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Bob Pittman Named CEO Of CC Media Holdings
October 2, 2011 at 2:19 PM (PT)
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CC MEDIA HOLDINGS announced TODAY (10/2) that BOB PITTMAN will become its Chief Executive Officer. PITTMAN joined CLEAR CHANNEL in NOVEMBER 2010 as an investor and the company’s Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms.
PITTMAN will join the Board of Directors of CC MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC. and CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.; in addition, he will join the Board of Directors of CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR HOLDINGS, INC., as its Executive Chairman. These appointments are effective immediately.
We are so much more than just transmitters and broadcast towers. We leverage local brands, personalities, strategic relationships and programming expertise to create unique experiences that forge real connections with consumers ...
In his new role, PITTMAN will oversee the company’s businesses, which include:
CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO, which serves 150 cities through 850 owned radio stations and an additional 100 cities and 4,000 stations through its syndicated PREMIER RADIO NETWORKS products. CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO also includes:
* CLEAR CHANNEL DIGITAL, which develops and operates iHEARTRADIO, the free, industry-leading digital radio product that combines access to all of CLEAR CHANNEL's live broadcast and digital-only radio stations as well as user-created Custom Stations. CLEAR CHANNEL DIGITAL also develops the companion digital products for each radio station brand, including strong social components;
* Media Services for the radio, media, digital, mobile and music industries, including TOTAL TRAFFIC NETWORK, a groundbreaking programming and technology service delivering real-time traffic data to vehicles via in-car and portable navigation systems, broadcast media, wireless and Internet-based services; THE KATZ MEDIA GROUP, the leading media representation firm in the U.S. for radio and television stations; and RCS, which provides scheduling and broadcast software for radio, internet and television station in addition to research studies that aid the media and music businesses.
Duties Include CC Outdoor
CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR HOLDINGS, which is one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies with close to one million displays in over 40 countries across five continents. CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR includes:
* AMERICAS OUTDOOR ADVERTISING, which owns or operates nearly 190,000 displays across the UNITED STATES, CANADA and LATIN AMERICA including operations in 49 of the 50 largest markets in the UNITED STATES. THE AMERICAS business consist of various types of displays that include billboards; street furniture; transit displays; the CLEAR CHANNEL Airports division, which is the premier innovator of contemporary display concepts and currently operates more than 260 airport programs across the globe; mall displays; wallscapes; and spectaculars including SPECTACOLOR, a market leader in spectacular sign displays, with displays located in NEW YORK's Times Square. The Company has been a leader in the development and operation of digital displays and networks across many of its U.S. markets.
* INTERNATIONAL OUTDOOR ADVERTISING operates across ASIA, AUSTRALIA and EUROPE with displays across nearly 30 countries. The International business consists of street furniture and transit displays, billboards, mall displays, wallscapes and spectaculars. CLEAR CHANNEL INTERNATIONAL's street furniture division operates over 3,500 municipal advertising contracts worldwide.
Pittman will also remain a member of PILOT GROUP, LLC, a NEW YORK-based private investment firm.
"On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to express how delighted I am that BOB has accepted this position," said CC MEDIA HOLDINGS Chairman MARK MAYS. "He has been an invaluable contributor to CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO since last NOVEMBER, and he is the perfect person to take CLEAR CHANNEL to the next level. I look forward to his leadership of our company."
"BOB PITTMAN brings a long history as a brilliant innovator and brand builder -- from his days as a very successful radio programmer, creator of MTV and CEO of MTV NETWORKS to his work helping to drive the phenomenal growth of AOL and his successful investments in other digital, media and technology companies. He has already generated a renewed sense of confidence and direction not only at CLEAR CHANNEL, but across the entire radio and media landscape," said THL PARTNERS Co-Pres. SCOTT SPERLING.
