Clear Channel in Federal Probe

Responding to complaints from consumers and artists alike about allegedly coercive business tactics, the Justice Department has launched two antitrust investigations into Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation’s largest radio station owner.

San Antonio-based Clear Channel, which owns 1,200 radio stations, has long been the subject of complaints that it bullies artists, replaces local programming with automated formats and uses hard-nosed tactics against competitors -- allegations Clear Channel denies.

R. Hewitt Pate, assistant attorney general for antitrust issues, said the department’s antitrust division is investigating two sets of allegations against Clear Channel, including an allegation that the company limited airplay of artists who did not use its concert services.

He would not elaborate further Friday on the scope of the probes, which he disclosed during a congressional hearing this week.

It is unclear whether the Justice Department inquiries will lead to any actions against Clear Channel.

In an interview, Pate noted that the investigations were launched in part because of complaints made by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-North Hollywood).

Berman’s office has served as a clearinghouse of sorts for complaints about Clear Channel, which has become representative of what critics see as the dangers of media consolidation. He repeatedly has asked the Justice Department to look into the company and its business practices.

But until the congressional hearing Thursday, Berman thought his requests were going unheeded, said his spokeswoman, Gene Smith.

“People would come to us with complaints, and we’d send them to the Justice Department, but we never got any feedback,” Smith said. So when Pate disclosed the existence of the investigations Thursday, Smith added, it caught Berman and his staff by surprise. “We were like, ‘Oh my God.’ ”

Andrew Levin, Clear Channel’s senior vice president for government affairs, released a statement Friday downplaying the Justice Department probes.

“When you run a big company engaging in complex transactions, inquiries of this sort become fairly routine,” Levin said. “We are cooperating fully with all DOJ requests and we are confident the DOJ will find, as it has in the past, that our company is managed with the highest degree of integrity.”

Reuters was used in compiling this report.