iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs in 1972, and later taken private by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners in a leveraged buyout in 2008.
As a result of the 2008 buyout, Clear Channel Communications, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of CC Media Holdings, Inc. On September 16, 2014, CC Media Holdings, Inc. was rebranded iHeartMedia, Inc., and Clear Channel Communications, Inc., became iHeartCommunications, Inc.
In the past, the company was also involved in live events and out-of-home advertising. The company spun off these businesses in 2005 and 2019 respectively, as the present-day Live Nation Entertainment and Clear Channel Outdoor.
In 1992, the U.S. Congress relaxed radio ownership rules slightly, allowing the company to acquire more than two stations per market. By 1995, Clear Channel owned 43 radio stations and 16 television stations. When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 became law, the act deregulated media ownership, allowing a company to own more stations than previously allowed. Clear Channel went on a subsequent buying spree, purchasing more than 70 other media companies and individual stations.
In a few cases, following purchase of a competitor, Clear Channel was forced to Divestment some of its stations, as it was above the legal thresholds in some cities. In 2005, the courts ruled that Clear Channel must also divest itself of some "border blaster" radio stations in international border cities, such as the alternative rock radio station XETRA-FM ("91X") in Tijuana/San Diego.
In 1997, Clear Channel expanded and diversified its business, purchasing Eller Media, a billboard media company, led by Karl Eller.
In 1998, it made its first move outside of the US when it acquired the leading UK outdoor advertising company More Group plc, which was led by Roger Parry; Clear Channel went on to buy many other outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, and live events companies around the world, which were then re-branded Clear Channel International. These included a 51% stake in Clear Media Ltd. in China. Steven Hicks and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst began Capstar Broadcasting in 1996, and a year later had become the largest owner of radio stations in the country, with 243 stations in total. In August 1997, Capstar and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst announced plans to acquire SFX Broadcasting, with the resulting company owning 314 stations in 79 markets and ranking as the third-largest radio group by income. A year later, Chancellor Media Corporation and Capstar Broadcasting Corporation announced a merger that would result in Chancellor Media owning 463 stations in 105 markets when the deal was completed in second quarter 1999. Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst owned 59 percent of Capstar, with 355 stations in 83 markets, and was the largest single owner of Chancellor (which had 108 stations in 22 markets), with 15 percent of the stock. Chancellor Media later became AMFM Inc., which was acquired by Clear Channel in a deal announced October 3, 1999, and valued at $17.4 billion. The resulting company would own 830 radio stations, 19 television stations, and over 425,000 outdoor displays in 32 countries.
In 1999, the company acquired Jacor, a radio corporation based in Cincinnati. The company also made an investment in the new satellite radio service XM Satellite Radio, giving it the rights to program a selection of stations on the service (which would be drawn from some of its stations and syndicated output).
On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel announced plans to go private, being bought out by two private equity firms, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners for $26.7 billion, which included their assumption of $8 billion in Clear Channel debt. This was just under a 10 percent premium above its closing price of $35.36 a share on November 16: the deal valued Clear Channel at $37.60 per share.
In a separate transaction also announced on November 16, 2006, Clear Channel said it would seek buyers for all of its television stations and 539 of its smaller radio stations, because the private-equity buyers were not interested in owning television or small-market radio. Over a hundred stations were assigned to Aloha Station Trust, LLC upon the consummation of the merger. The television stations were sold to Newport Television, a broadcaster owned by Providence Equity Partners, on April 23, 2007.
