Opinion ID: 764884
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lexington Herald-Leader

Text: 74 The Lexington Herald-Leader started doing business with AD/SAT in 1987, when it entered into a five-year AD/SAT affiliation agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, the Lexington Herald-Leader paid a $7,500 affiliation fee, as well as a minimum usage charge of $12,500 each year. In the first years of its relationship with AD/SAT, the volume of ads transmitted via AD/SAT fell far below the paper's expectations. As a result, the Herald-Leader renegotiated its contract in 1989 to eliminate the $12,500 minimum usage fee. Nevertheless, the per-ad cost of the service remained extremely expensive for the paper. With the end of its contract approaching, the paper's national advertising manager prepared an analysis of the service in late 1991. His report recommended that the contract be terminated. Formal notice of termination was sent in May of 1992. In response, AD/SAT offered to halve the affiliation fee, and the Lexington Herald-Leader decided to continue using AD/SAT's service. Nevertheless, the service remained extremely expensive on a per-ad basis. On June 10, 1994, the Lexington Herald-Leader terminated its relationship with AD/SAT. 75 Despite this history, AD/SAT maintains that the Lexington Herald Leader terminated its relationship with AD/SAT not because of economic concerns but, instead, as part of a concerted refusal to deal with AD/SAT. In support of this argument, AD/SAT cites several circumstances that it contends reveal that the Lexington Herald-Leader was not acting independently in refusing to deal with AD/SAT. First, it points to the timing of the Lexington Herald-Leader's termination of its affiliation agreement with AD/SAT, which occurred approximately a month and a half after AdSEND was announced publicly. AD/SAT also points out that representatives of the Lexington Herald-Leader attended the NAA meeting where Newhouse purportedly invited newspaper executives to join in collective action to boycott AD/SAT. Finally, AD/SAT cites to a memorandum purporting to describe a conversation during which a representative of the Knight-Ridder group, the Lexington Herald-Leader's parent company, pledged its support for AdSEND. 76 This evidence does not tend to exclude the possibility that the Lexington Herald-Leader acted independently. First, AD/SAT may not rely on the memorandum describing Knight-Ridder's pledge of support because it is inadmissible hearsay. See Burlington Coat Factory, 769 F.2d at 924 (noting that it is well-settled that a party cannot rely on inadmissible hearsay in opposing a motion for summary judgment). Furthermore, AD/SAT's other evidence demonstrates, at most, parallel conduct following an invitation to conspire. Such evidence, without more, does not give rise to an inference of conspiracy. See Apex Oil Co. v. DiMauro, 822 F.2d 246, 253-54 (2d Cir. 1987). Accordingly, summary judgment in favor of this defendant was appropriate. 77