FCC OKs Deal To Take Largest US Radio Broadcaster Private

By JOHN DUNBAR Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Communications Commission has signed off on the $19.5 billion deal that will take the nation’s largest radio broadcaster private, an agency official said Thursday.

San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications Inc. grew into a media giant and punching bag for foes of media consolidation following a 1996 law that eliminated the national limit on how many radio stations a single company may own.

Clear Channel is being taken private by a group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital Partners LLC for $39.20 a share. Shareholders already have approved the transaction.

An agency official, who asked not to be identified because the approval has yet to be announced, said all five commissioners had approved the deal.

A formal announcement spelling out the details of the transfer of Clear Channel’s broadcast licenses to the new owner will likely be released next week. The buyout still needs approval from the Justice Department.

When the company announced the buyout in November 2006, it said it would sell 448 of its 1,150 radio stations, all located in smaller markets, in deals separate from the larger transaction.

Clear Channel also owns a lucrative outdoor advertising business, with billboards in high-profile locations like Times Square in New York and Atlantic City, N.J., and is one of the nation’s largest television broadcasters.

The company sold off its television stations in a separate transaction. The FCC approved the $1.3 billion sale of 35 television stations in December.

The new owners are Newport Television LLC, a private equity group controlled by Providence Equity Partners.

The deal will require the sale of stations in some markets. Calls to Clear Channel requesting comment Thursday were not immediately returned.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)