Miriam Jacqueline Stevenson (born July 4, 1933) is an American television host, actress, former model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1954. She was the first American to win the title, and had previously been crowned Miss USA 1954. Prior to Miss USA, Stevenson was Miss South Carolina USA 1954. She also represented South Carolina in Miss America 1954 after winning Miss South Carolina 1953, where she placed in the top ten.

At Miss Universe, Stevenson received a tied final score with Martha Rocha of Brazil. In order to break the tie, the woman deemed to have the better physique was crowned the winner, due to a major sponsor of the pageant being Catalina Swimwear. This was determined to be Stevenson, due to having "fitter" hips than Rocha. She was crowned Miss Universe by outgoing titleholder Christiane Martel of France. At the end of her reign, she crowned Hillevi Rombin of Sweden as Miss Universe 1955.

After acting at Universal Studios in Hollywood for one year through a film contract she won as part of her Miss Universe package, Stevenson made headlines in Variety when she announced that she would be returning home to South Carolina to finish her education at Lander University instead of continuing her work in Hollywood. In South Carolina, Stevenson found work hosting television programs for WIS, the local NBC affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina. Here she met her husband Donald Upton; they have two children together, with their son Donald Jr. being a former telecom executive and founder of the global economic development and public affairs firm Fairfield Index, Inc. Until the 1970s, Stevenson was active in the media as a model, television presenter, and actress in national commercials, and also participated as a judge at several Miss Universe competitions.

References

1933 births
20th-century American actresses
American beauty pageant winners
American female models
American film actresses
American television hosts
Lander University alumni
Living people
Miss America 1950s delegates
Miss Universe 1954 contestants
Miss Universe winners
Miss USA winners
People from Winnsboro, South Carolina
21st-century American women

Miriam Stevenson


Two versions of Medusa were created by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, one in 1596 and the other in ca. 1597. Both depict the moment from Greek mythology in which the Gorgon Medusa is killed by the demigod Perseus, but the Medusas are also self-portraits. Due to its bizarre and intricate design, the painting is said to display Caravaggio's unique fascination with violence and realism. The Medusa was commissioned by the Italian diplomat Francesco Maria del Monte, who planned to gift the commemorative shield to Ferdinando I de' Medici and have it placed in the Medici collection. It is now located in the Uffizi Museum in Florence without signature.

History
In the 1590s, Caravaggio was working in Rome, and his success and wealth were increasing. However, the time in which he painted the two versions of the Medusa was characterized by several run-ins with the law.  In July 1597, Caravaggio and his partner Prospero Orsi became involved as witnesses in a crime that occurred near San Luigi de' Francesi. In one instance, a barber named Luca gave a testimony about Caravaggio where he provided a description regarding his mysterious attire:  "This painter is a stocky young man…with a thin black beard, thick eyebrows and black eyes, who goes dressed all in black, in a rather disorderly fashion, wearing black hose that is a little bit threadbare, and who has a thick head of hair, long over his forehead." At the time, there was an unsolved case in which two items were reported as being missing—a dark cloak and a small dagger. As a result of his mysterious behavior and affiliation with cloaks, Caravaggio was arrested several times. He told authorities that he liked dressing in dark attire to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself, which was also why he preferred to make late night trips. On May 4, 1598, he was arrested again for possessing a sword in public, and defended himself by saying:   "I carry the sword by right because I am Painter to Cardinal del Monte. I am in his service and live in his house. I am entered on his household payroll."
Caravaggio's paintings were never in tune with the idealized themes that were prevalent during the time period. Instead, he became more intrigued with the idea of realism and incorporated it into his paintings such as Boy with a Basket of Fruit, The Fortune Teller, The Cardsharps, Bacchus, and even The Musicians, which were all painted within the same time period. When he painted Medusa, Caravaggio hit a great milestone in his life - he was given a chance to decorate the Contarelli Chapel, in which he created realistic images regarding the life of St. Matthew himself. Some of these paintings include Saint Matthew and the Angel, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, and The Calling of Saint Matthew. This opportunity to paint the chapel gave him great advantage and a sense of motivation to incorporate more realism in his artworks.

Versions
The first version of the painting, created in 1596, is known as Murtula. It was named after poet Gaspare Murtola, who wrote of Medusa, "flee, for if your eyes are petrified in amazement, she will turn you to stone." It measures 48 by 55 cm in length and is signed Michel A F (Latin: ), meaning "Michel Angelo made [this]." This work is privately owned.

The second version of the painting is known as Medusa (Italian: Testa di Medusa). It is slightly bigger than the first, measuring 60×55 cm in length. Although the work is not signed or dated, it is believed by some to have been completed in 1597. It is held in the Uffizi Museum.

Subject matter
The painting depicts the severed head of Medusa, a figure from Greek myth. Medusa was once a human woman, but the goddess Athena cursed her to live as a monster after Poseidon raped her in one of Athena's temples. Her hair was turned to snakes, and anybody who looked at her would be turned to stone. Perseus, the demigod child of Zeus, eventually decapitated Medusa using gifts from the gods.

Caravaggio replaced Medusa's face with his own, allowing him to position himself as being immune to her fatal gaze. Though the head is decapitated, it still appears conscious, with the painting capturing its final moments before death. The face's eyes are widened, and its brows are creased; its mouth hangs open. Blood pours out of the severed neck.

Description

Material
The chemical composition of this painting is extremely complex. Caravaggio used a circular shield made from poplar wood as a base for this painting. The shield was covered by linen, on which four different layers of paint—known as preparation layers—were added to help create the basis for the painting. On top of the preparation layers, an additional layer was applied to make the background appear more reflective. On top of this reflective layer, another layer was applied (the green background that is shown on the painting)—this layer consists of a mixture of verdigris and lead-tin yellow paint. On top of this background layer, three more layers consisting of mixtures of siccative oils, turpentine and mastic with traces of beeswax were applied to form the painting. At last, a few more layers were added to help conserve the painting.

Style
Caravaggio employs tenebrism and realism to create the illusion of a three-dimensional work. Medusa's cheeks and jawline are also elongated to complement the nature of the painting.

Caravaggio chose to mount the canvas on a convex wooden shield because it would draw comparisons to the much-celebrated work of Leonardo da Vinci. A well-known anecdote of the time stated that Leonardo's father had once asked him to decorate the surface of a shield. In response, Leonardo had painted a "hybrid monster," combining the attributes of animals such as snakes, insects and lizards. Medusa, with her snakes for hair, could also be considered a "hybrid monster."

Influence
Caravaggio depicted the act of decapitation in several of his other paintings, including Judith Beheading Holofernes, David with the Head of Goliath, and The Beheading of St John the Baptist.

See also
List of paintings by Caravaggio

Sources

 Graham-Dixon, Andrew. "Caravaggio." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 February 2019.
"Medusa: The Real Story of the Snake-Haired Gorgon." Greek Mythology.

"Perseus: Greek Mythology." Encyclopædia Britannica, 14 February 2019.
Jones, Jonathan. "Medusa, Caravaggio (c 1598)." The Guardian, 25 Jan, 2003.

References

External links
Medusa at Web Gallery of Art

1597 paintings
Cultural depictions of Medusa
Mythological paintings by Caravaggio
Paintings in the Uffizi
Paintings depicting Greek myths
Snakes in art

Medusa (Caravaggio)


Telling the bees is a Western European tradition in which bees are told of important events, including deaths, births, marriages and departures and returns in the keeper's household. If the custom was omitted or forgotten and the bees were not "put into mourning" then it was believed a penalty would be paid, such as the bees leaving their hive, stopping the production of honey or dying.

The custom is best known in England but has also been recorded in Ireland, Wales, Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and the United States.

History and origins
Little is known about the origins of this practice, although there is some unfounded speculation that it is loosely derived from or perhaps inspired by ancient Aegean notions about bees' ability to bridge the natural world and the afterlife.

One Lincolnshire report from the mid 19th century notes,At all weddings and funerals they give a piece of the wedding-cake or funeral biscuit to the bees, informing them at the same time of the name of the party married or dead. If the bees do not know of the former, they become very irate, and sting every body within their reach; and if they are ignorant of the latter they become sick, and many of them die.

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Beekeeper, John Chapple, informed the bees of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House of her passing and the ascension of King Charles III. Chapple described the practice to the press as such: "You knock on each hive and say, 'The mistress is dead, but don't you go. Your master will be a good master to you.'"

Variations

Death and funerals
Following a death in the household there were several ways in which bees were to be informed and therefore put into proper mourning.

The process is described in 1901 work of Samuel Adams Drake A book of New England legends and folk lore in prose and poetry: ...goodwife of the house to go and hang the stand of hives with black, the usual symbol of mourning, she at the same time softly humming some doleful tune to herself. One such 'tune' from Nottinghamshire had the woman (either a spouse or other caretaker) say "The master's dead, but don't you go; Your mistress will be a good mistress to you." Another similar oration recorded in Germany went "Little bee, our lord is dead; Leave me not in my distress."

Another method involved the male head of the household approaching the hive and knocking gently on it until "the bees' attention was thus secured" and then saying "in a low voice that such or such a person - mentioning the name - was dead." The key to the family home could also be used as a knocker.

One description from the Carolina mountains in the United States says that "You knock on each hive, so, and say, 'Lucy is dead.'"

Bees could also be invited to the funeral.

In cases where the beekeeper had died, food and drink from the funeral would be left by the hive for the bees, including the funeral biscuits and wine. The hive would be lifted a few inches and put down again at the same time as the coffin. The hive might also be rotated to face the funeral procession and draped with mourning cloth.

In some parts of the Pyrenees one custom includes "burying an old garment belonging to the deceased under the bench where the bee-hives stand, and they never sell, give away, nor exchange the bees of the dead."

Should the bees fail to be told of a death in the family, "serious calamity" would follow, not only for the family in question but also for any person who was to buy the hive. For example, one record from Norfolk tells of a family who bought a hive of bees at auction from a farmer who had recently died and, because the bees had not been "put into mourning for their late master", they were "sickly, and not likely to thrive." However, when the new owners tied a "piece of crepe" to a stick and attached it to the hive the bees soon recovered, an outcome that was "unhesitatingly attributed to their having been put into mourning."