Due to the credit market crunch of 2007, Clear Channel encountered difficulty selling some of its radio stations. Clear Channel's attempt to sell off over 100 stations to GoodRadio.TV, LLC was rejected by the equity firm backing the deal. The deal then shifted to Frequency License LLC, but took longer to resolve itself as the two parties were engaged in lawsuits. On top of that, the sale of Clear Channel's television portfolio to Newport Television had also turned uncertain, as Providence considered other options, although this transaction was ultimately completed.The Florida Times-Union, Sale of Clear Channel TV stations uncertain . November 9, 2007
On December 4, 2007, Clear Channel announced that they had extended the termination date of the buyout from December 12, 2007, to June 12, 2008. On July 24, 2008, Clear Channel held a special shareholder meeting, during which the majority of shareholders accepted a revised $36-per-share offer from Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, revaluing the deal at $17.9 billion plus debt. Reuters.com, Clear Channel shareholders OK $17.9 billion buyout, (retrieved July 14, 2008) Shareholders received either $36 in cash, or one share of CC Media Class A common stock for each share of Clear Channel common stock held. The company announced that it would move to more centralized programming and lay off 1,500 employees, or approximately 7% of its workforce, on January 20, 2009. The reasoning was bleak economic conditions and debt from its transition to a private company.Clear Channel to cut U.S. Workforce by 7%, WSJ.com By the completion of the restructuring in May 2009, a total of 2,440 positions were eliminated.All Access (April 28, 2009) Clear Channel Radio Completes Staff Reduction Connected To Restructuring
In early 2010, it was announced that the company was facing the possibility of bankruptcy due to its "crippling debt".Kosman, Josh (April 12, 2010) Unclear future: Clear Channel creditors poised to pick up pieces, New York Post After 21 years, Mark Mays stepped down as president and CEO of Clear Channel on June 23, 2010. Mays remained as chairman of the board. Later that year, MTV co-founder Robert W. "Bob" Pittman joined the company and would eventually become CEO of CC Media Holdings.
In August 2013, Clear Channel sold its minority stake in Sirius XM for $135.5 million. This also resulted in the removal of most Clear Channel-programmed stations on the service, besides simulcasts of WHTZ and KIIS-FM.
On January 6, 2014, Clear Channel announced a marketing partnership with Robert F. X. Sillerman's SFX Entertainment (a second incarnation of a live events company that had been sold to Clear Channel, which spun off to form Live Nation), to collaborate on electronic dance music content for its digital and terrestrial radio outlets, including a Beatport top 20 countdown show. The partnership expanded upon the company's existing EDM-oriented outlets, including Evolution. Staff, including John Sykes, believed that the deal would help provide a higher level of national exposure to current and up and coming EDM artists. Clear Channel and SFX Strike Electronic Dance Music Marketing Deal from The Wall Street Journal (January 6, 2014)
In September 2014, it was announced that the company would rename Clear Channel Communications to iHeartMedia, alluding to its iHeartRadio platform to reflect the company's growing emphasis on digital media and internet radio. The previous name "Clear Channel" came from AM broadcasting, referring to a channel (frequency) on which only one station transmits. In the U.S., clear-channel stations have exclusive rights to their frequencies throughout most of the continent at night, when AM signals travel far due to skywave. CEO Bob Pittman said that the company had been "doing progressive stuff", yet were still "named after AM radio stations".
Beginning in 2008, iHeartMedia struggled to pay down more than $20 billion in debt the company assumed from its leveraged buyout. Various media outlets, including Bloomberg News, Reuters, Radio Ink, and iHeartMedia's hometown newspaper the San Antonio Express-News, claimed that either bankruptcy or a major restructuring was likely. On April 20, 2017, the company warned investors that it might not survive over the following 10 months. IHeartMedia shares drop amid warning it may not survive another year San Antonio Express-News April 24, 2017
In 2016, one of the company's directors, Julia B. Donnelly, left the board of iHeartCommunications and was replaced by Laura A. Grattan, a director at Thomas H. Lee. Grattan was named to the board of managers of iHeartMedia Capital I, LLC, the direct parent of iHeartCommunications, as well as the board of directors of iHeartMedia, Inc., the indirect parent of iHeartCommunications.
On November 30, 2017, it was reported that a group of creditors had rejected iHeartMedia's latest debt restructuring proposal, instead bringing out a deal where the company might file for bankruptcy. On March 15, 2018, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and claimed that it reached an agreement to restructure $10 billion of its over $20 billion in debt.
In September 2018, iHeartMedia acquired HowStuffWorks' podcast network Stuff Media for $55 million. On November 19, 2018, iHeartMedia announced its intent to acquire Jelli, the provider of a programmatic advertising platform for radio stations.
In January 2019, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved a creditor-supported plan for iHeartMedia to exit bankruptcy, which would reduce the company's debt from $16.1 billion to $5.75 billion. The plan included the spin-out of iHeartMedia's 89.1% stake in its out-of-home advertising division Clear Channel Outdoor. In April 2019, the company also filed a proposed initial public offering.
iHeartMedia emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2019, with a new board of directors and the spin-out of Clear Channel Outdoor, but maintaining its existing leadership of CEO Bob Pittman and President Rich Bressler. Rather than pursue its IPO (which was estimated to potentially be valued at $1.1 billion), iHeartMedia instead received approval for a direct listing on the Nasdaq.
