Metro Cable Co. v. Catv of Rockford Inc‪.‬

TONE, Circuit Judge. This action under the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1, 2) arises out of plaintiff's inability to obtain a franchise from the City of Rockford, Illinois, to construct and operate a cable television transmission system within that city. The defendants are the company that did obtain a franchise; its affiliate which operates television broadcasting channel WCEE-TV in Rockford; four individuals who are officers or directors and, with one exception, stockholders of the latter company and also stockholders and, with one exception, officers of the former; and the mayor and an alderman of the city. The District Court granted defendants' motion to dismiss the second amended complaint, Metro Cable Co. v. CATV of Rockford, Inc., 375 F. Supp. 350 (N.D. Ill. 1974), basing its action on the Noerr-Pennington doctrine (Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc., 365 U.S. 127, 5 L. Ed. 2d 464, 81 S. Ct. 523 (1961) and United Mine Workers of America v. Pennington, 381 U.S. 657, 14 L. Ed. 2d 626, 85 S. Ct. 1585 (1965)). We affirm.