In 1855 Bohemian author Božena Němcová's novel Babička (The Grandmother) ends with the title character saying "When I die do not forget to tell it to the bees, so that they shall not die out!" Němcová's novel, which was filled with folkloric practices from Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Slovakia, was based on ethnographic research Němcová had conducted in the region in the mid-nineteenth century.

Weddings
Although the practice of telling the bees is most commonly associated with funerals, in some regions the bees are to be told of happy events in the family, particularly weddings.

In Westphalia, Germany, one custom held that newly married couples going to their new home must first introduce themselves to the bees or "their married life will be unfortunate."

A 1950s article in the Dundee Courier, Scotland, describes the practice of inviting bees to the wedding. If a wedding occurred in the household, the hive might be decorated and a slice of wedding cake left by their hive.

The decoration of hives appears to date from the early 19th century.

One tradition in Brittany held that unless beehives were decorated with scarlet cloth at a wedding and the bees allowed to take part in the rejoicing they would go away.

In culture
The custom has given its name to poems by Deborah Digges, John Ennis, Eugene Field, and Carol Frost. R. T. Smith's poem "Sourwood" also references the custom.

A section from John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Tell the Bees" describes the practice:

Before them, under the garden wall,
Forward and back
Went, drearily singing, the chore-girl small,
Draping each hive with a shred of black.

Trembling, I listened; the summer sun
Had the chill of snow;
For I knew she was telling the bees of one
Gone on the journey we all must go!

"Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!
Mistress Mary is dead and gone!"

In the Midsomer Murders episode "The Killings at Badger's Drift" (series 1 episode 1), a minor character remarks that a deceased character's bees must be informed of her death or they will "just clear off". The custom is also explained in "The Sting of Death" (series 21 episode 3) and the bees are in mourning with black cloth on the beehives. The ninth book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series is entitled Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone.

See also
Bee (mythology)

References

Beekeeping
English folklore

Telling the bees


The Union of Citizens of Georgia () (also known as the Citizens' Union of Georgia or Georgian Citizens' Union) was a political party established by Eduard Shevardnadze, Communist leader of the Georgian SSR from 1972–1985 and then President of Georgia from 1992–2003, and David Chantladze, former General Trade Representative of the Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia. It was established in the mid-1990s as a vehicle for modernising politicians. It became the majority grouping in the Georgian parliament following the parliamentary elections of November 1995, with Shevardnadze winning the presidency at the same time.

Although the Citizens' Union attracted a number of talented young reformers, including Mikhail Saakashvili, Zurab Zhvania and Nino Burjanadze, it eventually fell victim to Georgia's endemic corruption and Shevardnadze's increasing use of electoral manipulation. In September 2001, Saakashvili resigned from Shevardnadze's government and party on the grounds that corruption had penetrated to the very centre of the Georgian government and that Shevardnadze lacked the will to deal with it. The controversy eventually led to the Citizens' Union splitting into three opposing factions, with alleged corruption among senior party members at the centre of the dispute. In June 2002, Zhvania left the Citizens' Union to set up his own party. Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze also left the Citizens' Union to join forces with Zhvania and, eventually, with Saakashvili. By June 2003, five opposition parties had established a United National Movement to provide a focus for opposition to the Citizens' Union.

The Citizens' Union was at the centre of the political crisis of November 2003, when parliamentary elections held on November 2 produced results that were widely regarded as rigged. On November 23, massive popular demonstrations forced Shevardnadze to resign. The election results were subsequently annulled and fresh elections were scheduled for 2004. The party was a consultative member of the Socialist International.

References

Defunct political parties in Georgia (country)
Former member parties of the Socialist International
Social democratic parties
Social democratic parties in Georgia (country)
Centre-left parties in Georgia (country)

Union of Citizens of Georgia


is a Japanese manga by Aoi Nanase.  It was originally serialized in Newtype, and the chapters were collected into a single volume in June 2001.  It has a sequel entitled Angel/Dust Neo.  ADV Manga licensed this manga for release in English, and in 2005 it was serialized in the English version of Newtype.  The English collected volume was released on November 22, 2005.

Angel/Dust tells the story of Yuina Hatori, a liceal student who desires to conduct a normal life, without make troubles to others. But, one day, she has an unexpected meeting with a particular creature. They then merge and try to catch "the black winged one," Lucifer.

Story
Yuina Hatori is a shy high school sophomore who lives with her aunt because her mother is deceased and her father is too busy with his work to care for her.  She dislikes speaking up for herself because she fears troubling others.  Her one passion is singing, but as she is so timid, she is unable to sing in front of others.  She believes her life to be normal, but then she has an encounter with Seraph, a humanoid android, an "Emulate" who is searching for Lucifer, the "black winged one."   Things only complicate more when Yuina's childhood friend, Akiho Kudoh, transfers to her school.

Characters
Yuina Hatori (羽鳥ゆいな Hatori Yuina)
The main character of the story.  She is withdrawn and doesn't want to trouble anyone.  She enjoys singing, but she lacks confidence in her abilities.

Seraph (セラフ Serafu)
An Emulate from another point in space and time.  Like all Emulates, she is a battle android who can make contracts with humans and merge with them to give them great power.  Before she made a contract with Yuina, her former human was a beautiful woman who also enjoyed singing.

Lucifer  (ルシフェル Rushiferu)
Known as the "black winged one" to Seraph.  She is one of seven Emulates who refused to submit to humans and thus committed the most terrible of sins, in her words.  She hates humans because she believes them to be arrogant, violent creatures.  She is named after the fallen angel.

Akiho Kudoh (久遠あきほ Kudo Akiho)
Yuina's childhood friend.  She makes a contract with Lucifer so that she can fight with Yuina.  She is frustrated by what she perceives as Yuina throwing away her singing talents.

External links

AnimePRO review

Action anime and manga
ADV Manga
Drama anime and manga
Fantasy anime and manga
Kadokawa Shoten manga

Angel/Dust


Beatrice Mary June Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, , FRSAMD (née Boissier; 29 December 1913 – 22 June 2009), commonly known as Lady Aberdeen, was a professional musician and patron of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival and founder and musical director of Haddo House Choral & Operatic Society.

Biography
She was born in 1913 on the Isle of Wight to Arthur Paul Boissier and Dorothy Christina Leslie, daughter of Rev. Clement Smith, rector of Whippingham and canon of Windsor. Trained as a pianist and conductor, she met David Gordon, 4th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair at Harrow School where her father was Headmaster. They married on 29 April 1939, and lived at Haddo House, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, home of the Gordon family. They adopted four children who were, until 2004, not entitled to either courtesy titles or for the elder son to inherit the peerage:

 Lady Mary Katherine Gordon (b. 30 May 1946), married Simon Piers Welfare and had issue.
 Lady Sarah Caroline Gordon (b. 25 March 1948), married Mr. P. Scott and had issue; then remarried Eric N Money with one son.
 Lord Andrew David Gordon (b. 6 March 1950), married Lucy Mary Frances Milligan and had issue.
 Lord James Drummond Gordon (b. 11 April 1953), married Marilyn Sim

Until 2004, adopted children of peers had no right to any courtesy title. However, as a result of a Royal Warrant dated 30 April 2004 adopted children are now automatically entitled to such styles and courtesy titles as their siblings. However, as with illegitimate children where legitimated, such children have no rights to inheritance of peerages, although Scottish peerages rules of descent differ.

They founded the Haddo House Choral & Operatic Society in 1945 in order to give additional cultural opportunities to the residents of Aberdeenshire. Haddo House, is surrounded by gardens, a park and a lake with abundant Scottish wildlife and boasts a wooden built theatre (Haddo House Hall) which was originally built as a tennis court but is now a fully operational theatre and concert hall. The Haddo estate is a uniquely beautiful and peaceful setting for concerts, operas and other shows. Situated 20 miles north of Aberdeen, the House is now administered by the National Trust for Scotland.

Known professionally as June Gordon, a graduate of the Royal College of Music, Lady Aberdeen was a pianist and conductor by training and she developed Haddo's musical programme with great enterprise. The first recorded concert was a Christmas Carol service in Haddo House Chapel in 1945, which still occurs annually. Under June's baton, the society widened its repertoire developing a tradition for presenting major British works – both Operas and concerts. She started with directing Handel's 'Messiah' with soloist Elsie Suddaby in 1947 and other highlights have included 1950's Bach's 'St Matthew Passion' with oboist Leon Goosens in a solo role and major choral works by Elgar, Delius, Tippett, Vaughan Williams and Howells and many operas which require chorus.

A succession of internationally renowned artists have helped make this North East Scotland venue a lively stage for the very best in choral, operatic and drama productions: Dame Janet Baker was asked to perform there immediately on graduating from the Royal College of Music because Lady Aberdeen thought her "promising". Glasgow-born Rosalind Sutherland first performed Desdemona in Verdi's opera Otello at Haddo in 1996, and returned as Micaela in Carmen in 1997, before finding fame taking the title role in 'Madame Butterfly' at the San Francisco Opera House. Judith Lovat, now with the Philadelphia Opera, gained early experience at Haddo. Other eminent musicians to appear have included: Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Willard White, Sarah Walker, and Neil Mackie. In recent years there have been visiting performers from France, Finland, Denmark, Germany and America. For many years a Summer Play was also produced, using the renowned Globe Stage in the Hall for Shakespeare one year and presenting another playwright's work the next, but this has recently been discontinued. As a young man, Prince Edward appeared several times in these productions.

