So - Clear Channel is for sale?

I love Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family - we usually travel about a thousand miles from home in the car - listening to local radio along the way. More on that in the future.

In between gorging myself on home-made stuffing and mashed potatoes, my sister informs her friend that I work in radio. Her friend's first response:

So - Clear Channel is for sale?

How the hell would someone not working in the biz know - or even care - about Clear Channel? A quick sample check netted me:

• She didn't work in radio
• She didn't know anyone in the biz
• She could not name one other operator

My brother (who traveled 2500 miles for Turkey Day) chimed in too.

"I know Clear Channel, they bought (calls) and killed it for country. They suck."

Since then, I have gone out of my way to ask civilians if they are aware of Clear Channel. I can't believe how many know the name.

Nobody knows a TV operator - outdoor vendor - or newspaper publisher.

But everyone agrees - Clear Channel sucks!

For the record, my brother should have said Cumulus sucks as they own the station to which he was referring. But that is the point: Clear Channel has become the "Enron" of radio. They have taken the brunt of the blame for everything that ails us.

Let's hope that when the Clear Channel empire finally goes away - people are once again referring to individual radio brands - not ownership groups.