Clear Channel rebrands to iHeartMedia

[TrueYankee26]

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-17/iheartmedia-clear-channel-looks-for-digital-love-with-a-new-name

[The_Admiral]

Ahhhh, you can't-a fool-a me, you're still the crappiest radio conglomerate

[CS85]

That's pretty insulting. At least with ClearChannel it's a porridge-thin name that means nothing besides vaguely communicating their product. Rebranding to IHeartMedia is basically the corporate equivalent of putting a teddy bear mask on a black widow.

[infrared41]

Ahhhh, you can't-a fool-a me, you're still the crappiest radio conglomerate

This may come as a surprise, but Clear Channel isn't a bad place to work. I worked for them for a couple years and it wasn't bad at all. That said, Clear Channel ruined radio. I liked their money, but in 2000 I decided I liked my soul more and quit.

That's pretty insulting. At least with ClearChannel it's a porridge-thin name that means nothing besides vaguely communicating their product. Rebranding to IHeartMedia is basically the corporate equivalent of putting a teddy bear mask on a black widow.

Pretty much. Also, Clear Channel is a better name.

[sc49erfan15]

What an idiotic and already-dated name. iHeartRadio was at least a serviceable name for the app. For the whole company, though? Stupid.

[PhantomDreamer]

What an idiotic and already-dated name. iHeartRadio was at least a serviceable name for the app. For the whole company, though? Stupid.

iHeartMedia

[Arts11]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's wrong with Clear Channel/i heart radio? I use that app from time to time on my phone because it offers a couple stations from back home that I don't get locally after I moved.

[The_Admiral]

The consolidation of radio ownership pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has ruined the radio industry. Bill Clinton signed a law that purported to increase competition in telecommunications by allowing corporations to own more than one AM and FM station in each media market, which is like teaching a teenager to be safe by handing him car keys and a bottle of Jack. Today, pretty much every radio station now is owned by Clear Channel, CBS, Cumulus, or Entercom. Consider then that Clear Channel itself was a property of Bain Capital, and you don't have to use your imagination to figure out how bean-counters in corporate offices would devise ways to slash costs down to virtually nothing by paying jocks for only an hour's work of pre-recording a five-hour shift, programming individual stations from a central location, even having traffic reporters give "local" updates for several markets around the country, all from in front a computer in those central offices. Those of us here who have worked in radio (infrared, Sodboy, Mac the Knife, me) tend to bristle at the cheap and soulless state of modern commercial radio, and Clear Channel -- oh, excuse me, iHeartMedia -- has led the way.

[BBTV]

Not only that but when one or two companies own just about all of the stations, it gives them the ability to essentially censor content and control what goes on the air.

[cajunaggie08]

I saw this coming. Some of the station websites would link to an iheart.com website. I agree that its a terrible name. It shows how far radio has fallen when all of their hope lays in a knock off pandora app.

Side note: the business schools at UT and A&M are each named after a co-founder of Clear Channel. We've been stuck with bad radio in Texas for a long time.

[CLEstones]

I'm fine with the name change. I think the logo is perfect. Its simple, its minimalistic, it is easily recognizable, it has some room for interpretation. Except for their lack of sports programming, they have some of the better radio stations, especially in my area, including a 24/7 Rover's Morning Glory replay channel.

[Gary]

Ahhhh, you can't-a fool-a me, you're still the crappiest radio conglomerate

This may come as a surprise, but Clear Channel isn't a bad place to work. I worked for them for a couple years and it wasn't bad at all. That said, Clear Channel ruined radio. I liked their money, but in 2000 I decided I liked my soul more and quit.

That's pretty insulting. At least with ClearChannel it's a porridge-thin name that means nothing besides vaguely communicating their product. Rebranding to IHeartMedia is basically the corporate equivalent of putting a teddy bear mask on a black widow.

Pretty much. Also, Clear Channel is a better name.

Agree with Red, when Clear Channel bought the station I worked at back in 2000 I was a intern. Was hired on full time in 2001. Was a great company to work for, but they made the station I worked for worst as far as morale and tried to get talent there to quit. Most of them ran to the rival company that is now Arizona Sports 98.7. I would never work there again if it were me.

The name change, I am not a fan of

[Saint Zephyr III]

I can't help but chuckle at the prospect that Clear Channel, arguably the most reviled company in music (and most certainly the death of radio as a legitimate medium of communication), going with an adorable "friendly" name like that. It'd be like Weyland-Yustani changing its name to Happy Star Inc.

[JQK]

Ahhhh, you can't-a fool-a me, you're still the crappiest radio conglomerate

*cough*Cumulus*cough*

[Captain Tsubasa]

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-17/iheartmedia-clear-channel-looks-for-digital-love-with-a-new-name

That's a really well done icon... for creampies!