And certainly not to fuel IBOCCRock, but if this may be an indicator
that the financial interests that have been screwing with RADIO for the
past decade, are about to slide out of the mess they've created, and
move on to other pastures.

Talk about your Good News/Bad News.

Radio was never meant to be a Wall Street investment commodity. A
business, yes. But not the kind of business that MBA's salivate over.
When Money got into broadcasting, much of the public service commitment
left the building. There's little or no money in public service. News
became a profit center, and as such had to become entertainment. News,
when correctly done, is not, and never will be a high profile profit
center. It may pay for itself, but News, correctly done, is expensive
and it's messy.

And it's a key part of public service.

What passes for Radio, today, like television, is a commodity.

It may be that the money guys are starting to see that Radio, the
public, and themselves are not best served as a commodity.


If this signals a resetting of priorities...there may be some hope.
And a realization that, for those of us who still believe in shortwave,
profit is not the Only Thing.

Then, again, the brain surgeons in the corner offices at Radio are
not known for 'getting it.'

I don't need to mention any names.



From AllAccess.com


Clear Channel Buy-Out Doubts Keep Growing
Deal Still Likely, But Doubts Are Growing

I don't see anything yet that indicates the deal won't go through...



The $19.5 Billion leveraged buy-out of CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS,
could be the next victim of the storm in the deal world, reports THE
FINANCIAL TIMES. Skepticism that THOMAS H LEE and BAIN CAPITAL will go
through with their purchase on the original terms has been fed by the
falling share prices of comparable companies.

CLEAR CHANNEL's stock traded yesterday at $35.06, a discount to the
$39.20 price the buyers agreed in MAY 2007, which suggests that
investors are betting against the deal. "It is susceptible to recession
but that was built into the plan," said one person familiar with the
thinking of the buying group. "There is no good reason to walk."

The purchase is expected to receive FCC approval as early as the end of
this week. Bankers familiar with the transaction say the buyers are
unlikely to do anything before regulators sign off on the deal, if only
to keep their options open.

"I don't see anything yet that indicates the deal won't go through,"
said one senior banker involved in the deal. "But there are a lot of
undercurrents, including the fact that the returns for the sponsors are
terrible and the break-up fee isn't huge."

A Tougher Viewpoint

24/7WALLST.COM takes a harsher view, writing "the odds that the buyers
of CLEAR CHANNEL (CCU) will walk on the deal are probably north of 99%.
The total value of the buy-out is $19.5 billion. According to the FT
'skepticism that THOMAS H. LEE and BAIN CAPITAL will go through with
their purchase on the original terms has been fed by the falling share
prices of comparable companies.'"

If the private equity buyers walk away, they would be likely to have to
pay a $500 Million break-up fee to the company.

Some of the banks providing the debt are also committed to coming up
with some of the equity and would share in paying that fee. Banks have
been trying to reduce financing commitments for buy-outs. Even when the
deal was first struck, in NOVEMBER 2006, competitors to THOMAS H LEE and
BAIN CAPITAL thought the terms aggressive.

When contacted by ALL ACCESS, a CLEAR CHANNEL spokesperson declined
comment.