Suit Against Clear Channel Dismissed

A federal judge in Miami dismissed a lawsuit Friday that accused Clear Channel Communications Inc. of trying to squeeze competitors out of the booming Spanish-language radio market.

The lawsuit, brought in June by Spanish Broadcasting System Inc., also was viewed as an attempt to derail Los Angeles-based Univision Communications Inc.’s planned $2-billion acquisition of Hispanic Broadcasting Corp., a rival radio company with five stations in Los Angeles. Clear Channel owns 26% of Hispanic Broadcasting.

Univision is awaiting approval of the deal from federal regulators, who are reviewing the potential antitrust implications of the merger.

Nonetheless, the company said it expected the federal go-ahead soon, and it has scheduled a Feb. 28 vote by shareholders to ratify the deal.

U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz wrote that Spanish Broadcasting failed to prove that other Spanish-language radio companies suffered from Clear Channel’s presence in the market.

The catalyst for the lawsuit, she wrote, was Hispanic Broadcasting’s June announcement that it was being acquired by Univision -- after two years of merger talks that Dallas-based Hispanic had held with Spanish Broadcasting of Coconut Grove, Fla.

Spanish Broadcasting said it would appeal.