Gee, Thanks Dad.

MAYS, Mark, 1963-; CLEAR Channel Communications Inc.; EMPLOYEES; MAYS, Lowry, 1935-2022; MAYS, Randall; RADIO stations; FAMILY-owned business enterprises; MASS media; CHIEF executive officers; COMPETITIVE advantage in business; MONOPOLIES

The article focuses on Mark Mays, son of L. Lowry Mays, who has built one of the largest and most powerful media companies in the nation, Clear Channel. Clear Channel owns 1,202 radio stations in 49 states, more than any other company, and employs 61,500 people in 65 countries. Lowry Mays spent years grooming his two sons, Mark, 41, and Randall, 39, to run the family business someday. Randall settled into the role of chief financial officer, leaving his more outgoing older brother as heir apparent. Since his father took ill, Mark has been acting chief executive of the company, which has $9 billion in annual sales and a market value of $29 billion. Mark Mays must find other ways for Clear Channel to grow, even as he counters accusations of anticompetitive behavior. He also must live up to his father's reputation. His most important task will be to find new sources of growth--from within. But everywhere it turns, Clear Channel has an image problem: its sheer size. Yet the portrayal of Clear Channel as a fearsome monopoly is a bit overdone. Ownership is far less concentrated in radio than in other media businesses.