Many young people who have grown up in the area have performed at Haddo and gone on to study music and the performing arts at the tertiary level. Students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama take part in the opera every year, gaining invaluable experience in the orchestra, chorus and/or taking small singing roles. The Society is now 65 years old and presents an annual programme of opera, oratorio and carols. Professional pianist and singing teacher Alice E Dennis GTCL trains the chorus. HHCOS prides itself on its high standard of performance, achieved by the local community working alongside the professional artists brought in for producing and designing the opera, for the major solo roles and for playing in the orchestra for the opera and concerts alike. The facilities at Haddo comprise a purpose built rehearsal room, and the theatre known as "Haddo House Hall" for performances. The Choral Society also uses the tiny and picturesque Chapel, attached to the side of the main House for their popular carol concerts. These venues are a delight for both artists and their audiences. The umbrella organisation at Haddo house; the "Haddo User Group" involves over 200 members of all ages and backgrounds, who take part in a wide range of productions including the opera, large choral concerts and carol concerts. There are also musical shows from Haddo Youth Music Theatre and the Haddo Children's Theatre and youth concerts involving the two award-winning Haddo Youth and Children's Choirs. She was President of the RSCDS (Royal Scottish Country Dance Society) Aberdeen Branch until her death.

Death and legacy

Lady Aberdeen was a Patron of leading Scottish learning disabilities charity Cornerstone Community Care, and Chairman of the North East of Scotland Music School. She received the MBE in 1971 and CBE in 1989. She died in June 2009, aged 95.

A sculpture of June Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, was commissioned from Laurence Broderick.

References

External links

Aberdeen International Youth Festival
Haddo House Choral & Operatic Society

1913 births
2009 deaths
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Dames Grand Cross of the Order of St John
British marchionesses
Alumni of the Royal College of Music
Deputy Lieutenants of Aberdeenshire
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh


iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company founded by Lowry Mays and B. J. "Red" McCombs in 1972, and later taken private by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners through a leveraged buyout in 2008. As a result of this buyout, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., began to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of CC Media Holdings, Inc. On September 16, 2014, CC Media Holdings, Inc. was rebranded iHeartMedia, Inc., and Clear Channel Communications, Inc., became iHeartCommunications, Inc.

Overview
iHeartMedia, Inc. specializes in radio broadcasting, podcasting, digital and live events through division iHeartMedia (sans "Inc." suffix; formerly Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, Clear Channel Radio, et al.) and subsidiary iHeartMedia and Entertainment, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc.); the company owns more than 850 full-power AM and FM radio stations in the U.S., making it the country's largest owner of radio stations. The company has also been involved in internet radio and podcasting via the digital platform iHeartRadio (from which the company derives its current name).

In the past, the company was also involved in live events and out-of-home advertising. The company spun off these businesses in 2005 and 2019 respectively, as the present-day Live Nation Entertainment and Clear Channel Outdoor.

History

Clear Channel Communications purchased its first FM station in San Antonio in 1972. The company purchased the second "clear channel" AM station WOAI in 1975. In 1976, the company purchased its first stations outside of San Antonio. KXXO (now KAKC) and KMOD-FM in Tulsa were acquired under the name "San Antonio Broadcasting" (same as KEEZ). Stations were also added in Port Arthur, Texas (KPAC-AM-FM, now KDEI and KTJM, from Port Arthur College) and El Paso, Texas (KELP, now KQBU) from John Walton Jr. In 1992, the U.S. Congress relaxed radio ownership rules slightly, allowing the company to acquire more than 2 stations per market. By 1995, Clear Channel owned 43 radio stations and 16 television stations. When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 became law, the act deregulated media ownership, allowing a company to own more stations than previously allowed. Clear Channel went on a subsequent buying spree, purchasing more than 70 other media companies and individual stations.

In a few cases, following purchase of a competitor, Clear Channel was forced to divest some of its stations, as it was above the legal thresholds in some cities. In 2005, the courts ruled that Clear Channel must also divest itself of some "border blaster" radio stations in international border cities, such as the alternative rock radio station XETRA-FM ("91X") in Tijuana, Baja California/San Diego.

In 1997 Clear Channel moved out of pure broadcasting when it purchased billboard firm Eller Media, which was led by Karl Eller.

In 1998 it made its first move outside of the United States when it acquired the leading UK outdoor advertising company More Group plc, which was led by Roger Parry; Clear Channel went on to buy many other outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, and live events companies around the world, which were then re-branded Clear Channel International. These included a 51% stake in Clear Media Ltd. in China.

In 1999, the company acquired Jacor Communications, a radio corporation based in Cincinnati. The company also made an investment in the new satellite radio service XM Satellite Radio, giving it the rights to program a selection of stations on the service (which would be drawn from some of its stations and syndicated output).

R. Steven Hicks and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst began Capstar Broadcasting in 1996, and a year later had become the largest owner of radio stations in the country, with 243 stations in total. In August 1997, Capstar and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst announced plans to acquire SFX Broadcasting, with the resulting company owning 314 stations in 79 markets and ranking as the third-largest radio group by income. A year later, Chancellor Media Corporation and Capstar Broadcasting Corporation announced a merger that would result in Chancellor Media owning 463 stations in 105 markets when the deal was completed in second quarter 1999. Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst owned 59 percent of Capstar, with 355 stations in 83 markets, and was the largest single owner of Chancellor (which had 108 stations in 22 markets), with 15 percent of the stock. Chancellor Media later became AMFM Inc., which was acquired by Clear Channel in a deal announced October 3, 1999, and valued at $17.4 billion. The resulting company would own 830 radio stations, 19 television stations, and over 425,000 outdoor displays in 32 countries.

In 2000, Clear Channel acquired Robert F. X. Sillerman's SFX Entertainment, a concert promoter that had focused on consolidation of regional promoters under a national operation. In 2005, Clear Channel spun off its entertainment and live events business as Live Nation.

Leveraged buyout
On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel announced plans to go private, being bought out by two private-equity firms, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners for $26.7 billion, which included their assumption of $8 billion in Clear Channel debt. This was just under a 10 percent premium above its closing price of $35.36 a share on November 16: the deal valued Clear Channel at $37.60 per share.  In a separate transaction also announced on November 16, 2006, Clear Channel said it would seek buyers for all of its television stations and 539 of its smaller radio stations, because the private-equity buyers were not interested in owning television or small-market radio. Over a hundred stations were assigned to Aloha Station Trust, LLC upon the consummation of the merger. The television stations were sold to Newport Television, a broadcaster owned by Providence Equity Partners, on April 23, 2007.

Due to the credit market crunch of 2007, Clear Channel had difficulty selling some of its radio stations. Clear Channel's attempt to sell off over 100 stations to GoodRadio.TV, LLC was rejected by the equity firm backing the deal. The deal then shifted to Frequency License LLC, but took longer to resolve itself as the two parties were engaged in lawsuits. On top of that, the sale of Clear Channel's television portfolio to Newport Television had also turned uncertain, as Providence considered other options, although this transaction was ultimately completed.

On December 4, 2007, Clear Channel announced that they had extended the termination date of the buyout from December 12, 2007, to June 12, 2008. On July 24, 2008, Clear Channel held a special shareholder meeting, during which the majority of shareholders accepted a revised $36-per-share offer from Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, revaluing the deal at $17.9 billion plus debt. Shareholders received either $36 in cash, or one share of CC Media Class A common stock for each share of Clear Channel common stock held. The company announced that it would move to more centralized programming and lay off 1,500 employees, or approximately 7% of its workforce, on January 20, 2009. The reasoning was bleak economic conditions and debt from its transition to a private company. By the completion of the restructuring in May 2009, a total of 2,440 positions were eliminated.

iHeartMedia, bankruptcy
In early 2010, it was announced that the company was facing the possibility of bankruptcy due to its "crippling debt". After 21 years, Mark Mays stepped down as president and CEO of Clear Channel on June 23, 2010. Mays remained as chairman of the board. On October 2, 2011, Robert W. "Bob" Pittman, who was then the company's Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms, was named CEO of CC Media Holdings.

In August 2013, Clear Channel sold its minority stake in Sirius XM for $135.5 million. This also resulted in the removal of most Clear Channel-programmed stations on the service, besides simulcasts of WHTZ and KIIS-FM.

On January 6, 2014, Clear Channel announced a marketing partnership with Robert F. X. Sillerman's SFX Entertainment (a second incarnation of a live events company that had been sold to Clear Channel, which spun off to form Live Nation), to collaborate on electronic dance music content for its digital and terrestrial radio outlets, including a Beatport top 20 countdown show. The partnership expanded upon the company's existing EDM-oriented outlets (such as Evolution). Staff, including John Sykes, believed that the deal (particularly the Beatport countdown show) would help provide a higher level of national exposure to current and up and coming EDM artists.

In September 2014, it was announced that the company would be renamed from Clear Channel Communications to iHeartMedia, alluding to its iHeartRadio platform to reflect the company's growing emphasis on digital media and internet radio. The previous name "Clear Channel" came from AM broadcasting, referring to a channel (frequency) on which only one station transmits. In the U.S., clear-channel stations have exclusive rights to their frequencies throughout most of the continent at night, when AM signals travel far due to skywave. CEO Bob Pittman explained that the company had been "doing progressive stuff", yet they were still "named after AM radio stations".

In 2016, one of the company's directors, Julia B. Donnelly, left the board of iHeartCommunications and was replaced by Laura A. Grattan, a director at Thomas H. Lee. Grattan was named to the board of managers of iHeartMedia Capital I, LLC, the direct parent of iHeartCommunications, as well as the board of directors of iHeartMedia, Inc., the indirect parent of iHeartCommunications.

Since 2008, iHeartMedia had struggled to pay down more than $20 billion in debt the company assumed from its leveraged buyout. Various media outlets, including Bloomberg News, Reuters, Radio Ink, and iHeartMedia's hometown newspaper the San Antonio Express-News, claimed that either bankruptcy or a major restructuring was likely.  On April 20, 2017, the company warned investors that it might not survive over the following 10 months. On November 30, 2017, it was reported that a group of creditors had rejected iHeartMedia's latest debt restructuring proposal, instead bringing out a deal where the company might file for bankruptcy. On March 15, 2018, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and claimed that it reached an agreement to restructure $10 billion of its over $20 billion in debt.

Emergence from bankruptcy, realignments towards digital
In September 2018, iHeartMedia acquired HowStuffWorks' podcast network Stuff Media for $55 million. On November 19, 2018, iHeartMedia announced its intent to acquire Jelli, the provider of a programmatic advertising platform for radio stations.

