Big radio's bad boy: Clear Channel owns one of every ten radio stations in the country. It is remaking the airwaves and making enemies in the process. Is this the future of radio? (arts).

You may not have heard of Clear Channel Communications, but chances are you've been affected by its growing empire. It owns the largest chain of radio stations in the country, along with the biggest collection of billboards and a growing number of TV stations and concert halls.

Among its competitors and some cultural critics, however, Clear Channel is referred to as "the evil empire"--or worse. They complain that the company, based in San Antonio, has made its money by filling its broadcasts with prefabricated non-local programming or with tasteless fare that hit bottom last year when one of its disc jockeys in Tampa, Florida, had a wild boar castrated and killed in the parking lot of his station while he described the scene and added recorded pig squeals on the air.

But in some ways, many rivals of Clear Channel are increasingly copying it. They are courting advertisers and listeners with moves that come directly from Clear Channel's playbook--even if they don't involve livestock. They are also scrambling to acquire more stations.

The reason is simple. Clear Channel, in the last two years, has acquired enough radio stations to dominate the industry. It now has about 1,200, roughly one-tenth of all U.S. radio stations. It ranks No. 1 in five of the top 10 markets and No. 2 in four others, sometimes commanding more than a third of all listeners. In some top-25 markets, like Denver and Cleveland, about half of all listeners tune in to Clear Channel stations. Inside Radio, an industry newsletter, estimates that Clear Channel has a larger national audience than the four next-largest broadcasters combined.

"They are very aggressive, so now we're more aggressive," says Lewis Dickey, chief executive of Cumulus, the No. 2 radio broadcaster as measured by number of stations--it owns 260, but expects to add more.

STRONG-ARM RADIO

Clear Channel's aggressive approach includes cost cutting. It has replaced many local radio hosts, for example, with recorded music spiked with local information for individual stations, or with syndicated talk-show hosts like Rush Limbaugh.

But with 770,000 billboards, 135 concert halls, and 36 television stations, Clear Channel also has the resources to undercut competitors on price while wooing advertisers with cross-promotion over many different media. Few rivals, for example, can promote a music group on their stations, book the act in their amphitheaters, then advertise the tour on their billboards.

"There is a very strong sentiment that they have done a disservice to broadcasting, by using their clout in a way that makes it difficult for smaller companies to compete," says Reed Bunzel, chief editor of Radio Ink, a trade publication. "A lot of people in the business really hate Clear Channel."

As rivals go on buying sprees of their own, thousands of one- and two-station broadcasters are hunkering down in their markets. Lacking the money to grow but mindful that radio is a local medium, these smaller companies are appealing more to local advertisers--sending DJs to car-dealership promotions and high school football games, for example.

FROM ONE TO MANY

Clear Channel started with a single FM radio station in San Antonio in 1972. The company grew to 36 radio stations by the time the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 loosened station ownership restrictions, allowing companies to own far more stations. That set off a wave of consolidation and reshaped the industry.

With its size and muscle, Clear Channel has prompted complaints from rivals that it resembles a monopoly. Senator Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced a bill over the summer that would impose restrictions on the radio and concert industries, in part because of the chain's aggressive tactics.

But, in a knock against some of Clear Channel's critics, the Federal Communications Commission released a study in October concluding that diversity in radio programming has not suffered in the last five years of mass consolidation, despite worries to the contrary.

For its part, Clear Channel appears to regard its rivals' copycat moves as a further endorsement of its vision for radio's future.

"When you're a pioneer, you get a lot of arrows in your back," says Pam Taylor, a spokeswoman for the company. "But then people pick them out and say, `Oh, that's not so bad.'"

RULING THE AIRWAVES

Clear Channel is the largest radio group in the United States, with the
biggest audience, according to figures from earlier this year. It is
estimated to have more listeners than the four next-largest
broadcasters combined.

                         AUDIENCE, OCT. '01-JAN. '02 (millions)    RANK

Clear Channel            103.2                                      1
Infinity Broadcasting     59.1                                      2
Cox                       13.0                                      3
ABC Radio                 12.6                                      4
Entercom                  12.9                                      5

Source: Inside Radio The New York Times

TUNING IN

Clear Channel takes in at least a fifth of the advertising income in
each of the top five radio markets, shown here with Clear Channel's top
station in each market. (Figures based on 2001 revenue estimates.)

                 Clear Channel    Infinity       Emmis       Other

New York              26%           33%           13%         28%
106.7 Lite FM

                 Clear Channel    Infinity     Hispanic      Other

Los Angeles           31%           29%            9%         31%
103.5 FM KOST

                 Clear Channel    Infinity    Bonneville     Other

Chicago               22%           30%           13%         35%
107.5 FM WGCI

                 Clear Channel    Infinity    Susquehanna    Other

San Francisco         26%           23%           17%         34%
Wild 94.9 FM

                 Clear Channel    Infinity     ABC Radio     Other

Dallas                21%           27%           14%         38%
KISS FM 106.1

Source: Clear Channel; Inside Radio The New York Times