Clear Channel spent $819,000 in Fourth Quarter lobbying Congress

story by AP


Clear Channel Communications Inc., a radio station operator (near monopoly owning more than a thousand US radio stations) and outdoor advertising company, spent nearly $819,000 in the fourth quarter lobbying the federal government.

That's higher than the $790,000 it spent in the third quarter but less than the $900,000 incurred in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Clear Channel lobbied on digital billboards (no plaster would be needed), radio ownership rules (own more automated radio stations?) and enforcement of broadcast indecency standards (hmmm...really).

The company also lobbied on proposals for the Federal Communications Commission to reinstate the "Fairness Doctrine," a policy that called for holders of broadcast licenses to air key issues to the public in a way that presents a diversity of opinions (that's a good one).

The San Antonio, Texas, company lobbied Congress and the FCC, according to a filing made Jan. 19 with the House clerk's office.