In January 2019, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved a creditor-supported plan for iHeartMedia to exit bankruptcy, which would reduce the company's debt from $16.1 billion to $5.75 billion. The plan included the spin-out of iHeartMedia's 89.1% stake in its out-of-home advertising division Clear Channel Outdoor. In April 2019, the company also filed a proposed initial public offering.

iHeartMedia emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2019, with a new board of directors and the spin-out of Clear Channel Outdoor, but maintaining its existing leadership of CEO Bob Pittman and president Rich Bressler. Rather than pursue its IPO (which was estimated to potentially be valued at $1.1 billion), iHeartMedia instead received approval for a direct listing on the Nasdaq.

On January 14, 2020, iHeartMedia announced a major restructuring, as part of an effort to "modernize our company to take advantage of the significant investments we have made in new technology and aligning our operating structure to match the technology-powered businesses we are now in." This included the restructuring of its Markets Group into three divisions (the "Regions" division for its largest markets, the "Metropolitan" division for other major cities, and the "Communities" division for smaller markets) and adding a "multi-market partnerships" unit, and the announced development of "centers of excellence" that would use its technology investments to "provide a better experience for listeners and business partners and a more efficient process for all of its employees". The restructuring was accompanied by a major round of layoffs and displacements, with a large number of staff members and on-air personalities being affected.

Businesses
iHeartMedia has purchased interest in, or outright acquired, companies in a number of media or advertising related industries. This is not an exhaustive list.

Radio

With 855 stations, iHeartMedia is the largest radio station group owner in the United States, both by number of stations and by revenue. The 855 stations reach more than 110 million listeners every week, and 245 million every month. According to BIA Financial Network, iHeartMedia recorded more than $3.5 billion in revenues , $1 billion more than the number-two group owner, Audacy.

In June 2012, the company announced that it would become the first U.S. radio group to partner with record labels to pay performance royalties directly to labels and musicians (in addition to songwriters and producers). The royalties are paid via revenue sharing for advertising across platforms (including digital), rather than a flat payment each time a song is played. Big Machine Label Group was announced as the first partner in this scheme. Pittman stated that the arrangement would let "labels and artists participate in the revenue of broadcast radio immediately and in digital radio as it builds".

Radio acquisitions
iHeartMedia has purchased stations from or acquired the following radio companies:

Outdoor advertising

Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) is an advertising company that was previously owned by iHeartMedia. In May 2019, it was spun out from iHeartMedia as part of its exit from bankruptcy.

Television
Clear Channel Television is a defunct television broadcaster and a former subsidiary of the group that was in operation, for nearly 20 years, from 1988 to 2008. It owned more than 40 stations, most of them were from the Big Six networks, a few of which are independent (non-network affiliates). It was initially headed by J. Daniel Sullivan, who set up as president of Clear Channel's television division.

The group made its beginnings when the first television station iHeartMedia purchased as Clear Channel was WPMI in Mobile, Alabama in 1988. Later that year, Clear Channel Communications bought out KDTU-TV in Tucson, Arizona, which became Clear Channel's second television station. On March 13, 1989, Clear Channel Television bought out KOKI-TV for $6.5 million. This was followed on July 3 of that year with the purchase of Fox affiliate WAWS-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, from Malrite Communications Group, for $8.1 million.

Eventually over time, Clear Channel Television became the second-largest independent television group, behind Sinclair Broadcast Group. In 1990, Clear Channel bought out its fifth television station, KSAS-TV in Wichita, Kansas, for $7.9 million. In 1991, Clear Channel bought out KLRT-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas for $6.6 million. In 1992, Clear Channel bought out WPTY-TV in Memphis from Chase Communications for $21 million. Later on in 1993, the company bought out KITN-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul from Nationwide Communications, followed in 1994 by the purchase of WXXA-TV in Albany from Heritage Communications, for $25.5 million.

In 1991, Clear Channel Television jumped into the foray of local marketing agreements, starting in 1991 with WJTC, which Clear Channel operated through a LMA with WPMI, and subsequently later on in 1992, when KASN entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's KLRT-TV. Clear Channel also entered into a deal with Providence Journal Company, who owns Fox affiliate KMSB in Tucson to operate KTTU through a local marketing agreement. Memphis also jumped onto the board when WLMT entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's WPTY. Also in 1993, Clear Channel entered into a local marketing agreement with RDS Communications to operate KTFO-TV in Tulsa, which most of the inventory will be supplied by KOKI. Later on, in 1994, in Jacksonville, WTEV-TV entered into a local marketing agreement with WAWS, the Clear Channel television station.

In 1994, Fox shockingly announced its intentions to purchase WHBQ-TV, which displaced Clear Channel's WPTY-TV as its Fox Memphis affiliate. Also that year, as part of a group deal involving stations acquired by SF Broadcasting, Clear Channel's WPMI-TV in Mobile was set to be displaced as Mobile's Fox affiliate by WALA-TV as part of a three-station deal with the other Burnham stations. These moves didn't sit well for Clear Channel Television, whose president Dan Sullivan thought they wanted to affiliate it with the ousted networks, including NBC in Mobile, and ABC in Memphis.

In 1995, Clear Channel purchased its first Big Three network affiliate, WHP-TV in Harrisburg, for $30 million. It was subsequently followed it up when Gateway Communications, owners of WLYH-TV entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's WHP-TV. Later on that year, J. Dan Sullivan left Clear Channel Television to start out Sullivan Broadcasting to acquire the Act III Broadcasting stations. He was then succeeded by Rip Rioridan as president. In 1996, it bought out WPRI-TV in Providence from CBS, which CBS did not keep due to slight signal overlap with WBZ-TV in Boston. Also that year, Argyle Television Holdings II, who owned WNAC-TV entered into a LMA with Clear Channel's WPRI.

As part of the radio-TV strategy, Clear Channel acquired Jacor Communications, which incorporated WKRC-TV in Cincinnati into the Clear Channel Television branch. Once FCC relaxed its duopoly rules, Clear Channel acquired stations that were originally LMA markets outright, including WLMT in Memphis, KTFO in Tulsa, WTEV in Jacksonville, KASN in Little Rock and WJTC in Mobile. Also in 2000, Clear Channel sold WPRI to Sunrise Television for $50 million. Later on in 2001, William Moll become the president of Clear Channel Television, replacing Rioridan.

In 2001, after acquiring the stations of Chris-Craft Industries, Fox Television Stations traded WFTC to Clear Channel Television for Fox's own TV stations KMOL-TV in San Antonio and KTVX in Salt Lake City. In 2002, Clear Channel acquired Ackerley Group, which incorporated its television holdings into the Clear Channel Television portfolio. Also that year, Clear Channel sold KTTU in Tucson to Belo outright. In 2003, Clear Channel announced that they would sell WUTR to Mission Broadcasting. In 2004, Clear Channel bought WETM outright after the death of Robert Smith, the founder of Smith Broadcasting. In 2005, Clear Channel acquired another Salt Lake City television station KUWB from Acme Communications for $18.5 million in cash. In 2006, Don Perry was then named president and CEO of Clear Channel Television.

Ever that, in the 2000s, Clear Channel began the trend of using legacy callsigns for former radio sisters as new call designated signs for existing Clear Channel TV properties, since it already owned radio stations, although WKRC-TV already used the moniker when it was under Clear Channel ownership. In 2002, San Antonio's Clear Channel station KMOL-TV was rebranded to WOAI-TV, the original call letters that station is using from 1948 to 1974, matching up with radio sister WOAI-AM. In 2005, WOKR, the Rochester Clear Channel affiliate was rebranded to WHAM-TV, the original call letters for an unrelated Rochester station WROC-TV from 1948 to 1956, matching up for radio sister WHAM-AM. Also that year, sister station in Syracuse, WIXT was rebranded to WSYR-TV, the original call letters for WSTM-TV from 1950 to 1980, matching up for radio sister WSYR-AM.

In 2007, the company entered into an agreement to sell all its television stations to Providence Equity Partners for $1.2 billion, a deal that eventually closed in March 2008. Earlier that year, Don Perry left as president and CEO of Clear Channel Television. All former Clear Channel television stations were owned by Newport Television, while the other six were flipped to other buyers by Newport. In 2012 to mid-2013, Newport sold off all of its holdings to several other television groups, including Cox Media Group, Nexstar Media Group, and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Former Clear Channel-owned stations
Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license.

Music charts
iHeartMedia owns Mediabase, which provide music charts based on songs and tracks receiving the most spins played on radio stations in the United States and Canada. A majority of stations that report to Mediabase are iHeartMedia outlets but other companies also report to the Mediabase charts. In addition, countdown shows produced by Premiere will utilize Mediabase charts for the basis of their programs.

News and information
 24/7 News Source
 Operates iHeartRadio News Network and local news networks in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.
 Premiere Networks
 Acquired and later sold the Agri Broadcast Network (ABN), a farm programming provider in Ohio.
 Publishes Inside Radio magazine
 Total Traffic & Weather Network reports: on-road and traffic conditions across the United States, and in Mexico City, Mexico. These are used by many GPS navigation systems. Total Traffic & Weather also produce and distributes NBC News Radio
 Fan Radio Network: a sports radio network that serves Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The flagship station is KFXN-FM in Minneapolis, MN.
 Your Smooth Jazz: 24-hour smooth jazz network provided under the company's "Broadcast Architecture" division.

Worldwide

 Owns part of radio groups in New Zealand, Mexico, Norway, and Australia.
 Owns outdoor advertising companies in Brazil, Chile, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Belgium and Mauritius.
 Owns L & C Outdoor Comunicação Visual Ltda., of Brazil
United Kingdom
 Large numbers of billboards (through a takeover of Adshel)
 See Clear Channel UK

Bicycle rental systems
Operates urban bicycle sharing systems in several European cities:

Vertical Real Estate
In 2003, Clear Channel created the Vertical Real Estate division and hired Scott Quitadamo to promote its tower portfolio. iHeartMedia owns and operates approximately 1,500 broadcast transmission towers across the U.S., many of which are available for co-location by third parties such as cellular and PCS companies, wireless internet, fixed wireless, and other broadcasters.

