Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
200 East Basse Road
San Antonio, TX 78209www.clearchannel.com
Bob Pittman – Chief Executive Officer 3
William Eccleshare – CEO Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.
Tom Casey – Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President
Robert H. Walls, Jr. – Executive Vice President and General Counsel
John Hogan – President and CEO of Media and Entertainment
About
Clear Channel Media and Entertainment reaches about 237 million monthly listeners through a variety of platforms. What separates Clear Channel radio stations from their competitors is their combination of national audience reach and local loyalty. There are more than 850 Clear Channel radio stations which reach over 110 million users every week. The companies has digital applications such as the increasingly popular iHeartRadio app. With international partners, clear Channel also owns and operates over 140 radio stations in Australia and New Zealand. 14
Clear Channel outdoor operates close to one million displays in 45 countries across 5 continents. In the U.S. they operate almost 200,000 advertising displays and has a presence in all of the top 50 designated market areas. 14
The company was founded in 1972 and today operates two main companies: Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings the outdoor advertising company, and Clear Channel Radio which works with broadcast, digital media, and other entertainment services.
Other Properties
Clear Channel Radio controls a number of subsidiary companies that help them deliver premium content to all their stations. Properties that Clear Channel control include:
Premiere Radio Networks– The largest radio network in the country. Premiere Radio Networks syndicate over 90 radio programs and services to more than 5,000 radio affiliations.
iHeartRadio– A digital listening service available on a variety of platforms, and allows a user anywhere in the country access to over 800 live broadcasts, and additional digital only stations. The app also allows users to create their own stations which provide listeners more control and deeper social media integration.
Total Traffic Network– A data service that provides consumers with real-time traffic data across a variety of platforms, web, wireless, and helps people navigate more efficiently. The data is also used by Clear Channell Radio stations for broadcast.
Katz Media Group– Katz controls more than 4,000 radio stations and 500 telecision stations which retain Clear Channel Services. Katz is the only media representation company to serve a variety of over-the-air and digital platforms.
Inside Radio – Inside radio is a trade publication about the radio industry. It also serves as an industry database to better serve service providers. 14
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh is a conservative talk radio host who is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. Limbaugh is currently contracted through 2016 with Clear Channel Communications, and his contract is worth over 400 million dollars. Earlier this year, Limbaugh made headline news when he called George Town University Law student Sandra Fluke a “slut,” and a “prostitute.” Limbaugh was criticizing Fluke’s testimony before congress where she was supporting the mandate of insurance coverage of contraceptives. Many political figures spoke out about the incident and criticized Limbaugh. Seven sponsors also pulled their ads from Limbaugh’s Show: The Rush Limbaugh Show. Limbaugh has since publicly apologized for his comments about Sandra Fluke he said, “For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.” 2This apology was posted to his website March 3, 2012. Below is a Graph to indicate the changes in advertising on the show after the incident: 7
Clear Chanel Media and Entertainment is exploring new ways to reach its consumer. In addition to terrestrial radio, the corporation has recently launched the iHeartRadio app which allows consumers to listen to terrestrial radio for free through digital streaming. IHeartRadio is the industry leading digital radio service, and will is not only free to download but will also remain commercial free through April 1st in an attempt to compete with their rival Pandora. 11 The iHeartRadio app is currently available through a variety of platforms including: Andrioid, Blackberry, Windows, iOS (apple), Sonos, and Xbox360. 3This year at SXSW, iHeartRadio teamed up with Pure Volume to sponsor one of the biggest venues of the weekend: The Pure Volume House presented by iHeartRadio. This was not the only presence Clear Channel had at this year’s SXSW, KYSR Los Angeles’ premier alternative rock station was broadcasting directly from SXSW for the entire week. 12 Clear Channel is no stranger to music festivals. In fact, this past September iHeartRadio organized a music festival which was being tagged as the “biggest live music event in radio history.” September 23-24 2011, iHeartRadio delivered a festival lineup with the biggest acts in music. The event was headlined by Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Nicki Minaj, and the Black Eyed Peas but also included performances by Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Lopez, Kenny Chesney, David Guetta, Rascall Flatts, John Mayer, and many more. This festival truly had something for every one, it was streamed live online and to any mobile device through the iHeartRadio app. 6The event was also streamed live across all Clear Channel-owned radio station websites. Live music is one side of the music industry which is still generating consistent substantial revenues. This year Clear Channel has proved that they understand this, and they are finding new and innovative ways to team up with live music events, and make content available on a variety of platforms. They are giving consumers what they want with accessibility, and great content. With ventures like these, it is easy to see why clear channel is the largest radio company.
Financial Turmoil
Ryan Seacrest
Despite having a diverse portfolio of properties, Clear Channel has not been the most successful venture for their investors. At the peak of the credit boom THL and Bain capital spent close to 18 billion dollars to buy Clear Channel, and since the purchase the deal has lost the venture capital firms billions. These companies did not purchase Clear Channel with all their own cash, and in 2014 $4 billion dollars in debt will be due. The venture capital firm Bain Capital has recently announced a 300 million dollar investment into Ryan Seacrest Productions, in an attempt to generate some original content and draw in more advertising revenue. The investment in Seacrest Productions comes after the incredibly successful “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” series, which they hope that by bringing in will provide some relief to investors. Speculators say that Clear channel will have even more debt (16.5 billion) due by 2016, this makes it clear that if Clear Channel does not change their direction, and increase its profitability, we may no longer see the current 90% ownership of the company. The biggest problem for Clear Channel is that even with their new digital strategies 97% of their quarterly revenue comes from radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising. This makes it very hard for the company to generate entirely new revenue stream, and as terrestrial radio listenership continues to decline common logic would expect that clear channels revenues will decline with it. 10
1. http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate
3. “Pittman Memo” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576607310410863734.html
4. http://www.ccalbany.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=104707&article=10059699
5. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1667041/lady-gaga-coldplay-i-heart-music-festival.jhtml
6. http://vegas.iheart.com/go/iheartradio-music-festival/
7. “Rush Limbaugh Graph” http://jobsanger.blogspot.com/2012/03/limbaugh-show-bleeding-money.html
8. http://www.katz-media.com/default.aspx
9. http://totaltraffic.com/Faq/Faq1.aspx
10. http://www.forbes.com/sites/thestreet/2012/02/01/can-ryan-seacrest-save-clear-channel/
13 http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=3026
14 http://www.clearchannel.com/MediaAndEntertainment/