Clear Channel: WashPost tells you the ins and outs of this radio giant

“Mega Hurts: Clear Channel’s Big Radio Ways Are Getting a Lot of Static These Days”

“…Radio used to be a simpler business. Back when, small companies — mom and pops, almost literally — dominated the field. There were a few big companies in the game, but until 1996 no single broadcaster could own more than 40 stations nationwide, or more than four in one city…. Much of that changed with an act of Congress. The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 swept aside many of the old ownership limits, and ignited the business like a firecracker. Small owners started selling, and larger companies began feverishly merging. Six years later, radio is a big business, with publicly traded companies now dominating ownership of the nation’s 11,400 commercial stations. The biggest of the big is Clear Channel Communications Inc., based in San Antonio but on the air everywhere…”

Click here for the full Washington Post article.