RADIO INDUSTRY Man accuses Clear Channel of using 'fronts'

A local executive for the radio giant said the company closely follows federal regulations.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Chillicothe man fighting to stop Clear Channel Communications from buying a 12th radio station in central Ohio is using the Youngstown radio market to illustrate his case in a petition filed with federal regulators.
David Ringer, who also owns a business in Chillicothe, filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission claiming Clear Channel uses front companies to run its stations as a way to avoid antitrust prosecution.
The FCC sets limits on the number of stations a company can operate in a market area.
"Clear Channel has been playing an elaborate shell game with its radio station assets," the petition states.
The petition asks the FCC to bar Clear Channel's plan to buy WKKJ in Chillicothe and lists the Youngstown area, along with Pensacola, Fla., and Jacksonville, Fla., as markets where the radio and entertainment business giant has used front companies in its communications with the FCC.
Bill Kelly, a Clear Channel area vice president based in the company's Boardman office, said he could not comment specifically on a pending legal matter, but added that Clear Channel closely follows FCC regulations. He said Clear Channel owns or operates seven stations in Youngstown, three in the New Castle area and three in Ashtabula.
Petition: Clear Channel, based in San Antonio, Texas, already owns three of the four stations licensed in Chillicothe and either owns or operates 11 stations in the Columbus-Chillicothe market, Ringer's petition says. He argues that the sale of WKKJ would reduce competition and result in higher prices for radio advertising in the market.
Ringer's petition says the Concord Media Group, which FCC documents list as the owner of WKKJ in Chillicothe and the operator of several Youngstown area stations, is "nothing more than a shell company operated entirely for the benefit of Clear Channel."
To support that allegation the petition includes copies of documents filed with the FCC by two different companies, Concord Media of Odessa, Fla., and Youngstown Radio License LLC of Charlotte, N.C., for radio stations WTNX-FM in Sharpsville, Pa., and WPAO-AM in Farrell, Pa.
A third form filed by Youngstown Radio License LLC, but this time with a San Antonio, Texas, mailing address, includes WPAO and WTNX in its list of 10 stations, most of which are well-known Clear Channel properties such as WNIO-AM, WMXY-FM and WKBN-AM.
WTNX-FM and WPAO-AM, were not known to be Clear Channel properties at the time, the petition says. "The anomaly can be explained," it states, "if one accepts the premise that Clear Channel controls both Concord Media and Youngstown Radio License LLC."
Kelly said WAKZ is now operated by Clear Channel under different call letters, and WPAO was sold to a Cleveland company.
Competitor: Tom Pappas of Cumulus Communications, also a major radio station owner in the Youngstown area, said he wasn't aware of the issues Ringer's complaint raises about Clear Channel. Cumulus, based in Atlanta, operates seven stations in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.
Pappas said he's more concerned about Clear Channel's ownership of billboard companies and concert ticket outlets because it puts other stations in the position of having to buy advertising and tickets from their competition.
Clear Channel is the largest radio company in the United States, with $5.8 billion in revenues in 2000 and also is one of the world's largest outdoor advertising companies and promoters.
vinarsky@vindy.com