Opinion: Can Clear Channel Be Cool?

CEO Bob Pittman promises to reinvent radio. Closing down his own company would be a good start, accordin to Leonard.

From Andrew Leonard, staff writer at salon.com:

Bob Pittman co-founded MTV, worked at AOL when it was relevant, if not cool, and now, reports Melissa Marr breathlessly in the Wall Street Journal, is back for an ambitious third act: he’s going to “reinvent” radio as the CEO of Clear Chanel, the giant radio station conglomerate. 

Exciting news, because if there’s one thing that the citizens of this great nation can agree on, it’s that radio generally sucks… 

But a close reading of Marr’s story suggests that to Pittman, “cool” actually means “a larger share of total ad spending.” And “reinvention” translates into little more than the company “using its scale to pitch for national business.” 

Which is precisely the problem. Because the most obvious reason why radio isn’t cool is the era of media consolidation in the radio business epitomized by Clear Channel — a fact not even whispered at in the Wall Street Journal. 

Clear Channel owns over 850 radio stations in the United States… 

Want to make radio cool again Bob? Break up Clear Channel.

Read More Here.

Tom's Take:  While I certainly empathize will with Leonard.  Pittman's job is to make money.