iHeartMedia
| iHeartMedia, Inc.
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Incorporated |
| ISIN | US18451C1099 |
| founding | 2008 (iHeartMedia, Inc. holding company) 1972 (iHeartCommunications, Inc. subsidiary) |
| Seat | San Antonio , Texas , United States |
| management | Bob Pittman ( CEO ) |
| sales | $ 6,242 million (2015) |
| Branch | media |
| Website | iheartmedia.com |
The iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc. ) is a US-based media company based in San Antonio in the US state of Texas .
Founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and its subsidiaries, iHeartMedia is a major influencer in the US radio and television broadcasting , concert hosting and music promotion, and outdoor advertising sectors . Clear Channel owns over 858 radio stations and over 30 television stations in the United States, along with other media companies in other states. The company is run by founder Lowry Mays and his two sons Mark and Randall. Clear Channel is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CCU .
The term clear channel is an old term from radio transmission and describes some early medium wave stations that were allowed to transmit around the clock with higher transmission power . The WOAI radio station in San Antonio was one of them. This enabled the Clear Channel stations to be heard across the country.
history
iHeartMedia acquired the first VHF station in San Antonio, Texas in 1972 . In 1975 the Clear Channel medium wave transmitter WOAI followed .
In 1986, Clear Channel acquired the first stations outside of San Antonio. In 1992, the US Congress eased the rules for owning radio stations slightly, allowing companies to acquire more than two stations per market. In 1995 Clear Channel already owned 43 radio stations and 16 television stations. In 1996 the laws were relaxed again by the Telecommunications Act . Clear Channel took the opportunity and acquired 70 other media companies and individual stations.
Market share
IHeartMedia has been subject to constant criticism since the 1990s. Critics accuse iHeart of exploiting its market share. After the relaxation of the Telecommunications Act , the company spent almost US $ 30 billion and has acquired almost 858 stations nationwide, including up to 7 stations within one market. Despite complaints from listeners and competitors, iHeartMedia was able to hold almost all stations.
In 2017 iHeartMedia announced that the company would take over some of its positions with Entercom Communications. Entercom took over CBS Radio and thus has dominant market dominance in some radio markets, which has been criticized by the FCC.
After iHeart Media, all of the much smaller companies Cumulus Media , Salem Media Group and Entercom are competitors in the radio station market. iHeart Media is present in 150 radio markets.
Well-known radio stations
iHeart Media now owns a number of powerful medium wave transmitters, many old US radio stations and countless FM stations, mostly through sub -companies. This includes:
- WGY , New York
- WLW , Cincinnati, Ohio
- WLAC, Nashville, Tennessee
- WLIT -FM, Chicago, Illinois
- WSIX Nashville , Tennessee
- KWTX , Waco, Texas
- KFAB, Omaha, Nebraska
- KOA , Denver , Colorado
- KEX , Portland, Oregon
Corporate structure
iHeart Media operates and sells the following radio networks:
-
Premiere Networks
- TheBlaze Radio Network / Mercury Radio Arts
- Excellence in Broadcasting Network (The Raus Limbaugh Show)
- Fox Sports Radio
- Fox News Radio
- Clear Channel Syndication and Premium Choice
- iHeartRadio Format Lab
Programs
Well-known and controversial conservative talk host, Rush Limbaugh, is signed to iHeart Media's Premier Networks . In summer 2016 he renewed his contract. Limbaugh is the most popular talk syndication nationwide. For how long "The Rush Limbaugh Show" has been with the company, Premiere Networks did not announce. iHeart Media suffers from a boycott of advertisers for the "Rush Limbaugh Show" in 2012 after Limbaugh attacked a student.
Controversy over iHeart Media
After the terrorist attacks of September 11th
In the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks , a list of songs was drawn up and circulated that were deemed inappropriate during the period of national remembrance. The original small list of songs compiled by the Clear Channel office grew to a considerable size with independent additions made by local program directors. A list of over 150 songs quickly circulated on the Internet . The criteria by which the songs were selected sometimes seemed very bizarre. Many songs were on the list only because they contained the words fly , airplane, or fall .