Programming

iHeartMedia operates the country's largest syndication service, Premiere Networks. In addition, iHeartMedia syndicates a number of its homegrown talk and music shows without the aid of Premiere. While Premiere actively sells its shows to stations, the non-Premiere syndicated shows are often used as a cost-cutting measure and do not have a large sales staff. Those shows also do not carry network-wide advertising (unless distributed by a third party), and allow the affiliates to keep all local spots, which increases their appeal. These networks carry many program hosts of various political ideologies and distribute a variety of programs to both iHeartMedia-owned and non-iHeartMedia-owned stations.

In addition to its own syndication network, iHeartMedia offers studio space and other services to the WestStar TalkRadio Network, which is based at iHeartMedia's studios in Phoenix, Arizona. As a result, many WestStar programs are heard on iHeartMedia stations.

Not all programming heard on iHeartMedia's radio stations are produced in house; however, most of iHeartMedia's stations share many similarities to each other in branding and programming.

Format Lab and HD2 Formats

The Format Lab, was a new product and service development think tank conceived, built and managed by Michael Albl for Clear Channel (now known as iHeartMedia) starting in the year 2000 that initially produced 84 formats for use on AM/FM/HD/XM/Stream/Mobile. The formats ranged from mainstream to music genre niches, lifestyle, and highly experimental. These formats were heard on most of Clear Channel's HD Radio subchannels, on SiriusXM, Sprint MSpot and used as the original music streaming service for Clear Channel Online Music and Radio (CCOMR). In 2002, The Format Lab launched nationwide The New Music Network, a free service providing unsigned artists and bands, in 26 different music genres, online streaming of their music and promotion to record labels. In 2009, the Format Lab split into two divisions (1) Premium Choice which produced and distributed both customized and centralized radio programming to over 800 AM/FM/HD terrestrial stations plus XM Radio; and (2) iHeartRadio (formerly CCOMR). The Format Lab also spawned: National Contesting, StormAID (national disaster relief); Spanish Radio division; Pride Radio; Centralized commercial production and distribution; Knowledge management system; Procurement system; Numerous patents. The Format Lab was succeeded in 2010 by another internal company think tank conceived by Michael Albl called Leap Frog.

iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio is a free broadcast, podcast and streaming radio platform. It is also the national umbrella brand for iHeartMedia's radio network aggregating its over 850 local iHeartMedia radio stations across the United States, as well as hundreds of other stations from various other media.

Alternative stations
iHeartMedia Alternative Stations usually are branded as "Radio" (such as Radio 94.5 (KMYT) in Temecula, CA) or "ALT" (Alt 98.7 (KYSR) in Los Angeles). Others include: The Edge, The Buzz, The Project, Star, or X. The Woody Show, which originates from KYSR, serves as the anchor morning show for the iHeartMedia Alternative outlets.

Hip-hop, Rap, R&B and rhythmic stations
Stations that carry programming catering to black Americans are a big part of many iHeartMedia clusters, particularly Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit. In many clusters iHeartMedia has two or more such stations. About half of these stations focus on Rap and Hip Hop along with younger rhythm and blues sounds. The other half blend some younger rhythm and blues along with some Soul from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s along with some current product. In a cluster with multiple hip-hop, rap, R&B, and rhythmic stations owned by iHeartMedia, one is focused on Rap while the other is focused on Soul. Examples include Philadelphia, with WUSL's focus on hip hop while WDAS-FM focuses on Soul (in addition, the company also owns WGCI-FM in Chicago, which focuses on rap, while WVAZ is focused on Soul. iHeartMedia hip hop, rap, R&B, and rhythmic stations are branded as "Real" (KRRL Los Angeles), "Beat" (KQBT/Houston, WBTP Tampa) or "Power" (WWPR-FM New York City, WUSL Philadelphia and WHEN Syracuse). In San Francisco, iHeartMedia owned more hip hop, rap, R&B, and rhythmic stations such as Rhythmic Top 40 KYLD, rhythmic oldies KISQ, and rhythmic contemporary KMEL in that area (KYLD shifted to Top 40/CHR in 2015, KISQ flipped to AC in 2016), and the same happened in Detroit, where the company also owns rhythmic AC WMXD, rhythmic contemporary WJLB and former Rhythmic AC WDTW-FM (now WLLZ). iHeart also have hip hop, rap, R&B, and rhythmic outlets with heritage and familiarity based on the markets they serve, like WHRK and WDIA in Memphis, and WKKV-FM in Milwaukee.

Another growing format, Classic Hip-Hop/Throwback/Old School (consisting of R&B/Hip-Hop, Rap, and Rhythmic songs from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s), can be heard full-time on iHeartRadio, as well as KATZ-FM/St. Louis and KUBT-HD2 in Honolulu. Previously, this format was originated as Rhythmic Oldies, which was launched at KCMG/Los Angeles and later spread to more markets before the former Clear Channel flipped several stations out of the format by the mid-2000s.

For the Rhythmic Top 40 format, similar brandings include "The Beat" (KUBT/Honolulu and WBTT/Ft. Myers), Power 102/El Paso, 104.5 Kiss FM/Beaumont, Texas, "Jam'n" (KXJM/Portland Oregon, KSSX/San Diego, and WJMN/Boston; a similar "Jammin'" is used at WSTV/Roanoke & WJJX/Lynchburg). A "B" has been used at KBOS-FM/Fresno since the 1980s. Other Rhythmics, such as KUBE/Seattle, KDON-FM/Salinas-Monterey and KGGI/Riverside-San Bernardino, simply use the call letters and/or frequency. Most of these stations target a multicultural audience and play Rhythmic Pop, R&B/Hip-Hop, and Dance tracks.

For rhythmic AC stations, they used to have the "Party" branding (particularly during the time when most used Wake Up with Whoopi out of WKTU as their morning show), but the two "Party" stations in Denver (KDHT) and Las Vegas (KYMT, the former KPLV) have since exited the Rhythmic AC format. KDHT and KYMT moved to top 40, but continue to use the "Party" branding (KYMT is currently mainstream rock). The Breakfast Club Morning Show out of WWPR-FM in New York and "Big Boy's Neighborhood" out of KRRL in Los Angeles are iHeartMedia's syndicated urban morning shows. In 2017, for IHM's 3rd season they produced rhythmic AC programming.

Smooth jazz
IHeartMedia syndicates the Smooth Jazz Network (aka Your Smooth Jazz), which is programmed by Broadcast Architecture. Unless otherwise noted, all Smooth Jazz Network stations will carry the following schedule: Kenny G and Sandy Kovach in morning drive time, Miranda Wilson in midday, Allen Kepler in afternoon drive time, and Maria Lopez in evenings, with no disc jockeys overnight. Weekend programming consists of the Smooth Jazz Top 20 with Allen Kepler, as well as the Dave Koz Radio Show.

Dance and EDM
The first radio programs included Electric Sound Stage, Club Phusion, Trancid, Pride Radio, PrototypeRadio, The Spin*Cycle and Classic Dance. Although they have no full-powered stations programming a Dance or EDM (Electronic Dance Music) format, iHeartMedia has FM translators and HD2 platforms broadcasting the EDM-intensive Evolution platform (KZZP/Phoenix is the flagship station, serving as a reporter on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay panel), while the LGBT community is served by the more broader-based Pride Radio (with WFLZ/Tampa serving as the flagship station as well as a Dance/Mix Show Airplay reporter). However, iHeartMedia's Top 40/CHR and Rhythmic Top 40 outlets incorporate a majority of Dance songs onto its playlist and set aside airtime blocks for mix shows. A weekly countdown program, America's Dance 30, airs on Evolution and selected iHeart Top 40 and Rhythmic stations.

News talk stations
News talk stations owned by iHeartMedia usually have a standard slate of hosts. The morning show is usually local, with other timeslots filled by local and syndicated hosts. Programs that appear or have appeared on many iHeartMedia talk stations include the Glenn Beck Radio Program (Beck having gotten his talk show start at iHeartMedia-owned WFLA in Tampa, which serves as its home station), The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (does not having a home station but is based out of Nashville), The Sean Hannity Show (out of WOR in New York), The Jesse Kelly Show and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, all of which are affiliated with Premiere Networks in some fashion. The Mark Levin Show (out of WABC in New York and WMAL-FM in Washington, D.C.; syndicated from Westwood One) and The Dave Ramsey Show (out of WLAC in Nashville; independently syndicated) are non-Premiere shows who air on many (if not most) iHeartMedia stations, as did The Savage Nation prior to its ending in September 2012, whose home station at the time was KSTE in Sacramento. Limbaugh is almost universally carried on iHeartMedia stations in markets where the company has a news talk station, including recently New York City: WOR was acquired in 2013 by Clear Channel and began carrying Limbaugh's program in 2014 following a long relationship with now-Red Apple Media-owned WABC. In markets where iHeartMedia-owned news talk stations have not been profitable (such as Boston and Atlanta), iHeartMedia has chosen to sell shows such as Limbaugh and Coast to Coast AM to their rivals and change the stations to other formats. Syndicated morning news programs like America in The Morning (from Westwood One) and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal (from Compass Media Networks) are also heard on a few iHeartMedia-owned stations.

While most of iHeartMedia's news/talk stations carry some combination of Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity and Noory (of Coast to Coast AM), this is not always the case. Many stations (particularly in the larger markets) like KFI, KFYI, KOA, WZZR and WLW broadcast a lineup with significant local programming.

Weekend syndicated programs featured on many (but not all) iHeart-owned stations include At Home with Gary Sullivan, Handel on the Law, The Ben Ferguson Show, and Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham (all are part of Premiere Networks).

