Radio One sues “pay-per-call” agency Direct Media Power for $1.3 million.

Everything was hunky-dory through September 2014 – but then the unpaid bills piled up. The broadcaster says Illinois-based Direct Media Power began doing business with it in mid-2013, and agreed it would pay Radio One within 30 days. And that if payment wasn’t made “within a reasonable period, DMPI agreed to pay collection costs and legal fees Radio One incurs.” Radio One is now definitely incurring some legal costs, with a suit in federal court in Illinois. It lists the over-due month-by-month invoices from November 2014 through last November, totaling $1,909,503. The agency allegedly paid about $527,000 of that, leaving a balance of $1,363,810. Radio One alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment – and wants its overdue money plus costs. Direct Media Power says it’s “the largest broadcast pay-per-call media agency in the country.” Its website says it “partners with every major National Radio Network and 1000’s of local radio stations nationwide to liquidate millions of dollars of their unsold radio commercial air-time each and every week.” The suburban-Chicago agency’s located in Wood Dale, Illinois, near O’Hare Airport. No response from it yet to the Radio One suit.