WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on Tuesday denied Granite Broadcasting Corp.'s bid to pay a $460,000 bonus to Chief Executive W. Don Cornwell, according to Granite spokeswoman Sandra Novotny.

The 2006 bonus, considered prebankruptcy debt, was held up by creditor and shareholder protests.

Cornwell, who was criticized by a court-appointed examiner for bargaining on his own behalf while Granite struggled, received millions in benefits under the Chapter 11 plan confirmed in May by Judge Allan Gropper of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The company emerged from Chapter 11 protection earlier this month under the control of buyout firm Silver Point Capital.

Under the reorganization plan, a $3.3 million loan Granite made its CEO was forgiven, his $2.5 million tax liability on that loan forgiveness was covered and Cornwell kept his $629,200-per year job.

In a report issued in April, court-appointed examiner Andrew C. Hruska faulted Cornwell, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, for using his position as CEO "to maximize benefits that would accrue to him personally rather than the best deal for the company."

During negotiations in the summer of 2006, Cornwell offered to let investors led by Harbinger Capital Partners, rather than Silver Point, salvage the struggling Granite. But his offer carried demands for a $3.6 million severance payment, and an option to buy the Granite-owned CBS affiliate in Syracuse, N.Y., for about $13 million, as well as some of the benefits Cornwell ultimately obtained under Granite's Chapter 11 plan, according to Hruska.

Gropper in May confirmed the Silver Point-backed reorganization plan, saying a rival plan offered by the Harbinger-led group would have burdened the reorganized company with too much debt.

The court-approved plan handed control of Granite to Silver Point in exchange for $295 million the company owed the buyout firm.

New York-based Granite filed for Chapter 11 protection on Dec. 11, listing assets of $443.5 million and debts of $644.1 million. The company owns nine television stations and employs about 800 people.