On January 14, 2020, iHeartMedia announced a major restructuring, as part of an effort to "modernize our company to take advantage of the significant investments we have made in new technology and aligning our operating structure to match the technology-powered businesses we are now in." This included the restructuring of its Markets Group into three divisions: the Regions division for its largest markets, the Metropolitan division for other major cities, and the Communities division for smaller markets and added a multi-market partnerships unit, and announced the development of centers of excellence that would use technology investments to "provide a better experience for listeners and business partners and a more efficient process for all of its employees".
The restructuring was accompanied by a major round of layoffs and displacements, with a large number of staff members and on-air personalities impacted.
In June 2012, the company announced that it would become the first U.S. radio group to partner with record labels to pay performance royalties directly to labels and musicians (in addition to songwriters and producers). The royalties are paid via revenue sharing for advertising across platforms (including digital), rather than a flat payment each time a song is played. Big Machine Label Group was announced as the first partner in this scheme. Pittman stated that the arrangement would let "labels and artists participate in the revenue of broadcast radio immediately and in digital radio as it builds". Clear Channel Will Be The First To Pay Royalties For Music On Its Air : The Record . NPR (June 13, 2012). Retrieved on 2013-08-16. Clear Channel and Fearless Records Strike Broadcast and Digital Performance Royalty Deal . Billboard (June 3, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
The group made its beginnings when the first television station iHeartMedia purchased as Clear Channel was WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama in 1988. Later that year, Clear Channel Communications bought out KDTU-TV in Tucson, Arizona, which became Clear Channel's second television station. On March 13, 1989, Clear Channel Television bought out KOKI-TV for $6.5 million. This was followed on July 3 of that year with the purchase of Fox affiliate WFOX-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, from Raycom Media, for $8.1 million.
Eventually over time, Clear Channel Television became the second-largest independent television group, behind Sinclair Broadcast Group. In 1990, Clear Channel bought out its fifth television station, KSAS-TV in Wichita, Kansas, for $7.9 million. In 1991, Clear Channel bought out KLRT-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas for $6.6 million. In 1992, Clear Channel bought out WATN-TV in Memphis from Chase Communications for $21 million. Later on in 1993, the company bought out WFTC in Minneapolis/St. Paul from Nationwide Communications, followed in 1994 by the purchase of WXXA-TV in Albany from Heritage Communications, for $25.5 million.
In 1991, Clear Channel Television jumped into the foray of local marketing agreements, starting in 1991 with WJTC, which Clear Channel operated through a LMA with WPMI-TV, and subsequently later on in 1992, when KASN entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's KLRT-TV. Clear Channel also entered into a deal with Providence Journal Company, who owns Fox affiliate KMSB in Tucson to operate KTTU through a local marketing agreement. Memphis also jumped onto the board when WLMT entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's WATN-TV. Also in 1993, Clear Channel entered into a local marketing agreement with RDS Communications to operate KMYT-TV in Tulsa, which most of the inventory will be supplied by KOKI. Later on, in 1994, in Jacksonville, WJAX-TV entered into a local marketing agreement with WFOX-TV, the Clear Channel television station.
In 1994, Fox shockingly announced its intentions to purchase WHBQ-TV, which displaced Clear Channel's WATN-TV as its Fox Memphis affiliate. Also that year, as part of a group deal involving stations acquired by SF Broadcasting, Clear Channel's WPMI-TV in Mobile was set to be displaced as Mobile's Fox affiliate by WALA-TV as part of a three-station deal with the other Burnham stations. These moves didn't sit well for Clear Channel Television, whose president Dan Sullivan thought they wanted to affiliate it with the ousted networks, including NBC in Mobile, and ABC in Memphis.
