Clear Channel Posts Loss; Radio Revenue for Last Year Was Up 2% at Clear Channel

Radio at Clear Channel is now a $3.75 billion business. That means the company accounts for about 18-19% of U.S. commercial radio revenue.
The largest U.S. radio broadcaster is out with its numbers for the last quarter and all of last year. Radio at Clear Channel was up 2% last year, to $3.75 billion.
To put that in perspective, the RAB has estimated that all of U.S. commercial radio brought in about $20 billion.
Revenues for the parent company Clear Channel Communications, including outdoor and other businesses, were up 1% in the fourth quarter, to $2.31 billion, and for all of 2004, parent company’s revenue was up 5%, to $9.4 billion.
But the company reported a loss of $4.7 billion in the fourth quarter, all due to an accounting change to comply with federal rules.
President/CEO Mark Mays said in a statement, “We delivered record financial results in 2004 by focusing on improving our existing operations and driving profitability in our businesses. For the year, we repurchased nearly $2 billion in shares of common stock and declared $265.2 million in dividends to shareholders. Operationally, 2004 marked a year where we focused on leading change within the industries in which we compete.”
Clear Channel radio revenues were led by local advertising in small to mid-size markets; national ad revenue declined thanks in part to drop-offs in the categories of retail, automotive and telecom/utility. It said it began to see growth at the end of the year in national advertising.
CFO Randall Mays said 2004 “showed, yet again, the ability of our businesses to generate significant free cash flow.”