• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 21, 2014

Clear Channel Entertainment and Media, formerly known as Clear Channel Radio, saw total revenues increase 3% from $821.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 to $845.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013, the company announced Thursday.
 
Clear Channel’s radio revenues rose thanks to increases in national and digital advertising, as well as promotional and event sponsorship, including the Jingle Ball tour, iHeartRadio Music Festival and album releases.

But this increase was offset by declines at Clear Channel Outdoor and in “other revenues,” so total revenues for parent company Clear Channel Communications were basically flat at $1.69 billion. The decline in outdoor ad revenues for the Americas was attributed to lost contracts at Clear Channel Airports and the absence of revenues from a network of 77 digital billboards in Los Angeles, shut down by court order in April 2013.
 
The company has been expanding its events and content distribution partnerships. Clear Channel Communications CEO Bob Pittman noted: “We further expanded our events business -- reaching nearly 4 billion social impressions with December’s Jingle Ball national tour, following up on September’s iHeartRadio Music Festival’s 2.3 billion social impressions. We also partnered with The CW Network to air 7 shows on broadcast TV, reaching over 50 million TV viewers.”
 
Earlier this month, Clear Channel signed an unusual $100 million, multi-year agreement with Horizon Media, giving Horizon clients an array of advertising, sponsorship and integrated-marketing opportunities across Clear Channel’s portfolio of media properties and entertainment venues.
 
Overall, Clear Channel’s radio division seems to have fared better than the rest of the industry in the fourth quarter. Cumulus Media, the owner of the country’s second-largest radio network, saw revenues increase 4.5% from $263.5 million to $275.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013, due mostly to the acquisition of Westwood One and a station swap with Townsquare Media in November and December 2013. When these deals are excluded, Cumulus total revenues increased 1% year-over-year.
 
Emmis Communications saw total radio revenues in its third quarter (including September, October, and November) edge up 0.4%. Beasley Broadcast Group saw total revenues slip 0.5% from $27.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 to $27.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. Entercom Communications saw total revenues dip 2% from $102.1 million to $99.6 million over the same period. And Radio One’s total revenues slipped 2.2%, mostly due to the absence of political ads. If political ads are excluded, total revenues were up 5%.

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