History
In 1992 Jacor was one of the first broadcasters to take advantage of duopoly rules allowing stations to own or operate 2AM's and 2FM's per market. Up until that time broadcasters could only own 1AM and 1FM per market. One of the first duopoly acquisitions was WKRC Radio in Cincinnati. From 1992-1994 WKRC operated as WLWA, a female version of male driven WLW. In February 1996, with the passing of the telcom bill, Jacor went on a radio shopping spree.
Jacor acquired Noble Broadcasting days after the telecom bill was passed, 10 days later Jacor merged with Citicasters. In 1997 Jacor acquired the assets of Nationwide Communications. These acquisitions made Jacor the third-largest radio company when it was acquired by Clear Channel for 4.4 billion dollars in 1999. When bought out by Clear Channel, Jacor owned 230 radio stations in 55 markets. Jacor also owned Premiere Radio networks, producers of The Rush Limbaugh Show and the Dr. Laura Schlessinger show. Jacor also owned WKRC-TV in Cincinnati.
Jacor's corporate headquarters were in downtown Cincinnati from the mid-1980s through 1996. In December 1996 Jacor moved its headquarters across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky.
Jacor was owned (1992-1999) by Sam Zell's Zell Chillmark fund. In May 1993 founder and CEO Terry Jacobs left Jacor and VP Programming and COO Randy Michaels was named President of the company, in 1996 he was promoted to CEO. In 1999 Zell decided to exit radio and his interest in Jacor. A bidding war between CBS Radio and Clear Channel Communications began with Clear Channel prevailing with a $4.4 billion price. Clear Channel named Michaels CEO and enjoyed several years of continued growth and success reaching 1,200 domestic radio properties. Michaels is now CEO of Merlin Media LLC, and Clear Channel has been sold to a group of private equity investors.
The Jacor name is retired from broadcasting. For many years in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s Jacor's perception in the radio industry was well regarded among radio listeners and broadcasting peers. In most markets where Jacor competed they had the top-rated station; in the case of Denver, Cincinnati, and Tampa were often ranked first and second with their AM/FM combos. In the 1990s Jacor's first entry into a major market was Gannett's KIIS-AM-FM in Los Angeles. Jacor quickly improved ratings at KIIS-FM and turned the AM (now KTLK) from a 5000 watt unknown to a successful sports station that for several years was the flagship station for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games.
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