Liberal talk radio is heard on a few of iHeartMedia's stations, primarily secondary to its main news talk stations, and usually feature at least one local host with Westwood One programming; Air America Radio also aired on these stations. iHeartMedia has shown a tendency to drop liberal talk affiliations due to lack of ratings or advertiser support and replace it with sports talk or other formats (see, for instance, WCKY, WARF, KLSD, WXKS, and WINZ); in one case this had caused a protest when iHeartMedia (then Clear Channel) wanted to change WXXM in Madison, Wisconsin to a sports format. WXXM was eventually allowed to keep its liberal format, though they eventually retired it in November 2016 due to a general lack of syndicated programming for that format.

On June 30, 2020, iHeartMedia announced a new all-news radio brand known as Black Information Network, which is catered towards African Americans.

iHeartMedia has been active in the national trend of simulcasting its AM news/talk stations on full-power FM stations, hoping to preserve their long-term viability while AM radio declines. Examples include San Diego, California, on KUSS 95.7 (which became KOGO-FM after simulcasting KOGO (AM), replacing country music), Sacramento, California on KGBY 92.5 (which became KFBK-FM after simulcasting KFBK, replacing Hot adult contemporary), in Tucson, Arizona, on KTZR-FM (which became KNST-FM after simulcasting KNST, replacing Spanish Top 40), in Schenectady, New York (WGY-FM/103.1, simulcasting WGY/810, replacing rock WHRL) and Syracuse, New York (WSYR-FM/106.9 simulcasting WSYR/570, displacing urban AC "Power" to WHEN/620). After failing to see any significant ratings gains from these moves, Clear Channel showed signs of abandoning this strategy when it changed KNST-FM to country music in February 2013 as KYWD.

Sports talk stations
Most sports talk stations owned by iHeartMedia are affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. Other sports talk stations are affiliated with rival ESPN Radio (in this case, WUCS in Hartford, Connecticut, which is nearby ESPN's headquarters in Bristol). In 2020, iHeartMedia launched the iHeartSports Network.

Adult standards
Most of iHeartMedia's adult standards stations are turnkey operations, running a direct feed of a satellite format such as Westwood One's America's Best Music or Music of Your Life. Most of these stations have no local jocks or Web sites. The network has few remaining stations in that category and has sold off many of them.

Adult contemporary
iHeartMedia's Adult contemporary stations are often branded as "Lite FM" (i.e. WLIT-FM in Chicago or WLTW in New York, ) or "Sunny", although some stations use "Magic", "B" or something else similar as their identifiers, As of 2018, "The Breeze" has bought a new resurgence in Soft AC, targeted towards millennial listeners. Evenings are usually filled with Delilah, unless that show is already aired by another station, in which case The John Tesh Radio Show is often substituted. Automated programming is the next option for the 7PM- 12 AM timeslot. Your Weekend with Jim Brickman and the Ellen K Weekend Show are popular weekend syndicated programs on iHeartMedia adult contemporary stations. Most AC stations air Christmas music from the last week of November to Christmas Day. Some AC iHeartMedia stations are known for playing Christmas music as early as November 1 such as KOSY-FM in Salt Lake City before they flipped to mainstream rock or WLKO (now adult hits) playing its first Christmas song of the season 2–3 weeks before Thanksgiving. 2/3 of iHeartMedia stations that play Adult contemporary air Christmas formats.

Hot adult contemporary stations are usually branded as "Mix", "Star" or "MYfm" (i.e. KBIG in Los Angeles). Some Hot AC stations lean modern rock while others lean toward adult rock. Other Hot AC stations have other brandings such as "Wild 105.7 and 96.7" on WRDA (now WBZY) a Spanish CHR station in Atlanta.

Contemporary hit radio
iHeartMedia's CHR stations share a number of common brands, including "KISS-FM" (e.g., KIIS-FM Los Angeles, WKSC-FM Chicago, WAKS Cleveland, WFKS Melbourne, WXKS-FM Boston), "Z" (e.g., WHTZ New York, KKRZ Portland Oregon WZFT Baltimore, KSLZ St. Louis), "Wild" (e.g., WLDI West Palm Beach, KYLD San Francisco), "Power" (WWPW Atlanta, WGEX Albany, Georgia), Channel (e.g., WKQI Detroit, WHQC now called Hits 96.1 in Charlotte, KHTS-FM San Diego, WCHD Dayton-Springfield), or "Hot" (e.g., WIHT in Washington, D.C., WWHT in Syracuse, NY). Other brands, less commonly used, includes "Radio Now" (previously used at WNRW Louisville, now rebranded as "98.9 Kiss FM"), "Q" (WIOQ Philadelphia-102.1 FM-Q102, WQGA Waycross-Brunswick, Georgia-103.3 FM-103Q), "B" (WAEB-FM B 104 Allentown-Reading PA 104.1 FM), "FM" (WLAN-FM FM 97 96.9 FM Lancaster-Reading), "V" (WVRT & WVRZ V-97 Williamsport-Lock Haven, Pennsylvania), "Max" (WHCY Max 106.3 Sussex), "K.C." (WKCI-FM KC 101, 101.3 FM, Hamden-New Haven, Connecticut/Long Island, New York) and "X" (WJMX-FM 103X, 103.3 FM Cheraw-Florence, South Carolina/The Pee Dee). Still other branding can be heard, however, when a preferred format name is already in use by another station in the market.

Although a majority of these stations features a broad-based, mass appeal music presentation, several stations like WSNX-FM/Grand Rapids and WKTU/New York City tend to lean towards Rhythmic material due to having a sister station in the same format (WKTU's sister is WHTZ) or a lack of a Rhythmic or R&B/Hip-Hop outlet (a void which WSNX also tries to fill).

Country music
Country music stations owned by iHeartMedia have begun transitioning to "The Bull" like KSD (FM) in St. Louis and "Big" like WEBG in Chicago (which flipped to mainstream rock as WCHI-FM in 2020) as national brandings as of 2014. They almost universally carry After Midnite, the syndicated overnight program currently hosted by Granger Smith, and often carry The Bobby Bones Show based out of WSIX-FM in Nashville in the morning as well.

In 2015, iHeartMedia launched the iHeartCountry franchise. It also launched an annual country event franchise, the iHeartRadio Country Festival.

Oldies and classic hits
iHeartMedia's Oldies stations consists largely of FM stations with some AM stations. iHeartMedia uses brands such as "Big" and "Kool" on many of its stations. Nearly all of the FM stations play oldies spanning from 1964 to 1975, with a 500-song active playlist split nearly half 1960s and half 1970s. The playlist also includes approximately a dozen pre 1964 tracks and around 50 songs from the late 1970s and early 1980s. These stations generally have a few local live announcers; much of the time these stations are voicetracked either locally or from another market. Most run syndicated programming on weekends, such as Dick Bartley or Mike Harvey on Saturday nights, Steve Goddard's programs (Goddard's Gold and/or The 70s), and recently, Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The 70s. A handful of iHeartMedia's outlets have picked up syndicated weeknight fare, such as Mike Harvey, Marty Thompson or Tom Kent.

The AM oldies stations' playlists skew somewhat older and span from 1955 to about 1975. About 60 percent of the time they play 1964 to 1969 oldies, 20 percent pre 1964 oldies, and 20 percent music from the 1970s. Some of these also run Dick Bartley or Mike Harvey on Saturday nights. Some of the AM stations also run adult standards several hours on the weekend as well as limited specialized programming focusing on the pre 1964 era. Most of the AM stations are in smaller markets.

Rock
iHeartMedia stations programming a rock format tend to play a blend of new rock and harder classic rock. Some carry Nights with Alice Cooper (out of KSLX-FM in Phoenix) in the evenings while some others aired Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx until the show ended at the end of 2015. These stations tend to be live during the day and voicetracked at night. Some stations run Rockline with Bob Coburn and/or Little Steven's Underground Garage as well.

While iHeartMedia classic rock stations operate under a wide variety of monikers, many are branded as "The Fox" or "The Brew". Often, these stations will carry Bob and Tom (out of WFBQ in Indianapolis) in morning drive. In the Southern United States, John Boy and Billy (out of WRFX in Charlotte) is carried instead in most cases. (Both of the aforementioned shows are syndicated by Premiere.) Other shows include Rover's Morning Glory out of WMMS in Cleveland. Starting with WQBW Milwaukee (now the sports formatted WRNW) and WBWR Columbus (now WXZX), several iHeartMedia stations have adopted a 1980s-centered classic rock approach called "The Brew".

The company's alternative rock stations use a standardized branding under the brand "Alt".

Spanish
In a few markets, iHeartMedia has an FM station carrying Hispanic programming full-time. In some markets the format is a Contemporary Tropical format while in others the format carried is more of a Mexican format. In a few markets an iHeartMedia FM station carries a rap based Spanish format known as Hurban, which blends Spanish dance music with rhythm and blues hits as well as some Hip Hop. The division was run by Spanish radio executive Alfredo Alonso, who joined the company in September 2004 as senior vice president of Hispanic Radio. In September 2016, iHeartMedia brought hired Enrique Santos as chairman and chief creative officer of the newly formed iHeartLatino division.

iHeartMedia launched an annual event franchise called iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina.

Religious
In a few markets, iHeartMedia has a religious station on the AM band. Some of these sell blocks of time to outside organizations and have no local shows at all except where local churches buy time. These are formatted similarly to Salem Media stations.

The other type of religious format iHeartMedia uses in a few markets is a Gospel music based format. On these stations Gospel Music appealing to black Americans airs most of the time along with some block programming sold to religious groups. These stations are often programmed as urban stations that happen to be religious.

Specialties
IHeartMedia has one station in Hawaii, KDNN/Honolulu, programming a Contemporary Hawaiian Hits/Reggae format, along with an accompanying HD2 sub channel that features traditional Hawaiian music. Multicultural programming can also be heard on AM stations that iHeartMedia owns or has LMAs with. In March 2019, its Allentown, Pennsylvania outlet, WSAN, launched an all-podcast format. In November 2019, K256AS/KUCD-HD2 in Honolulu launched a variant Top 40 format with a focus on K-pop and other international pop hits.