"I’m thrilled we were able recruit BOB into the CEO role at CLEAR CHANNEL. He is the perfect fit to lead this incredibly powerful media platform. He embraces creativity, and has given employees the motivation and freedom to innovate, take risks and succeed," said BAIN VAPITAL Managing Dir. JOHN CONNAUGHTON. "He thinks big, is not afraid of change and is intensely focused on driving new businesses, expanding our creative talent and maximizing the full value of CLEAR CHANNEL's extraordinary assets, ideas and people."
Pittman Comments
"Over the past year, I’ve had the unique opportunity to look at the CLEAR CHANNEL people and assets up close and have found myself increasingly drawn to the company, to the point where the chance to get even more deeply involved has just become irresistible," said PITTMAN. "I know first-hand that we have great people and the assets that allow them to do great things. We are so much more than just transmitters and broadcast towers -- we leverage our local brands, personalities, strategic relationships and programming expertise to create unique experiences that forge real connections with consumers across our multiple platforms."PITTMAN continued, "I look forward to continuing to work closely with JOHN HOGAN and the CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO team to grow our company as we strengthen relationships with our consumers, advertisers, artists, labels and partners, nationally and locally -- and I’m excited by the opportunity to work with RON COOPER and WILLIAM ECCLESHARE to help them make the most of our outdoor advertising potential by tapping into CLEAR CHANNEL’s assets as a whole. I believe we have the technologies, the physical infrastructure, the content and, most importantly, the people to market to consumers better than any other media company in the world."
Pittman's Personal Note To Clear Channel Employees
Following the formal press release, PITTMAN sent the following note to all of CLEAR CHANNEL:
I wanted to let you know personally how excited and honored I am to be the new CEO of CC MEDIA HOLDINGS. I had decided a number of years ago that I would not take a job like this again, but after investing in CLEAR CHANNEL and watching this company up close over the last ten months as Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms, my excitement about the people and the opportunities made this just too much for me to resist.
This is an amazing company by almost every measure. CLEAR CHANNEL Radio is the largest media company in the United States -- reaching well over 200 million listeners each month and outpacing the largest TV networks -- and even Facebook and Google -- in theU.S. And the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas just over a week ago was very tangible evidence of what we can do with that kind of incredible scale -- we can make history.
CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR is an equally amazing story. One of the leading Outdoor companies in the world, reaching 45 countries with close to a million displays worldwide. With that kind of reach, there is no other company that can better serve the major global and local brand companies who look to us to connect their products and services to their consumers. And our leadership in the newest and most cutting edge digital technologies adds yet another level of service and offerings.
The best part is that we're just getting started! We've got the right talent in this company to unleash new, exciting ideas for our consumers, our partners, our advertisers and our communities -- and, in the process, put great distance between us and our competitors in each segment in which we operate.
In addition, we can all use these tremendous assets to build innovative new products that excite our customers and provide new areas for revenue and earnings growth -- and make this an even more energizing and rewarding place to work.
The world is changing rapidly, but because of our assets and talent we view this as an opportunity, not a threat. I've spent time with a number of companies which deal with many different aspects of this new frontier, and I'm convinced there is no better company than CLEAR CHANNEL to take advantage of these new opportunities. It will mean we're always looking for new ideas, that we embrace change in pursuit of leadership and creativity, that we work with urgency to move faster than our competitors and surprise our customers with how fast we respond to their needs and tastes, and that we collaborate with each other to build teams that are stronger, smarter, faster and more engaged than any of us could be individually.
The MAYS family built an incredible company. Now we're on a mission to take this company to the next level of success and innovation. I hope you share my excitement and passion for our mission and our opportunities, and that you will find the next stage of CLEAR CHANNEL’s growth both fun and rewarding. You've got a lot to be proud of, and as we are able to look back year after year and examine our accomplishments, I hope that pride only increases.
Thanks for the opportunity to join you on this mission. I consider myself very lucky.
I look forward to meeting you personally in the days and weeks to come.
BOB