Spring Break
The suckiness of Clear Channel
Tom Mestnik
Issue date: 11/10/04 Section: Opinion
"If anyone said we were in the radio business, it wouldn't be someone from our company. We're not in the business of providing news and information. We're not in the business of providing well-researched music. We're simply in the business of selling our customers products."
Lowry May- CEO, Clear Channel
Clear Channel owns over 1,220 radio stations and dozens of TV stations. They also own television stations all across the globe. They own over 200 concert venues under the name of SFX. These venues, like the Fillmore here in Denver, control complete monopolies in many cities nationwide. As the news site CCS reports, "They are in 248 of the top 250 radio markets, controlling 60 percent of all rock programming. They outright own the tours of musicians like Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Madonna and 'NSYNC."
According to The Denver Business Journal- Clear Channel also owns over 780,000 billboards and transit displays.
Clear Channel owns the right-wing shows of Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura and as CCS reports, "With 103,000,000 listeners in the U.S. and 1,000,000,000 globally (1/6 of the world population), this powerful company has grown unchecked, using their monopoly to control the entire music industry."
In Denver- Clear Channel owns the rock and pop music stations KBCO, KTCL, KBCO and FOX 103.5 along with the talk radio stations of KOA, KHOW and KTLK
Across the country Clear Channel has organized dozens of pro-war rallies and recently Clear Channel has gotten into the business of holding anti-gay events such as the "Straight is Great" rally held in South Carolina.
Eric Boehlert of Salon.com has done a series of ground breaking articles that are essential reading for anyone who wants to know- "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse." writes Boehlert.
Boehlert has uncovered all sorts of shady, backroom deal making that goes on between record companies and the Clear Channel stations, all to make a lot of money for Clear Channel which, by the way, could also be illegal.
Lowry May- CEO, Clear Channel
Clear Channel owns over 1,220 radio stations and dozens of TV stations. They also own television stations all across the globe. They own over 200 concert venues under the name of SFX. These venues, like the Fillmore here in Denver, control complete monopolies in many cities nationwide. As the news site CCS reports, "They are in 248 of the top 250 radio markets, controlling 60 percent of all rock programming. They outright own the tours of musicians like Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Madonna and 'NSYNC."
According to The Denver Business Journal- Clear Channel also owns over 780,000 billboards and transit displays.
Clear Channel owns the right-wing shows of Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura and as CCS reports, "With 103,000,000 listeners in the U.S. and 1,000,000,000 globally (1/6 of the world population), this powerful company has grown unchecked, using their monopoly to control the entire music industry."
In Denver- Clear Channel owns the rock and pop music stations KBCO, KTCL, KBCO and FOX 103.5 along with the talk radio stations of KOA, KHOW and KTLK
Across the country Clear Channel has organized dozens of pro-war rallies and recently Clear Channel has gotten into the business of holding anti-gay events such as the "Straight is Great" rally held in South Carolina.
Eric Boehlert of Salon.com has done a series of ground breaking articles that are essential reading for anyone who wants to know- "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse." writes Boehlert.
Boehlert has uncovered all sorts of shady, backroom deal making that goes on between record companies and the Clear Channel stations, all to make a lot of money for Clear Channel which, by the way, could also be illegal.
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