L. LOWRY MAYS

Perhaps no one has had a greater impact on radio in the 21st century than L. Lowry Mays, Chairman and Founder of Clear Channel Communications, Inc.  

Mays was an investment banker in 1972 when he founded San Antonio Broadcasting Company and purchased his first radio station. With the subsequent purchase of WOAI/San Antonio, the company had its first “Clear Channel” station, designated with its own frequency nationwide.  

With the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and subsequent deregulation of the broadcast industry, many of the previous constraints of media concentration were abolished. Mays and Clear Channel responded by purchasing 49 radio stations and an interest in the largest radio group in New Zealand. By 2004, Clear Channel owned more than 1,200 radio stations and 41 television stations in the United States. Clear Channel also owns a crosssection of media and entertainment-related avenues, including more than 750,000 outdoor advertising displays and one of the nation’s leading live entertainment companies. In addition, the corporation currently operates in 66 countries with more than 50,000 employees and equity interests in more than 240 international radio stations.  

L. Lowry Mays was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2004.