IHeartMedia

iHeartMedia acquired its first FM station in San Antonio, Texas in 1972, followed by clear channel medium wave station WOAI in 1975.

In 1986, Clear Channel acquired its first stations outside of San Antonio. In 1992, the U.S. Congress relaxed the rules on radio station ownership slightly, allowing companies to acquire more than two stations per market. By 1995, Clear Channel owned 43 radio stations and 16 television stations. In 1996, the Telecommunications Act again relaxed the laws. Clear Channel took the opportunity to acquire 70 other media companies and individual stations.

Since the 1990s, iHeartMedia has faced constant criticism. Critics accuse iHeart of exploiting its market share. After the Telecommunications Act relaxations, the company spent nearly US$30 billion and to date has acquired nearly 858 stations nationwide, including up to 7 stations within a market. Despite complaints from listeners and competitors, iHeartMedia has been able to retain nearly all of its stations.

In 2017, iHeartMedia announced it would acquire some of its stations with Entercom Communications. Entercom acquired CBS Radio, giving it dominant market power in some radio markets, which has been criticized by the FCC.

After iHeart Media, Cumulus Media, Salem Media Group and Entercom, all much smaller companies, are competitors in the radio station market. iHeart Media is present in 150 radio markets.

Known radio stations

iHeart Media now owns, mostly through sub-companies, quite a few strong medium wave stations, many legacy US radio stations and countless FM stations. These include:

• WGY, New York
• WLW, Cincinnati, Ohio
• WLAC, Nashville, Tennessee
• WLIT-FM, Chicago, Illinois
• WSIX Nashville, Tennessee
• KWTX, Waco, Texas
• KFAB, Omaha, Nebraska
• KOA, Denver, Colorado
• KEX, Portland, Oregon