Clear Channel Communications Inc

Now receiving prime billing in Los Angeles: digital billboards that advertisers see as a way to break through the marketing clutter. But the bright lights of these signs make many people cringe. Critics say they are a driving distraction and a neighborhood eyesore that should be forbidden. But, in fact, digital signs are multiplying.

Radio industry leader Clear Channel Communications Inc. has agreed to use a new electronic rating system in the top 50 U.S. markets, a person familiar with the agreement said. The electronic audience measurement system is aimed at replacing a decades-old system of paper diaries. Several other radio broadcasters have already agreed to use the new system from Arbitron Inc. A person familiar with the situation said Friday that the Clear Channel deal covered the top 50 U.S.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. said the Mays family would continue to lead the radio broadcaster after its purchase for $19.5 billion by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. Lowry Mays, founder and chairman, will continue to serve in the new corporation and plans to invest in the company, San Antonio-based Clear Channel said in a regulatory filing. Mark Mays will remain chief executive and Randall Mays will continue as president and chief financial officer..

The board of Clear Channel Communications Inc. accepted a sweetened offer Friday from private equity firms trying to buy the radio and billboard company. The offer of $39.20 a share is similar to one the board rejected two weeks ago. Last week, the board postponed its scheduled vote on the earlier $39-a-share offer at the urging of some shareholders. The new offer by the equity group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners is valued at about $19.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. said it was delaying a shareholder vote on a buyout proposed by two private equity firms as it considered a higher, revised $19.6-billion offer by the bidders. The new proposal values San Antonio-based Clear Channel at $39.20 a share rather than $39 a share. The company said it was in talks with the bidders, Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. said it agreed to sell its 56 television stations to a private equity firm for $1.2 billion. The San Antonio-based company had announced in November that it would sell the stations, part of a divestiture that included the possible sale of 448 radio stations. Providence Equity Partners Inc. will acquire the TV stations by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval.

The buyout of Clear Channel Communications Inc. remains anything but clear. The high-stakes poker game to own the nation's largest radio broadcasting firm and billboard giant took another turn Wednesday when, on the eve of a shareholder vote, the company agreed to a sweetened, $39-a-share takeover offer from private equity investors valued at $19.5 billion. The bid by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners is about 4% higher than what they bid in November.

Google Inc. and Clear Channel Communications Inc. announced a long-term agreement Sunday that will allow the Internet search leader to place advertising for its online customers on more than 675 Clear Channel radio stations. "This radio partnership with Clear Channel is a pretty big statement that Google is in the radio industry to stay and have a big impact," said Drew Hilles, Google Audio's national sales director.

Federal regulators Friday announced an unprecedented settlement with four radio broadcast companies on charges of accepting cash and merchandise from record companies in exchange for airplay. The four broadcasters will pay a combined $12.5-million fine and agree that their 1,653 stations will not engage in payola practices, according to a consent decree with the Federal Communications Commission. The radio companies involved -- Clear Channel Communications Inc., CBS Radio Inc.