Criticism

Market share
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the company became an object of persistent criticism. FCC regulations were relaxed following the Telecommunications Act of 1996, allowing companies to own far more radio stations than before. After spending about $30 billion, Clear Channel owned over 1,200 stations nationwide, including as many as eight stations in certain markets. Although "media reform" social movement organizations like Future of Music Coalition mobilized against Clear Channel, so far the company has been able to hold on to all of its stations after divesting a few following the acquisition of AMFM, although over 500 stations have since been sold or are in the process of being sold since the company announced plans to become privately held.

September 11, 2001

Following the September 11 attacks on New York and The Pentagon, radio stations circulated a list of songs that were deemed inappropriate for broadcast during the time of national mourning following the attacks. A small list was initially generated by the Clear Channel office on Thursday, September 13, 2001, though individual program directors added many of their own songs. A list containing about 150 songs was soon published on the Internet. Some critics suggested that Clear Channel's political preferences played a part in the list. A number of songs were apparently placed on the list because they had specific words such as "plane", "fly", "burn", and "falling" in their titles. Clear Channel denies that this was a list of banned songs, claiming it was a list of titles that should be played only after great thought. Also WOFX, Cincinnati, owned by Clear Channel at the time continued to play songs that were on the alleged list, even though radio headquarters was in Cincinnati at the time. Songs on the list included Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'", Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and the entire Rage Against the Machine discography.

Live music recordings
In 2004, Clear Channel acquired a key patent in the process of producing Instant Live recordings, in which a live performance is recorded directly from the sound engineer's console during the show, and then rapidly burned on CD so that audience members can buy copies of the show as they are leaving the venue. This had been intended to provide additional revenue to the artist, venue, and promoter, as well as stifle the demand for unauthorized bootleg concert recordings made by audience members. However, some media critics, as well as smaller business rivals, believed that Clear Channel was using the patent (on the process of adding cues to the beginning and ending of tracks during recording, so that the concert is not burned as a single enormous track) to drive competitors out of business or force them to pay licensing fees, even if they do not use precisely the same process. The patent was transferred to Live Nation when Clear Channel Entertainment was spun off, but the patent was revoked on March 13, 2007, after it was found that this patent infringed on a prior patent granted for Telex.

Indecency zero tolerance
During the nationwide crackdown on indecent material following the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show in 2004, Clear Channel launched a "self-policing" effort, and declared that there would be no "indecent" material allowed on the air. This led to the company's dismissal of several of their own employees, including popular and high-profile hosts in a number of cities. There were protests from free-speech advocates. During the same period, Howard Stern was dropped from six Clear Channel-owned stations in Florida, California, Pennsylvania, New York and Kentucky. By mid-year, rival Viacom (through radio division Infinity Broadcasting, and the original Viacom, not the current one) brought Stern's show back to those six markets. In June 2004, Viacom/Infinity Broadcasting Inc./One Twelve Inc. filed a $10 million lawsuit against Clear Channel for breaking of contracts and non-payment of licensing fees due to the dropping of Stern's show. (Viacom was Howard Stern's employer at the time, though he has since moved to Sirius XM Satellite Radio.) The following July, Clear Channel filed a countersuit of $3 million.

Concerts
In the early 2000s, Clear Channel settled a lawsuit with a Denver, Colorado concert promoter, Nobody In Particular Presents (NIPP). In the lawsuit, NIPP alleged that Clear Channel halted airplay on its local stations for (NIPP) clients, and that Clear Channel would not allow NIPP to publicize its concerts on the air. The lawsuit was settled in 2004 when Clear Channel agreed to pay NIPP a confidential sum. However, a systematic analysis of concert ticket prices found no evidence that Clear Channel was cross-leveraging its radio interests with its (now divested) concert promotion interests.

Production of local programming
iHeartMedia uses the RCS Nex-Gen automation system throughout their properties. Like most contemporary automation systems, Nex-Gen allows a DJ from anywhere in the country to sound as if he or she is broadcasting from anywhere else in the country, on any other station. A technological outgrowth of earlier, tape-based automation systems dating back to the 1960s, this method—known as voice-tracking—allows for smaller market stations to be partially or completely staffed by "cyber-jocks" who may never have visited the town from which they are broadcasting. This practice may also result in local on-air positions being reduced or eliminated. It has been stated that iHeartMedia maintains a majority of its staff in hourly-paid, part-time positions. Beginning in the early 2020s, many of its stations have added a disclaimer with their station identification sequence noting that the voicetracked content is pre-recorded.

Lack of local staff during emergency

Clear Channel was criticized for a situation that occurred in Minot, North Dakota, on the morning of January 18, 2002. At around 2:30 a.m., a Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed and leaked  of toxic anhydrous ammonia, releasing a cloud of caustic, poisonous gas over the city. At the time, Clear Channel owned six commercial radio stations out of nine in the Minot area. City officials attempted to contact the local Clear Channel office by telephone to spread warnings of the danger using its radio stations, but it was several critical hours before the station manager was finally reached at his home. In the meantime, 9-1-1 operators were advising panicked callers to tune to KCJB for emergency instructions, but the station was not broadcasting any such information.

The ammonia spill was the largest of its kind in the United States, with one person killed, and over 1,000 seeking medical attention. Clear Channel claimed no responsibility for its failure to warn residents, maintaining that the city should have used the Emergency Alert System to trigger automatic equipment in place at all U.S. radio stations. The EAS equipment was later found to be functional at the time, but had not been activated by city, state or regional authorities. Other critical systems throughout Minot were either inoperable or had failed, including the public siren system, electricity in parts of the town, and the 9-1-1 telephone system, which became overloaded.

Rejection of advertising images

In June 2010 Clear Channel Outdoor rejected without comment two digital billboard images submitted by St. Pete Pride, an LGBT organization that sponsors gay pride events in the St. Petersburg, Florida area, leading the group to cancel its contract with Clear Channel. St. Pete Pride has stated that throughout its eight-year history, Clear Channel has edited the organization's advertising material, and questioned whether the rejection of these images were because they displayed same-sex couples in affectionate poses. A Clear Channel spokesperson declined to comment on the specific reasons why the images were rejected but denied that the affection being shown was an issue, saying that such images had been included in previous St. Pete Pride campaigns.

Censorship
iHeartMedia and its subsidiaries have been associated with censorship of state and federal candidates for public office, elected officials and various political viewpoints.

iHeartMedia has been criticized in the past for censoring opinions critical of the Republican Party. Magic, the 2007 release from Bruce Springsteen which contained songs that were subtly critical of then-president George W. Bush, a Republican, and his administration, was censored from air play on Clear Channel. After Natalie Maines, the singer of the country band Dixie Chicks, told a London audience that they were "ashamed [of the fact that] the president of the United States is from Texas", the band's radio airplay dropped precipitously. Afterwards, some iHeartMedia (then Clear Channel) stations removed The Dixie Chicks from their playlists without any noted repercussions from the company. Gail Austin, Clear Channel's director of programming said, "Out of respect for our troops, our city and our listeners, [we] have taken the Dixie Chicks off our playlists." Clear Channel was accused of orchestrating the radio blacklist by such critics as Paul Krugman; however, others claim some Clear Channel stations continued to play the band longer than some other companies.

In 2005, Clear Channel-owned KTVX was the only local television station in Salt Lake City that refused to air a paid political message of Cindy Sheehan against the war in Iraq during a visit by President Bush.

On May 8, 2014, the FCC was asked to respond to a political programming complaint made against an iHeartMedia owned broadcast licensee, Capstar TX LLC by supporters of Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, that year's Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin. Capstar would not offer free airtime on WISN radio (a station which only features local and national conservative talk shows) to respond to statements supporting Republican Governor Scott Walker. Walker's supporters had received free airtime from WISN for political purposes. Barrett supporters based their complaint on WISN's violation of the Zapple doctrine. The FCC responded by rescinding the Zapple doctrine as a no longer enforceable component of the Fairness Doctrine.

Use of paid actors posing as callers
iHeartMedia, through its subsidiary, Premiere Radio Networks, auditions and hires actors to call in to talk radio shows and pose as listeners in order to provide shows, carried by iHeartMedia and other broadcasters, with planned content in the form of stories and opinions. The custom caller service provided by Premiere Radio assures its clients they won't hear the same actor's voice for at least two months in order to appear authentic to listeners who might otherwise catch on.

iHeartMedia and rock radio
iHeartMedia had ended several long-running rock formats in several markets due to the decline of the format and shifts in overall market demographics, to negative listener reception, including:
 KSJO San Jose (formerly an iHeart station) – flipped to Spanish-language oldies on October 28, 2004, after 35 years as a rock station
 KLOL Houston – flipped to Spanish-language pop on November 12, 2004, after 34 years as a rock station (the station was sold to CBS Radio a few years later)
 WFNX Boston – flipped to adult hits on July 24, 2012, after 29 years as an alternative rock station
 WKLS Atlanta – flipped to mainstream top 40 on August 29, 2012, after 38 years as a rock station
 KZEP-FM San Antonio – flipped to rhythmic hot AC on August 8, 2014, after 25 years as a classic rock station and 45 years of some form of rock music on the frequency (the classic rock format was moved to low-powered translator K227BH)
 KDGE Dallas–Fort Worth – flipped to Christmas music on November 16, 2016, then Mainstream AC on December 26 after 27 years (11 years on 94.5 before moving to 102.1 in 2000, and 16 years on 102.1) as an alternative rock station.

See also

 iHeartMedia radio stations
 Clear Channel UK
 List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia
 List of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks
 TuneIn

References

Further reading
 Eric Boehlert, "Radio's big bully", salon.com, April 30, 2001
 Eric Boehlert, "Tough company", salon.com, May 30, 2001
 "Group sues over anti-war billboard", CNN, July 12, 2004
 Salon.com article on Clear Channel

External links

American companies established in 1972
Radio broadcasting companies of the United States
Mass media companies of the United States
Companies based in San Antonio
Mass media companies established in 1972
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
1972 establishments in Texas
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018

IHeartMedia


Retroactive continuity, or retcon, is when some detail in a fictional story, such as a movie, TV, or book series, is added, changed, or ignored in a later part of the series. It can happen for several different reasons, like fixing a plot hole or getting rid of a detail that was disliked by many people.

There are a few main types of retcons.

