This week iHeartMedia began litigation in a case that could set a number of precedents, something the company has done for decades. It's battling its own investors, and the outcomes will have big implications for the financial health of a one-time behemoth that went from an annual profit of $935 million a decade ago, to negative $794 million today.
Once called Clear Channel, the San Antonio-based media organization redefined the radio landscape. It's business innovations and strategies, while controversial, made a whole lot of money. Consolidating radio stations across the country, diluting localism and DJs, some argue it sowed the seeds of the medium's destruction.
As nearly a decade of quarterly losses have seen the stock price erode to less than a dollar a share, the question remains, how did they get here?
Guest:
- Alec Foege, journalist and author of "Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and The Fall of Commercial Radio"
