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Clear Channel has a new name
- Thread starter mvcg66b3r
- Start date
Would you buy a company with a bunch of old radio stations? Most people wouldn't. The history of radio for the past 20 years has been the only companies buying radio stations are radio companies. Meanwhile, larger media companies like Disney are selling radio stations. That should tell you something. This is an attempt by CC to become more like Disney than other radio-only companies.
So, Cheap Channel is trying to re-brand itself. Good luck with that. As my dad used to say, you can't polish a t**d. So glad I renewed my SiriusXM. All Howard all the time with some CNN thrown in
Wait til you see what the new owner of Sirius has in mind. He makes the folks at CC look like big spenders.
CCM+E (the parent company) went away today....
It has a new name....IHeartMedia.......BUT the billboard, etc sub kept the CC name (Clear Channel Outdoors).
SOOO time to file for Citicasters, AMFM or Clear Channel as a company name and take over the radio stations here in Texas (oh wait, that's not how it works!
REAL funny thing: 97.1 IDs as: Country Legends 97.1, KTHT Cleveland Houston, an Iheart radio station..
gotta love it
WHY did this get moved from its original posting??? It was the 1st posting on the CCM+E name change in the Houston forum...now it is under another header....?????
T
Thomps2525
Guest
The rebranding of Clear Channel as iHeart Media reminds me of the old parable about giving a pig a bath and putting a bow and perfume on him. He'll still be a pig and he'll run right back to the mud. After years of radio station purchases and consolidation and firings and voice-tracking, Clear Channel changing its name will not change people's perception of the company as an "evil empire."
As I said in another thread, the only people who have that perception are either radio people, fired radio people, or radio wanna bes. The public proves every day that it loves CC's content, loves their syndication, and love their new app. If CC wants to address its debt situation, it needs to become a media company, not a radio company. As hard as that is for radio people to take, it's the truth. The successful media companies have either already sold their radio stations, or they never bought any. The only one left is CBS. And even CBS isn't sure it wants to stay in radio. That should tell you something.
That's the membership in pretty much any radio board. I'm surprised if anyone thinks the opinions read here are representative of the general population.
As far as Clear Channel renaming itself IHeartMedia, I think it makes perfect sense. At least it does if you agree that "radio" is branded audio content and not transmitters. I'm not sure that's entirely settled on this board.
I think I'll do an informal poll of people and ask them where Clear Channel Radio got its name. I bet not ten in a hundred know what a clear channel radio station is. I was going to say that I would poll young people but I doubt many people of any age in the general population knows.
The need of clear channel stations went away in 1980 when the rules changed and the 80-90 drop ins on FM were created..Clears were created to serve a vast area where there was no local service....as Class Cs and B took over (and then Ds got some night service and FMs started to take over in the 80s), the need for the Class As as true clears went away...
The term clear channel is a moot point these days...Really, do I need to listen to WLS playing the same syndicated crap that I can get on a local regional B or local C??? Back in the top40 days, music stations still had AM as the primary...case in point: the Hicks family (pre-Capstar and AMFM) under papa John Hicks had KLVI and 94.1 KBPO in Beaumont TX...the AM was top40 and the FM was "beautiful music" aka: elevator music.....John sold the FM since the AM was making more money...then later flipped the AM to country.....(the sales folks convinced him it could sell more..this was around the time Urban Cowboy came out)...Stupid mistake when you look back on it all...had Hicks kept the FM and moved the top40 format there, it would have cleaned house in the market with country (and morning guy Gordon Baxter, who also wrote for Flying Magazine, "Bax Seat" was his column) on the AM .......I remember when we flipped, the music went from average 3:30 song lengths to 2:45 or so...when a top40 song did a crossover (like Eagles "New Kid in Town"), it gave the DJs a chance to do a bathroom break
The NAME Clear Channel has been heard more as the name of a company....not as a type of radio station....those over the age of 40 or so probably would remember if you asked them about listening to the big clear channel stations back in the top40 days...but, you are correct on those under 40 likely (especially those under 30!!)
The term clear channel is a moot point these days...Really, do I need to listen to WLS playing the same syndicated crap that I can get on a local regional B or local C??? Back in the top40 days, music stations still had AM as the primary...case in point: the Hicks family (pre-Capstar and AMFM) under papa John Hicks had KLVI and 94.1 KBPO in Beaumont TX...the AM was top40 and the FM was "beautiful music" aka: elevator music.....John sold the FM since the AM was making more money...then later flipped the AM to country.....(the sales folks convinced him it could sell more..this was around the time Urban Cowboy came out)...Stupid mistake when you look back on it all...had Hicks kept the FM and moved the top40 format there, it would have cleaned house in the market with country (and morning guy Gordon Baxter, who also wrote for Flying Magazine, "Bax Seat" was his column) on the AM .......I remember when we flipped, the music went from average 3:30 song lengths to 2:45 or so...when a top40 song did a crossover (like Eagles "New Kid in Town"), it gave the DJs a chance to do a bathroom break
The NAME Clear Channel has been heard more as the name of a company....not as a type of radio station....those over the age of 40 or so probably would remember if you asked them about listening to the big clear channel stations back in the top40 days...but, you are correct on those under 40 likely (especially those under 30!!)
I doubt it. I will be at a large party tonight where most everyone will be over 50. I bet I can't find a single person who knows what it means to say that a radio station is "clear channel", except for those (many of them) who know about the company. They will not understand the underlying meaning.
Right, but we're talking about rebranding, and the name change is directed to the general population. And more importantly the investment community.
The name change makes sense to me because the general public is familiar with IHeartRadio is while the name Clear Channel carries no special meaning to them. I would be surpriised if it makes the company more attractive to the investors, but maybe I'm overestimating investors.
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After the amount he spent on his new office with the "mist" wall tunnel leading to it??? YEAH he knows how to save money and get out of debt....NOT....selling the stations they have MAY do it.......I dont think they have any TV stations left to unload.....they COULD get rid of Limbaugh and other talk mouths who eat money from Premiere's hands but have sliding ratings.
I think a lot more is made about that than is really true. Maybe you have actual figures on how much was spent, and where it's in fact located. My sources tell me it was more of a marketing deal where no actual money was spent, but was rather done as trade.
The reality is that no amount of cost savings or station sales will resolve $20 billion in debt. That's not part of the plan at all. It's obvious that a big part is the creation of this digital division, for which the company has now been renamed. Investors are more interested in technology companies than radio companies. Pandora was able to raise $3 billion in its IPO, and the company hasn't turned a profit. Certainly a company that has CC's cash flow and asset stable should be worth more if it's rebranded as a company like Pandora. They just put $175 million of their debt for sale as a way to test the waters.
I winced along with a lot of other people over the "mist tunnel" story because of all the layoffs and cost-cutting but it's defensible. First, it's inconceivable that the cost, whatever it is, contributes significantly to expenses. Second, a media company has an image to project and presumably, some ad agency executives, advertisers and investors are invited in. If you are in some discount retail business, it's fine to have simple headquarters but probably not in this business.
Exactly. Artists taking part in the iheartradio festival going on this weekend in Las Vegas have all talked about how the company has spared no expense to make it an enjoyable experience for everyone. These are all top-selling stars who are all multi-millionaires. They know how to be treated well. This is the kind of publicity you can't buy. Pittman and Sykes built MTV into the multi-billion dollar channel it is today. They're now building an event and a platform that will be a valuable asset in dealing with their debt.
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