Clear Channel Communications has agreed to be purchased to an investor group for $18.7 billion in cash.

The company has been purchased by an investor group led by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners.

The entire landscape of radio may shift, as the company also announced plans to sell off 448 of its 1, 150 radio stations in 90, smaller markets across the United States.

“Our decision to divest these broadcast properties was reached as a result of the ongoing optimization of our diverse portfolio of media assets,” said Mark Mays, Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel. “These are profitable and well-managed properties in excellent markets. We believe that the sale of these stations will allow us to position our business to provide even greater value to our listeners and shareholders.”

Stations in large markets like New York (Power 105.1) Los Angeles (Hot 92 Jamz) Chicago (107.5 WGCI) and Philadelphia (Power 99), are not expected to be sold, or immediately effected by the purchase.


:scratch

wow.....

who cares, pick up sirius, much better :thumbup

who cares, pick up sirius, much better :thumbup


Yeah, it's "much better" to pay money for something that should be free.

I love paying to hear more shitty songs that never got air time in the past....for a reason.

I've rode with people that had Sirius, it's actually pretty decent. It's just a shame that regular radio sucks so fucking bad that you'll consider paying for halfway decent programming.

On that note, it'll be interesting to see where that goes. For over a year now, I haven't listened to ANY clearchannel station, as opposed to having little choice before. Clearchannel decided to eliminate the only rock station in S. Florida to put a reggitone station on that frequency. I was really pissed at first, but another company decided to step up and do a much better job of running a rock station.

Damn, would hate to see WGCI go.

As far as XM and Sirius is concerned, some people think it's like the radio just without commercials and are bewildered as to why some ppl would pay for it, it's worth the money in my opinion. Some of the stations on satellite you just won't hear on conventional radio. For those into house/techno/D&B, they have great stations for those underground type of sound. I'm lucky to hear something like that on regular radio, I may catch a pocket of it on a Saturday night between 2-5 A.M.

who cares, pick up sirius, much better :thumbup

I will have to give my props to Sirius. The variety is awesome and if your lucky enough to listen to Howard Stern on Sirius, then ur blessed. Howard makes Sirius plus i believe the NFL is no longer on XM and switched over to Sirius so thats just another reason.

Howard Stern can kiss my hairy white ass. I have to admit, he's got his moments, but I can't stand to listen to him for long. The only problem with him going to Sirius is that they replaced him with a couple assholes with an even lamer show on local radio.

wow, that really is big. clear channel owns a lot more than just radio stations, they've got their hands in a ton of communication stations. it really will change broadcasting.

Am I the only that is confused with satellite radio, everytime I have listened to it they have commericals on it. Why is that?

I thought that was part of the ploy that there were no commercials and shit. They might have been advertisements for other programming and shit like that, but it's still a break in the show which to me might as well be some douchebag selling auto insurance or a mattress.

they have three of the stations here in pittsburgh
2 of which i listen too daily..........???????

Am I the only that is confused with satellite radio, everytime I have listened to it they have commericals on it. Why is that?

that's the huge issue i have with it. i got xm for my birthday and for the most part i enjjoy it. however, it pisses me off to no end when i hear a friggin commercial on radio that i'm already paying for. i will admit there are fewer commercials, but the fact that some of the stations have any really bugs me.

I wonder how this is going to affect concert ticket prices. CC entertainment would only book acts at venues that gave them kickbacks and only advertise on their own stations. This is gonna make some waves and guess who's gonna end up paying for it somehow? Great, now it'll cost me $200 a ticket instead of only a hundred.

In the early days of satellite radio it was commercial free. I had Sirius probably back in 1999 I want to say, maybe even 2000. No commercials whatsoever, but every now and then they have it now. I figure it's another revenue stream for these companies for advertising.

Damn, would hate to see WGCI go.

As far as XM and Sirius is concerned, some people think it's like the radio just without commercials and are bewildered as to why some ppl would pay for it, it's worth the money in my opinion. Some of the stations on satellite you just won't hear on conventional radio. For those into house/techno/D&B, they have great stations for those underground type of sound. I'm lucky to hear something like that on regular radio, I may catch a pocket of it on a Saturday night between 2-5 A.M.

Channel 82 on XM r0x0rz.:punk

i had the free trial version of sirus on the PC at work for 2 days last month
i think it was channel 25 or 27....metal
sweet
I request sat radio in my rentals when i travel for work so i don't have to chase local staions

Maybe that means Star and Bukwild will get their morning show back :punk

CC owns a shit ton of billboards too....

I have stock in Sirius so I hope it goes up.

That is all.

I never listen to th radio so I don't think it will affect me much as far as that goes.

Would like to get Sat one day though.

You get commercials on cable/dish tv too and you're paying for that.


Any shortage of commercials on satellite radio will be short lived.

the music stations on sirius are commercial free.

The entertainment statinos (news, sports, howard, etc) have commercials :thumbup

this null guy sure does get around.
fk clear channel.