Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-277) and index.

Explores how the mammoth media conglomerate evolved from a local radio broadcasting operation, founded in 1972, into one of the biggest, most profitable, and most polarizing corporations in the country. As the owner at one point of more than 1,200 radio stations, 130 major concert venues and promoters, 770,000 billboards, 41 television stations, and the largest sports management business in the country, Clear Channel dominated the entertainment world , but in the fall of 2006, after years of public criticism and flattening stock prices, Goliath finally tumbled-Clear Channel Inc. sold off one-third of its radio holdings and all of its television concerns while transferring ownership to a consortium of private equity firms. Foege looks at the company's successes and abuses, showing the ways in which Clear Channel reshaped America's cultural and corporate landscapes along the way. From publisher description.

SACFinal081324