Clear Channel Says No Boss Ban

Clear Channel Communications is having none of Fox News columnist Roger Friedman’s suggestion that the radio company is muzzling Bruce Springsteen’s music.

Friedman wrote that, despite Springsteen’s Magic being a No. 1 album, it’s getting little radio play. The culprit, he suggested, was age.

"Clear Channel seems to have sent a clear message to other radio outlets that at age 58, Springsteen simply is too old to be played on rock stations," Friedman said, adding that sources told him Clear Channel has banned its programmers from playing tracks from the new album.

He added that it wasn’t just Springsteen in trouble.

"There is no sign at major radio stations of new albums by John Fogerty or Annie Lennox, either. The same stations that should be playing Santana’s new singles with Chad Kroeger or Tina Turner are avoiding them, too."

Clear Channel released a statement that brushed Friedman aside, saying it’s "been down this road before" with Madonna and Dixie Chicks.

"Although Clear Channel owns only 8 percent of the radio stations in the U.S., in the first days after the CD’s release, airplay of music from the [Springsteen] disc on Clear Channel radio stations represented a full 21 percent of the total radio airplay in the U.S., including airplay from satellite radio," the company said.

"Furthermore, Clear Channel radio stations played music from the CD more than twice as much as the nearest radio broadcaster, which came in at less than 10 percent of total U.S. airplay."

However, it’s doubtful the conspiracy theorists care what Clear Channel actually says.