In 1995, Clear Channel purchased its first Big Three network affiliate, WHP-TV in Harrisburg, for $30 million. It was subsequently followed it up when Gateway Communications, owners of WXBU entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's WHP-TV. Later on that year, J. Dan Sullivan left Clear Channel Television to start out Sullivan Broadcasting to acquire the Act III Broadcasting stations. He was then succeeded by Rip Rioridan as president. In 1996, it bought out WPRI-TV in Providence from CBS, which CBS did not keep due to slight signal overlap with WBZ-TV in Boston. Also that year, Argyle Television Holdings II, who owned WNAC-TV entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's WPRI-TV.
As part of the radio-TV strategy, Clear Channel acquired Jacor, which incorporated WKRC-TV in Cincinnati into the Clear Channel Television branch. Once FCC relaxed its duopoly rules, Clear Channel acquired stations that were originally LMA markets outright, including WLMT in Memphis, KMYT-TV in Tulsa, WJAX-TV in Jacksonville, KASN in Little Rock and WJTC in Mobile. Also in 2000, Clear Channel sold WPRI-TV to Sunrise Television for $50 million. Later on in 2001, William Moll become the president of Clear Channel Television, replacing Rioridan.
In 2001, after acquiring the stations of Chris-Craft Industries, Fox Television Stations traded WFTC to Clear Channel Television for Fox's own TV stations WOAI-TV in San Antonio and KTVX in Salt Lake City. In 2002, Clear Channel acquired Ackerley Group, which incorporated its television holdings into the Clear Channel Television portfolio. Also that year, Clear Channel sold KTTU in Tucson to Belo Corporation outright. In 2003, Clear Channel announced that they would sell WUTR to Mission Broadcasting. In 2004, Clear Channel bought WETM-TV outright after the death of Robert Smith, the founder of Smith Media. In 2005, Clear Channel acquired another Salt Lake City television station KUCW from Acme Communications for $18.5 million in cash. In 2006, Don Perry was then named president and CEO of Clear Channel Television.
Ever that, in the 2000s, Clear Channel began the trend of using legacy callsigns for former radio sisters as new call designated signs for existing Clear Channel TV properties, since it already owned radio stations, although WKRC-TV already used the moniker when it was under Clear Channel ownership. In 2002, San Antonio's Clear Channel station KMOL-TV was rebranded to WOAI-TV, the original call letters that station is using from 1948 to 1974, matching up with radio sister WOAI-AM. In 2005, WOKR, the Rochester Clear Channel affiliate was rebranded to WHAM-TV, the original call letters for an unrelated Rochester station WROC-TV from 1948 to 1956, matching up for radio sister WHAM-AM. Also that year, sister station in Syracuse, WIXT was rebranded to WSYR-TV, the original call letters for WSTM-TV from 1950 to 1980, matching up for radio sister WSYR-AM.
In 2007, the company entered into an agreement to sell all its television stations to Providence Equity Partners for $1.2 billion, a deal that eventually closed in March 2008. Earlier that year, Don Perry left as president and CEO of Clear Channel Television. All former Clear Channel television stations were owned by Newport Television, while the other six were flipped to other buyers by Newport. In 2012 to mid-2013, Newport sold off all of its holdings to several other television groups, including Cox Media Group, Nexstar Media Group, and Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Mobile, AL–Pensacola, FL !WPMI-TV | 15 | 1988–2008 | NBC affiliate owned by Deerfield Media |
Fairbanks, AK !KTVF | 11 | 2002–2008 | NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Tucson, AZ !KTTU | 18 | 1989–2002 | The CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Tegna Inc. |
Little Rock, AR !KLRT-TV | 16 | 1991–2008 | Fox affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting |
Bakersfield, CA !KGET-TV | 17 | 2002–2008 | NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Eureka, CA ! KVIQ | 6 | 2002–2005 | Defunct, went dark in 2018, Suspension of Operations and Silent Authority of a DTV Station Application. Licensing and Management System, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved September 23, 2018 Station Search Details - KJRW CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved September 16, 2018. license cancelled in 2020 |
