Analyst: Clear Channel Perfect for Google Acquisition

At least one analyst believes that a Clear Channel acquisition by Google - though an unlikely pairing of old and new media - makes good business sense.

Clear Channel recently announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives to increase value for shareholders, and RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank suggests that Google would be the perfect partner, AdAge reports (via MarketingVox). Google’s acqusition of dMarc last year allowed Google to create an automated system to sell radio ad inventory - which, however, remains unsold until the last-possible minute. But Bank points out that Google Audio has made several high-profile hires in radio sales in major markets recently.

This move is a bit curious, given Google’s current automated method for selling radio inventory. “We believe there’s a reasonable chance Google Audio is establishing critical mass in anticipation of a major acquisition of prime inventory…. Given [Clear Channel’s] current exploration of strategic alternatives, we could see this playing out potentially through Google making a modest investment in CCU to help secure access to inventory,” Banks writes.

Another possibility is that Google’s hiring signals a move into local search, a potential growth area for online advertising. Google may also be looking to acquire local media from private equity groups in order to gain additional ad inventory.

Another analyst, Greater Media president/CEO Peter Smyth, believes that going private would give Clear Channel “an incredible opportunity to have the time to invest in this massive platform that they have to the betterment of themselves, for the betterment of their listeners and their advertisers,” writes Reuters. He believes it would give the company the flexibility to invest in products and talent, and to bring different formats to the marketplace without having to worry about what he calls “this scourge of Wall Street.”