Clear Channel Gets Hipper

Lots of people here may have Sirius Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) on the brain lately, given Howard Stern's imminent defection from terrestrial radio to satellite, but there's plenty afoot in the radio industry as all the players duke it out for listeners. Clear Channel (NYSE: CCU) is going to attempt to leverage the popularity of podcasting, the emergence of video downloads, and its own star power to get a hook into the public.

On Tuesday, Clear Channel's radio unit, Premiere Radio Networks, said that it will begin offering video podcasts of some of its most popular radio personalities, starting with conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. It's just in experimentation stage, but $7 per month will allow those who subscribe to obtain commercial-free podcasts of Limbaugh's show and a daily 60-second videocast that serves as a sneak peek of the following day's content. Users can play the videocasts on their computers or on Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPods.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the reason the company is starting with Limbaugh's fan base is because it's one that "has a tremendous appetite for technology." Judging by the results, the company will then assess whether to offer the same thing for some of its other radio personalities.

It's no secret that traditional corporate radio businesses face a lot of competition. Sirius and Motley Fool Rule Breakers pick XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) aren't the least of their concerns, what with other hot trends like streaming Internet radio and podcasting. However, last spring, Clear Channel demonstrated that it wants to embrace some of the hottest trends when it began offering podcasting and live concerts on its radio-related sites. Indeed, the allure of music downloading hasn't been lost on Clear Channel, either.

Given the fact that Clear Channel's videocasts are only going to be 60-second sneak peeks at the following day's content, I'd argue that this offering really just pays lip service to the emerging new trend in downloaded video content -- at least until it's expanded to other personalities and more expansive content. Of course, it certainly can't hurt for Clear Channel to demonstrate that it's hip with the current technological trends.

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Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.