on the air, to Telemundo’s headquarters near Miami.

General Electric Co.-owned NBC Universal has asked the FCC to take a closer look at TV Azteca’s operations in the U.S. In its petition, it noted that TV Azteca executives in September settled a fraud lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission after “TV Azteca’s principals fragrantly violated the U.S. securities laws to enrich themselves.”

The head of TV Azteca’s U.S. subsidiary charged that NBC Universal, not TV Azteca, was abusing its power. He alleged that NBC Universal was worried about the increased competition on its home turf now that TV Azteca has launched its Azteca America network, which competes against NBC’s Telemundo.

“It’s ridiculous for such a large company to try to prevent competition from such a small competitor,” said Luis J. Echarte, chairman of Azteca America. “We view this as a very simple ploy to damage our reputation. They came to Mexico and they violated our laws, and then they went back up to the States, and now this.”

An FCC spokesman declined to comment. The license for Channel 54 expires today.

TV Azteca does not actually own Channel 54. Instead, the company took over operations three years ago through a complicated financial arrangement with the owner, Pappas Telecasting Co. of Visalia, Calif. Echarte said NBC Universal’s action was “without merit” because TV Azteca was simply leasing the station from Pappas. That agreement extends for an additional 18 months.

NBC Universal has asked the FCC to investigate the legality of Azteca’s arrangement with Pappas. Decades-old federal rules prevent foreign interests from controlling broadcasting stations. NBC Universal argues that Azteca, not Pappas, runs KAZA.

Pappas Telecasting Executive Vice President Peter Pappas said that his partner had “no ownership interest, direct or indirect, and any assertions that KAZA has ceded control to TV Azteca America are entirely inaccurate.”

Added Pappas: “This is essentially an acrimonious and long-standing business dispute between NBC Universal-Telemundo and TV Azteca.”

meg.james@latimes.com