Fresno, CA !KGPE | 47 | 2002–2008 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Monterey–Salinas, CA !KION-TV | 46 | 2002–2008 | CBS/Fox affiliate owned by News-Press & Gazette Company |
Santa Maria, CA !KCOY-TV | 12 | 2002–2008 | Telemundo affiliate owned by VistaWest Media, LLC |
Santa Rosa–San Francisco !KFTY | 50 | 2002–2008 | ShopHQ affiliate KEMO-TV, owned by Innovate Corp. |
Jacksonville, FL !WAWS | 30 | 1989–2008 | Fox affiliate WFOX-TV, owned by Cox Media Group |
Wichita, KS !KSAS-TV | 24 | 1990–2008 | Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Hoisington, KS !KOCW | 14 | 2001–2008 | Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Salina, KS !KAAS | 18 | 1990–2008 | Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN ! | 29 | 1993–2001 | MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Fox Television Stations |
Albany–Schenectady–Troy, NY !WXXA-TV | 23 | 1994–2008 | Fox affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting |
Binghamton, NY !WIVT | 34 | 2002–2008 | ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Elmira, NY !WETM-TV | 18 | 2004–2008 | NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Rochester, NY ! | 13 | 2002–2008 | ABC affiliate owned by Deerfield Media |
Syracuse, NY ! | 9 | 2002–2008 | ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Utica, NY !WUTR | 20 | 2002–2004 | ABC affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting |
Watertown, NY !WWTI | 50 | 2002–2008 | ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Cincinnati !WKRC-TV | 12 | 1999–2008 | CBS affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Defiance, OH !WDFM-LP | 19 | 1998–2018 | Independent WNHO-LD, owned by American Christian Television Services |
Tulsa, OK !KOKI-TV | 23 | 1990–2008 | Fox affiliate owned by Imagicomm Communications |
Eugene, OR !KMTR | 16 | 2002–2008 | NBC affiliate owned by Roberts Media, LLC |
Coos Bay, OR !KMCB | 23 | 2002–2008 | NBC affiliate owned by Roberts Media, LLC |
Roseburg, OR !KTCW | 46 | 2002–2008 | NBC affiliate owned by Roberts Media, LLC |
Harrisburg, PA !WHP-TV | 21 | 1995–2008 | CBS affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Providence, RI !WPRI-TV | 12 | 1996–2001 | CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Jackson, TN !WJKT | 16 | 2000–2008 | Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Memphis, TN !WPTY-TV | 24 | 1992–2008 | ABC affiliate WATN-TV, owned by Tegna Inc. |
San Antonio ! | 4 | 2001–2008 | NBC/CW affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Salt Lake City, UT !KTVX | 4 | 2001–2008 | ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Bellingham, WA–Vancouver, British Columbia !KVOS-TV | 12 | 2002–2008 | Univision affiliate owned by Weigel Broadcasting |
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Antwerp | 9 juin 2011 | Velo Antwerpen | 297 | 4 200 |
In addition to its own syndication network, iHeartMedia offers studio space and other services to the WestStar TalkRadio Network, which is based at iHeartMedia's studios in Phoenix, Arizona. As a result, many WestStar programs are heard on iHeartMedia stations.
Not all programming heard on iHeartMedia's radio stations are produced in house; however, most of iHeartMedia's stations share many similarities to each other in branding and programming.
Another growing format, Classic Hip-Hop/Throwback/Old School (consisting of R&B/Hip-Hop, Rap, and Rhythmic songs from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s), can be heard full-time on iHeartRadio, as well as KATZ-FM/St. Louis and KUBT in Honolulu. Previously, this format was originated as Rhythmic Oldies, which was launched at KCMG/Los Angeles and later spread to more markets before the former Clear Channel flipped several stations out of the format by the mid-2000s.
For the Rhythmic Top 40 format, similar brandings include "The Beat" (KUBT/Honolulu and WBTT/Ft. Myers), KPRR/El Paso, KKMY/Beaumont, Texas, "Jam'n" (KXJM/Portland Oregon, KSSX/San Diego, and WJMN/Boston; a similar "Jammin'" is used at WSTV/Roanoke & WJJX/Lynchburg). A "B" has been used at KBOS-FM/Fresno since the 1980s. Other Rhythmics, such as KUBE/Seattle, KDON-FM/Salinas-Monterey and KGGI/Riverside-San Bernardino, simply use the call letters and/or frequency. Most of these stations target a multicultural audience and play Rhythmic Pop, R&B/Hip-Hop, and Dance tracks.
