iHeartMedia Inc. owns, as well as operates, over 858 radio stations and serves more than 150 markets throughout America. (iHeartMedia) Formerly known as Clear Channel Inc., iHeartMedia was founded by Lowry Mays and B.J. McCombs in 1972. With over 22,000 employees, 17,900 domestic employees and 4,400 international employees, it isn’t hard to imagine how big iHeartMedia Inc. is. (iHeartMedia). The company’s corporate office is located in San Antonio, Texas. By […]

Intro With 93% of Americans listening weekly, radio is the number 1 medium in terms of reach (Cunningham, 2015). Entercom Communications, is one of the country’s two largest radio broadcasters, covering close to 90% of people 12+ in the top 50 markets (Entercom, 2018). In 1968, radio was established by then, Joseph M. Field founded Entercom in Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Entercom developed slowly due to its financial constraints and ownership limits set by […]

SiriusXM recently celebrated its 10th birthday, continuing to thrive as a mega giant within the audio entertainment industry. In 2017, the satellite radio company reported $5.4 billion in revenues, touting 32.7 million subscribers to their 200-channel lineup of content (“Full Year 2017,” 2018). SiriusXM started out as Sirius Satellite Radio, co-founded by David Margolese and Robert Briskman in 1992 (Dillon, 2000). The entrepreneurs were first to take advantage of the […]

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was a game changer in the broadcasting industry. It removed restrictions on ownership which transformed the industry from an oligopoly to a more competitive one (Economides, 1998).  Lewis W. Dickey Jr. and Richard Weening founded Cumulus Media in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a result of this Act. Cumulus Media went public in 1998 and purchased 167 broadcast stations (Zoll, 2015). Their goal was to acquire stations […]

The Beginning and the Basics Pandora Media is the country’s oldest and most influential internet radio platform. Its beginnings and success are grounded in one basic thing which is a passion for music. Founder Tim Westergren had a quandary almost 20 years ago: there are undiscovered musicians everywhere, but there was no way to listen to them anywhere, anytime. Westergren knew there was a way to get them noticed through […]