Attorney pushes for Clear Channel scrutiny

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

The Federal Communications Commission should investigate Clear Channel
Communications Inc.'s business practices, wrote Washington, D.C.-based attorney
Arthur Belendiuk to FCC chairman Michael Powell Friday.

On behalf of clients David Ringer and M&M Broadcasting, Belendiuk has
filed petitions at the FCC outlining allegations that Clear Channel uses front
companies to buy and hold radio stations for itself until the FCC's rules change
in its favor.

Belendiuk has focused on radio stations in Chillicothe and Columbus, Ohio;
Waco, Texas; and Hudson and Catskill, N.Y.

The FCC's Mass Media bureau approved the transfer of radio licenses to Clear
Channel in the New York markets Jan. 17, and Belendiuk would like the agency to
hold that approval until it can examine the company.

Last week, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) also asked the FCC and the
Department of Justice to investigate Clear Channel.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.