For rhythmic AC stations, they used to have the "Party" branding (particularly during the time when most used Wake Up with Whoopi out of WKTU as their morning show), but the two "Party" stations in Denver (KDHT) and Las Vegas (KYMT, the former KPLV) have since exited the Rhythmic AC format. KDHT and KYMT moved to top 40, but continue to use the "Party" branding (KYMT is currently mainstream rock). The Breakfast Club Morning Show out of WWPR-FM in New York and "Big Boy's Neighborhood" out of KRRL in Los Angeles are iHeartMedia's syndicated urban morning shows. In 2017, for IHM's 3rd season they produced rhythmic AC programming.
Before his death in 2021, The Rush Limbaugh Show was almost universally carried on iHeartMedia stations in markets where the company has a news/talk station, including New York City: WOR was acquired in 2013 by Clear Channel and began carrying Limbaugh's program in 2014 following a long relationship with now-Red Apple Media-owned WABC. In markets where iHeartMedia-owned news/talk stations are not highly rated (such as Dallas and Atlanta), iHeartMedia has chosen to sell popular syndicated shows such as Coast to Coast AM and Sean Hannity to rival talk stations. Syndicated morning news programs like America in The Morning (from Westwood One) and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal (from Compass Media Networks) are also heard on a few iHeartMedia-owned stations. In markets where the local iHeartMedia news/talk station does not have its own local morning show, Armstrong & Getty from KSTE Sacramento and The Michael DelGiorno Show from KLAC Nashville are often heard instead.
While most of iHeartMedia's news/talk stations carry some combination of Beck, Hannity and Noory (of Coast to Coast AM), this is not always the case. Some stations, particularly in the larger markets, fill their schedules with local hosts. In some cities, iHeartMedia owns two or three talk stations. The dominant station, such as KFI Los Angeles, KOA Denver, WLW Cincinnati and WHAS Louisville, broadcast a mostly local lineup. Secondary talk stations (KEIB Los Angeles, KDFD and KHOW Denver, WKRC Cincinnati and WKJK Louisville) carry most of the syndicated offerings from Premiere Networks.
Weekend programs heard on some iHeart-owned stations and syndicated by Premiere Networks to other talk stations include At Home with Gary Sullivan, Bill Handel, The Weekend with Michael Brown, In the Garden with Ron Wilson, Rich on Tech with Rich DeMuro, Ben Ferguson, Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham, Art Bell and The Jesus Christ Show with Neil Saavedra. Most are pre-recorded and offered to stations to air anytime on weekends they choose, although Ferguson and Cunningham do their shows live on Sunday evenings. Bell's show is made up of recorded Coast to Coast AM programs from the late 1990s and early 2000s. He died in 2018.
iHeartMedia has been active in the national trend of its AM news/talk outlets on full-power FM stations, hoping to preserve their long-term viability while AM radio declines. Examples include Sacramento where KGBY 92.5 became KFBK-FM, simulcasting KFBK 1530 AM. In Salt Lake City, 105.7 KTMY became KNRS-FM, simulcasting KNRS 570 AM. In the Albany-Schenectady-Troy market, WHRL 103.1 became WGY-FM, simulcasting WGY 810 AM. In Birmingham, WVVB 105.5 became WERC-FM, simulcasting WERC 960 AM. In Syracuse, WPHR 106.9 became WSYR-FM, simulcasting WSYR 570 AM.
Some iHeartMedia news/talk stations on the AM dial are also heard on low-power FM translator stations. Even though they are powered at only a few hundred watts, the translators allow some listeners to hear WLAC Nashville, KOA Denver and WFLA Tampa on the FM dial. In Washington D.C., iHeartMedia has a translator-only news/talk station, known as "Freedom 104.7 FM". It is heard on an HD Radio subchannel of WMZQ-FM 98.7. That feeds translator station W284CQ which broadcasts on 104.7 MHz.
In one case this caused a listener protest when iHeartMedia (then Clear Channel) wanted to change WXXM in Madison, Wisconsin, to a sports format. The outcry worked temporarily. WXXM was allowed to keep its liberal-leaning talk format for a few more years. But in November 2016, due to a general lack of syndicated progressive talk programming, WXXM flipped to classic hits.
Nearly all iHeartMedia AC stations switch to all-Christmas music for much of November and December. Some AC stations are known for playing holiday songs as early as November 1 such as WLIT-FM Chicago. Other iHeartMedia AC stations make the switch each year in early November while WLTW New York waits until the Friday before Thanksgiving.
