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CBS RADIO to Swap Five Mid-Size Market Stations for Two Large Market Stations With Clear Channel Communications

Posted on: Monday, 15 December 2008, 08:15 CST

Deal Furthers the Company's Strategy to Divest Mid-Size Market Stations and Focus on Large Markets

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CBS RADIO today announced it has signed a definitive agreement with Clear Channel Communications, Inc. to swap five mid-size market radio stations for two large market stations, moving forward in its strategy of divesting mid-size market stations to focus on large markets.

The swap satisfies U.S. Department of Justice conditions placed on its approval of Clear Channel Communications' merger with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. and Bain Capital Partners, LLC earlier this year.

In the trade, Clear Channel will obtain CBS RADIO's KBKS-FM (Seattle), WQSR-FM (Baltimore), KXJM-FM and KLTH-FM (Portland, Ore.), and KQJK-FM (Sacramento, Calif.). In return, CBS RADIO will acquire two stations in Houston, the country's 6th-largest radio market, KLOL-FM (Mega 101.1) and KHMX-FM (Mix 96.5).

"This deal represents a financially advantageous opportunity for us to shed some of our mid-size market stations while expanding in a Top Ten market, which is our focus," said Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation.

"Both of the newly acquired Houston stations, KLOL-FM and KHMX-FM, are format leaders in the market," said Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS RADIO. "We are thrilled to be adding them to our portfolio and believe they will nicely complement our four existing stations."

Since the fall of 2007, KLOL-FM has featured a music intensive contemporary Latino pop format resulting in significant growth in 2008. The station ranks among the Top 10 properties in the market with Adults 18-34 and 25-54. Mix 96.5, regarded by many as the nation's first Hot Adult Contemporary station, has a loyal female audience and earned Top 5 rankings with Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 in the most recent Arbitron survey.

The agreement is subject to regulatory approval.

About CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW -- a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CBS College Sports Network), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/DVD (CBS Home Entertainment), in-store media (CBS Outernet) and motion pictures (CBS Films). For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.

About CBS RADIO

CBS RADIO, one of the largest major-market operators in the United States with stations covering news, sports, talk, rock, oldies, country, adult contemporary and urban formats, among others, offers audiences an enhanced and customized listening experience through the combination of on-air, online and new media platforms. CBS RADIO operates 140 radio stations throughout the nation's top 50 markets and broadcasts play-by-play coverage of 26 of the country's leading professional sports franchises. CBS RADIO also has embraced interactive programming through the use of streaming, HD Radio, podcasts and mobile messaging. The division maintains exclusive agreements with AOL and Yahoo through which CBS RADIO powers AOL Radio and LAUNCHcast, respectively, and distributes its stations to their network of listeners. Home to the nation's most listened to news (1010 WINS), sports (WFAN-AM), rock (KROQ-FM) and country (WUSN-FM) stations, CBS RADIO is a division of CBS Corporation. For more information on CBS RADIO, please visit www.cbsradio.com.

SOURCE CBS Corp.

Source: PR Newswire

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