The first is addition. This is a new detail added to give the reader or viewer a new understanding of the story. This detail would not have been planned when a series was first being made. For example, many people who watched Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope complained that the Death Star had an easily spotted and poorly placed weak point. This made it easier to be destroyed. George Lucas, the writer of Star Wars, did not have an explanation why. However, the writers of its prequel, Rogue One, later explained this. They wrote the story so that character Galen Erso, who is the main character Jyn Erso's father, made its weak point easily seen and poorly placed on purpose. He did this so he could help the Rebel Alliance destroy it.

The second is alteration. This is a detail goes against details already given. This is called a contradiction. For example, in Metal Gear Solid 2, the villain Revolver Ocelot tells the main character Solid Snake that Big Boss was in his late fifties when he gave his genes to make clones. This was the year 1972. However, in the prequel Metal Gear Solid 3, Big Boss is the main character. The game is set in 1964, but Big Boss is nowhere even close to being in his late forties or early fifties, which is how old he is supposed to be.

The third is subtraction. This is a detail that gets ignored or forgotten later in a series. For example, in the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the villain Colonel Stryker experiments on the superhero Deadpool and turns him into Weapon 11. This made fans of Deadpool so unhappy that when the Deadpool movie came out it completely ignored the story given in X-Men Origins.

Fiction

Retroactive continuity


Mark Colvin (13 March 1952 – 11 May 2017) was an Australian journalist and radio and television broadcaster for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and worked on most of the flagship current affairs programs. Notably, based in Sydney, he was the presenter of PM— the radio current affairs program on the ABC Radio network — from 1997 to 2017.

Biography

Career as a journalist and broadcaster
Colvin graduated from Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English literature and arrived in Australia in 1974. With no clear career ambitions and failing as a builder's labourer, being susceptible to heat stroke in the strong Australian sun, the dole office steered him toward journalism. In that year he commenced a traineeship with the ABC but had doubts during the year that he would stick with journalism. Nevertheless, in January 1975 he commenced at the ABC's rock music station Double Jay (2JJ, now known as Triple J) as one of the foundation staff, initially working as a cadet journalist. While at 2JJ, he presented news, conducted interviews, and produced current affairs and documentary specials until 1978. With strong foreign language skills in French, Italian and Spanish, he was posted to the Canberra bureau and was appointed a television news producer. A year later he was one of the first reporters on Nationwide, along with Jenny Brockie, Paul Murphy, and Andrew Olle.

In 1980, at the age of 28, Colvin was appointed foreign correspondent in London, and travelled to cover major stories, including the American hostage crisis in Tehran and the rise of Solidarity in Poland. During his time covering the Middle East, Colvin was deeply affected by the death of his interpreter, Bahram Dehqani-Tafti, a secular Iranian murdered and dumped outside a Tehran prison. Colvin believed that the mullahs had a dispute with Dehqani-Tafti's father, the Anglican bishop of Iran in exile in London.

Colvin returned to Australia in 1983 and was initially a reporter on both AM and PM, before agitating for the establishment of a midday news and current-affairs radio program. Colvin became the founding presenter of The World Today on ABC radio. The following year, Colvin went to Brussels as Europe correspondent, and covered the events across the continent as the Cold War began to thaw and the Gorbachev era started the process that would lead to the lifting of the Iron Curtain.

Between 1988 and 1992, Colvin was a reporter for Four Corners, making programs focused on, inter alia, the French massacre of Kanaks in New Caledonia, the extinction of Australia's fauna and the Cambodian peace process. His feature on the Ethiopian famine won a gold medal at the New York Film Festival and was runner-up for an International Emmy Award. In 1992, Colvin accepted another London posting, this time for television, mainly reporting for Foreign Correspondent, the 7.30 Report and Lateline. His language skills and long European experience paid off in stories such as his series on the relationship between Italian organised crime and government, which culminated in the trial of former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.

In 1994, Colvin was deployed by the 7.30 Report to Africa to cover the unfolding tragedy in Rwanda. Travelling via Zaire, he witnessed an extensive human tragedy, in which about a million refugees were living in camps with poor sanitation and hygiene, with cholera and dysentery commonplace. Colvin was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis, a rare inflammation of blood vessels, which nearly killed him. After several months in hospital, during his convalescence he became aware of a side effect of the treatment—his hip joints collapsed and both hips had to be replaced. He spent the next 18 months in Europe.

In 1997, Colvin returned to Sydney and started in his role as presenter for ABC Radio's PM. In November 2017 Colvin was inducted into The Australian Media Hall of Fame.

Organ transplant
On 22 March 2013, Colvin received a kidney transplant from a living donor. Colvin, and the hospital and staff, allowed the process to be recorded for television.

In  a televised interview on 1 May 2013, the living donor of Colvin's transplanted kidney was revealed to be Mary-Ellen Field, whom Colvin had met while reporting on victims of the News of the World/News International phone hacking scandal. Field had received unwanted notoriety after details of her working relationship with Elle Macpherson had been revealed through reporting of messages from Field's hacked phone, causing Macpherson to sack Field. It was revealed that Colvin and Field had established a correspondence after the interview, finally meeting in 2011; that Field had decided to become a donor before revealing this to her husband; that the pair had considered naming the kidney "Rupert" (after Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer of News Corporation, the parent company of News International that owned News of the World); and, that Colvin had declared a conflict of interest to his employer and ceased reporting on Field.

During 2010, Colvin worked to raise the profile of organ donation through interviews with a number of media agencies including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Drum, The 7.30 Report, and Life Matters.

Stage play
The story of Colvin's kidney donation and the circumstances surrounding it was the subject of a stage play titled Mark Colvin's Kidney by playwright Tommy Murphy. The play was produced by the Sydney theatre company Belvoir with David Berthold as director, and a cast including actor John Howard as Colvin and Sarah Peirse as Mary-Ellen Field.

Autobiography
In 2016 Colvin released his autobiography, Light and Shadow: Memoirs of a Spy's Son.

Family
The Colvin family had a long history of military and administrative service to Australia, and previously to the British Empire. Colvin's father, John Horace Ragnar Colvin, was a Cold War diplomat, and the grandson of Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin. He is the great-grandson of the India Office mandarin Clement Sneyd Colvin, whose father was John Russell Colvin. John Russell, son of an East Indies trader, ended up lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces of British India during the mutiny of 1857, had ten children and founded a dynasty of Empire-builders.  Through this line, Mark Colvin's extended family includes Walter Mytton, Auckland Colvin, also lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces and Oudh; the landscape architect Brenda Colvin (1897–1981), and Sidney Colvin, a critic, curator, and great friend of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Through his mother, Elizabeth Anne Manifold, Colvin was the great-great-nephew of a Prime Minister of Australia, Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, who went on to be an international statesman and the first Chancellor of the Australian National University. He was also the step-son of Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot. Colvin was married twice. He married his second wife, Michele Francesca McKenzie, in 1987. McKenzie is the mother of his two sons, Nicolas and William.

Death
On 11 May 2017, Colvin died aged 65, at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, over twenty years after contracting granulomatosis with polyangiitis, the rare auto-immune condition which caused kidney failure in 2011. Colvin survived the kidney transplant only to be diagnosed with melanoma and then just before Easter in 2017 was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He asked that anyone wishing to mark his death or honour his passing donate to the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation.

References

External links

1952 births
2017 deaths
ABC radio (Australia) journalists and presenters
Mark
Alumni of the University of Oxford
English people of Australian descent
Journalists from Sydney
Kidney transplant recipients
Deaths from melanoma
Deaths from lung cancer
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales

Mark Colvin


The Ozark minnow (Notropis nubilus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Notropis.

Appearance
The Ozark minnow is a small fish that averages about 2 ¼ to 2 ¾ inches in length with its maximum length being about 3 inches. They have dark yellow or olive coloration along their back and upper sides. Their lower sides are silvery with a stripe running down their midline up past their eye. When in the water, golden spots can be seen over the stripe along the midline.
The edges of their scales are dark in color as well. They also have flat snouts and big eyes, and are bilaterally symmetrical. Similar to the Shiner species, the Ozark minnow has a terminal, oblique mouth. It also lacks pigment on the top and base of its mouth. A forked tail and single fin on its dorsal side allow the Ozark minnow to maneuver quickly through the water. The Ozark minnow can easily be distinguished from other fish because of the striking black line which stretches from its head to tail. Although an adult Ozark minnow does not extend more than 3.0 inches, it possesses a gut that is approximately double the fish's average length. The gut is coiled neatly within the Ozark minnow.
These physical descriptions of the Ozark minnow are true for both the males and females in a population meaning that they do not seem to display any sexual dimorphism. In other words, they do not have very different physical traits that are special to the male or female.

Habitat
Ozark minnows are mostly found in creeks or small rivers that have "gravelly or rocky bottoms and strong, permanent flow", and are often found in schools with other minnow species. In addition, they can be found in pools or near riffles, which are "light rapids where water flows across a shallow section of river". They are also most frequently found in waters that are not highly populated, to ensure their safety and protection. Ozark minnows prefer weaker currents to strong currents, but are found slightly below the surface in calmer water. They prefer freshwater and a more benthic biome, staying close to the bottom for the majority of the time.
As for their geographic distribution, Ozark minnows can be found in the "central highlands" of the United States. They are mainly found in the Mississippi River of more southern states, in addition to Oklahoma and Kansas, due to excessive farming in the more northern states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Specifically in these states, they have been found in southeast Minnesota in the Root, Cedar, and Zumbro rivers, the northern and southern portions of Wisconsin, and in northeast Oklahoma. They have also been found in the Ozark highlands of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa.

Diet
Ozark Minnows are omnivorous, feeding on a variety of plant matter and small invertebrates along the bottom.

Footnotes

References
 Robert Jay Goldstein, Rodney W. Harper, Richard Edwards: American Aquarium Fishes. Texas A&M University Press 2000, , p. 91 ()

Ozark minnow
Fish of the Eastern United States
Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
Freshwater fish of the Southeastern United States
Ozark minnow
Ozark minnow
Ozark minnow

Ozark minnow