Hot adult contemporary stations are usually branded as "Mix" (WMMX Dayton), "Star" (KMYI San Diego) or "MYfm" (KBIG Los Angeles). Some Hot AC stations lean toward modern rock while others lean toward adult hits.
Although a majority of these stations features a broad-based, mass appeal music presentation, several stations like KPRR El Paso and WKTU New York program more rhythmic material. WKTU has a sister station in WHTZ, so WKTU's playlist includes more rhythmic hits to differentiate itself from Z100.
In 2015, iHeartMedia launched the iHeartCountry franchise, including the iHeartRadio Country Festival. The Festival is a popular live music concert held each year and recorded for television.
The AM oldies stations' playlists skew somewhat older and span from 1955 to about 1975. About 60 percent of the time they play 1964 to 1969 oldies, 20 percent pre 1964 oldies, and 20 percent music from the 1970s. Some of the AM stations also run adult standards several hours on the weekend as well as limited specialized programming focusing on the pre 1964 era. Most of the AM stations are in smaller markets.
While iHeartMedia classic rock stations operate under a wide variety of monikers, many are branded as "The Fox" or "The Brew". Often, these stations will carry Bob and Tom (out of WFBQ in Indianapolis) in morning drive. In the Southern United States, John Boy and Billy (out of WRFX in Charlotte) is carried instead in most cases. (Both of the aforementioned shows are syndicated by Premiere.) Other shows include Rover's Morning Glory out of WMMS in Cleveland. Starting with WQBW Milwaukee (now the sports formatted WRNW) and WBWR Columbus (now WXZX), several iHeartMedia stations have adopted a 1980s-centered classic rock approach called "The Brew".
The company's alternative rock stations use a standardized branding under the brand "Alt".
iHeartMedia launched an annual event franchise called iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina.
The other type of religious format iHeartMedia uses in a few markets is a Gospel music based format. On these stations, Gospel Music appealing to black Americans airs most of the time, along with some block programming sold to religious groups. These stations are often programmed as urban stations that happen to be religious.
The ammonia spill was the largest of its kind in the United States, with one person killed, and over 1,000 seeking medical attention. Clear Channel claimed no responsibility for its failure to warn residents, maintaining that the city should have used the Emergency Alert System to trigger automatic equipment in place at all U.S. radio stations. The EAS equipment was later found to be functional at the time, but had not been activated by city, state or regional authorities. Other critical systems throughout Minot were either inoperable or had failed, including the public siren system, electricity in parts of the town, and the 9-1-1 telephone system, which became overloaded.
iHeartMedia has been criticized in the past for censoring opinions critical of the Republican Party. Magic, the 2007 release from Bruce Springsteen which contained songs that were subtly critical of then-president George W. Bush, a Republican, and his administration, was censored from air play on Clear Channel. After Natalie Maines, the singer of the country band Dixie Chicks, told a London audience that they were "ashamed of the president of the United States is from Texas", the band's radio airplay dropped precipitously. Afterwards, some iHeartMedia (then Clear Channel) stations removed The Dixie Chicks from their playlists without any noted repercussions from the company. Gail Austin, Clear Channel's director of programming said, "Out of respect for our troops, our city and our listeners, we have taken the Dixie Chicks off our playlists." Clear Channel was accused of orchestrating the radio blacklist by such critics as Paul Krugman; however, others claim some Clear Channel stations continued to play the band longer than some other companies.Gabriel Rossman, "Elites, Masses, and Media Blacklists: The Dixie Chicks Controversy", Social Forces: 83 (2004): 61–78.
In 2005, Clear Channel-owned KTVX was the only local television station in Salt Lake City that refused to air a paid political message of Cindy Sheehan against the war in Iraq during a visit by President Bush.
On May 8, 2014, the FCC was asked to respond to a political programming complaint made against an iHeartMedia owned broadcast licensee, Capstar TX LLC by supporters of Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, that year's Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin. Capstar would not offer free airtime on WISN radio (a station which only features local and national conservative talk shows) to respond to statements supporting Republican Governor Scott Walker. Walker's supporters had received free airtime from WISN for political purposes. Barrett supporters based their complaint on WISN's violation of the Zapple doctrine. The FCC responded by rescinding the Zapple doctrine as a no longer enforceable component of the Fairness Doctrine.
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