Need more examples of the dangers and annoyances of media consolidation? Well, the evil corporate juggernaut of radio, Clear Channel Communications, is giving us something new to fret about.
In Chicago, seven radio stations owned by Clear Channel have been told to stop referring to O’Hare Airport in their traffic reports, and instead substitute travel times to the Allstate Arena. This is because Clear Channel has started selling “product placements” in its traffic reports. From the Sun Times, via Fark:
Thanks to a yearlong marketing agreement with Allstate Arena — the first under Clear Channel’s “traffic destination rights program” — travel times are to be reported “from Downtown to the Allstate Arena” rather than to O’Hare, starting next week. The concert venue and sports facility, formerly known as the Rosemont Horizon, is located near O’Hare in northwest suburban Rosemont.
The edict came in a memo this week from Barry Butler, general sales manager for Clear Channel Traffic Chicago. Butler declined to say how much Allstate Arena was paying for the product placement plugs in traffic reports.
“Quite honestly, for commuters who take this route, this change makes much more sense, since the significant majority of commuters are not going to and from O’Hare each day — it’s from the area where the Allstate Arena is located,” Butler wrote to Clear Channel staffers. “By the way, all of the concerts that are booked at the Allstate are from Clear Channel Entertainment!”
The sinister implications of that corporate synergy are not likely to be lost on anyone.
further proof that Clear Channel is evil!