Most of all, many people were amazed that John Lennon's famous song Imagine appeared on the index. Clear Channel denied that the list was a prohibited list; rather, the songs it contained should only be played after carefully considering the situation. Many stations played songs from this list.
Playback ban and political consequences
After the country music band Dixie Chicks publicly criticized US President George W. Bush at a concert in Great Britain, much to the annoyance of some fans and politicians, the country music stations of Clear Channel banned the Dixie Chicks from their programs. Clear Channel announced that this was solely the responsibility of the local programming director, local DJs and fans. However, some critics claim that the Clear Channel initiated the boycott in hopes of gaining support for some Clear Channel-sponsored initiatives in Washington and to help musicians understand that criticizing the government could harm their careers. Clear Channel denied these allegations. Clear Channel wasn't the only radio operator to impose such a ban; the US broadcaster Cox Radio did so too.
The controversy about the censorship of the Dixie Chicks has been covered widely in the media: see also Dixie Chicks .
Howard Stern Controversy
After the incident during the halftime break of the Super Bowl 2004 , Clear Channel made a commitment that obscene or indecent material would no longer be tolerated. This led to the layoff of some employees, including well-known and successful moderators from some cities. Defenders of freedom of expression did not want to accept this. During the same period, noted radio personality Howard Stern , whose show is in syndication , was retired from six Clear Channel stations. This decision caused a lot of media coverage. Clear Channel's competitor Viacom , however, brought the show back to these markets in a relatively short time. This Clear Channels measure is the reason for an ongoing legal dispute between Stern's employer Viacom and Clear Channel.
Rejection of outdoor advertising by opponents of the war
In 2004 the organization Project Billboard sued Clear Channel for breach of contract because of the rejection of outdoor advertising by a subsidiary of Clear Channel. The poster was directed against the invasion of Iraq by US troops in 2003 . The poster was intended for an outdoor advertising space in New York's Times Square and had the slogan Democracy is best taught by example, not by war with a red, white and blue drawing of a bomb . Clear Channel's contract with Project Billboard only allowed rejection of illegal or immoral ads. Clear Channel announced that the ad motif was insensitive to the city of New York as New York was the main target of the September 11th wave of attacks. Project Billboard saw political motives in the rejection by Clear Channel. Clear Channel resolved the dispute by accepting a modified poster design showing a dove of peace instead of a bomb.
Alleged support after Tropical Storm Harvey
According to the industry magazine "Radio World", iHeartMedia wants to have broadcast the program of the news radio KTRH, which it operates in Houston , on its three VHF frequencies in Corpus Christi after the storm in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey . IHeartMedia claims to have cooperated with the Red Cross to coordinate aid activities.
This was contradicted by listeners in comments on the article. Accordingly, none of the iHeart transmitters was in operation at the height of the storm. The only possibility was to listen to the program allegedly taken over on VHF directly from the Clear Channel station on medium wave. All stations from Corpus Christi were affected by the storm on August 27 and 28, 2017.
Web links
- Clear Channel Communications, Inc. website (in English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/revenue-financial.CC_Media_Holdings_Inc.844a225e436381b8.html
- ^ A b iHeartMedia Partners with FOX News Radio to Broadcast Special Programming Surrounding Upcoming Republican Presidential Debates. (No longer available online.) In: www.iheartmedia.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016 ; Retrieved December 19, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ iHeartMedia's Quarterly Losses Hit $ 248 Million, Raising 'Substantial Doubt' About Its Future . In: Billboard . ( billboard.com [accessed February 22, 2018]).
- ↑ Rush Limbaugh renews and extends contract | RADIO SCENE. In: www.radioszene.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Corporate PR and Reality. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 4, 2018 ; accessed on September 6, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
