• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 2, 2011

The nation's largest radio and outdoor advertising company has a new boss: Clear Channel Media Holdings named Bob Pittman, currently a CC Media Holdings investor and chairman of media and entertainment platforms, CEO.

Pittman will join the board of directors for CC Media Holdings, Clear Channel Communications, and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, in the last instance as executive chairman.

"We are so much more than just transmitters and broadcast towers," stated Pittman. "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 founded MTV in 1981 and was president of AOL before the ill-fated merger with Time Warner, before resigning as COO of AOL/Time Warner in April 2002. Before this, he participated in the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications to create Time Warner, where he served as president and CEO from 1991-1995. He also served as CEO of Century 21 Real Estate from 1995-1996.

His appointment comes at a key strategic juncture for CC Media Holdings, whose main properties, Clear Channel Radio and Clear Channel Outdoor, are both transitioning to new digital platforms. On the radio side, the promotional effort includes a high-profile concert in Las Vegas from September 23-34 promoting CCR's new "iHeartRadio" digital platform.

The new iHeartRadio platform is the product of integration with Thumbplay, acquired by Clear Channel in March of this year. CCR is positioning iHeartRadio as a free alternative to Pandora by offering music on demand, custom stations and new listening suggestions based on their preferences.

As before, the new iHeartRadio platform also includes access to digital streaming from broadcast stations and a variety of digital-only stations, which Clear Channel says will be commercial-free until the end of the year.