operating a limited number of displays in a single market or a few local markets.  We also compete with other advertising media in our respective markets, including broadcast and cable television, radio, print media, direct mail, the Internetonline and other forms of advertisement.

Outdoor advertising companies compete primarily based on ability to reach consumers, which is driven by location of the display.

International Outdoor Advertising

Our International outdoor business segment includes our operations in Asia, Australia, Europe and Europe,Latin America, with approximately 34%, 37% and 39%33% of our revenue in this segment derived from France and the United Kingdom for the years ended December 31, 2011, 20102014, 2013 and 2009, respectively.2012.  As of December 31, 2011,2014, we owned or operated more than 630,000540,000 displays across 3026 countries.

Our International outdoor assets consist of street furniture and transit displays, billboards, mall displays, Smartbike schemes,programs, wallscapes and other spectaculars, which we own or operate under lease agreements.  Our International business is focused on metropolitan areas with dense populations.

Strategy

Similar to our Americas outdoor advertising business, we believe our International outdoor advertising business has attractive industry fundamentals including a broad audience reach and a highly cost effective media for advertisers as measured by cost per thousand persons reached compared to other traditional media.  Our International business focuses on the following strategies:

Promote Overall Outdoor Media Spending.Our strategy is to promote growth in outdoor advertising’s share of total media spending by leveraging our international scale and local reach.  We are focusing on developing and implementing better and improved outdoor audience delivery measurement systems to provide advertisers with tools to determine how effectively their message is reaching the desired audience.

Capitalize on Product and Geographic Opportunities.  We are also focused on growing our business internationally by working closely with our advertising customers and agencies in meeting their needs, and through new product offerings, optimization of our current display portfolio and selective investments targeting promising growth markets. We have continued to innovate and introduce new products in international markets based on local demands. Our core business is our street furniture business and that is where we plan to focus much of our investment. We plan to continue to evaluate municipal contracts that may come up for bid and will make prudent investments where we believe we can receive attractive returns.  We will also continue to invest in markets such as China Turkey and Poland,Latin America where we believe there is high growth potential.

Continue to Deploy Digital Display Networks.  Internationally, digital out-of-home displays are a dynamic medium which enables our customers to engage in real-time, tactical, topical and flexible advertising.  We will continue our focused and dedicated digital strategy as we remain committed to the digital development of out-of-home communication solutions internationally.  Through our new international digital brand, Clear Channel Play, we are able to offer networks of digital displays in multiple formats and multiple environments including bus shelters, airports, transit, malls and flagship locations.  We seek to achieve greater consumer engagement and flexibility by delivering powerful, flexible and interactive campaigns that open up new possibilities for advertisers to engage with their target audiences.  With digital network launches in Sweden, Belgium and the U.K. accelerating our expansion program during 2011, weWe had more than 2,9004,700 digital displays in twelve20 countries across Europe, Asia and AsiaLatin America as of December 31, 2011.2014.

Sources of Revenue

Our International outdoor segment generated 27%, 25% and 26% of our revenue in 2011, 20102014, 2013 and 2009, respectively.2012.  International outdoor advertising revenue is derived from the sale of traditional advertising copy placed on our display inventory and electronic displays which are part of our network of digital displays.  Our International outdoor display inventory consists primarily of street furniture displays, billboards, transit displays and other out-of-home advertising displays, such as neon displays. The following table shows the approximate percentage of revenue derived from each inventory category of our International outdoor segment:

⁽¹⁾     Includes advertising revenue from mall displays, other small displays, and non-advertising revenue from sales of street furniture equipment, cleaning and maintenance services, operation of Smartbike programs and production revenue.

Our International outdoor segment generates revenues worldwide from local, regional and national sales. Similar to our Americas outdoor business, advertising rates generally are based on the gross ratings points of a display or group of displays. The number of impressions delivered by a display, in some countries, is weighted to account for such factors as illumination, proximity to other displays and the speed and viewing angle of approaching traffic.

While location, price and availability of displays are important competitive factors, we believe that providing quality customer service and establishing strong client relationships are also critical components of sales.  Our entrepreneurial culture allows local management to operate their markets as separate profit centers, encouraging customer cultivation and service.

Street Furniture Displays

Our International street furniture displays, available in traditional and digital formats, are substantially similar to their Americas street furniture counterparts, and include bus shelters, freestanding units, various types of kiosks, benches and other public structures.  Internationally, contracts with municipal and transit authorities for the right to place our street furniture in the public domain and sell advertising on such street furniture typically provide for terms ranging from 10 to 15 years. The major difference between our International and Americas street furniture businesses is in the nature of the municipal contracts.  In our International outdoor business, these contracts typically require us to provide the municipality with a broader range of metropolitan amenities such as bus shelters with or without advertising panels, information kiosks and public wastebaskets, as well as space for the municipality to display maps or other public information.  In exchange for providing such metropolitan amenities and display space, we are authorized to sell advertising space on certain sections of the structures we erect in the public domain.  Our International street furniture is typically sold to clients as network packages of multiple street furniture displays, with contract terms ranging from one to two weeks.  Client contracts are also available with terms of up to one year.

Billboards

The sizes of our International billboards are not standardized.  The billboards vary in both format and size across our networks, with the majority of our International billboards being similar in size to our posters used in our Americas outdoor business (30-sheet and 8-sheet displays).business.  Our International billboards are sold to clients as network packages with contract terms typically ranging from one to two weeks.  Long-term client contracts are also available and typically have terms of up to one year.  We lease the majority of our billboard sites from private landowners.  Billboards include posters and our neon displays, and are available in traditional and digital formats. Defi Group SAS, our International neon subsidiary, is a global provider of neon signs with approximately 296 displays in 16 countries worldwide. Client contracts for International neon displays typically have terms of approximately five years.

Transit Displays

Our International transit display contracts are substantially similar to their Americas transit display counterparts, and typically require us to make only a minimal initial investment and few ongoing maintenance expenditures.  Contracts with public transit authorities or private transit operators typically have terms ranging from three to seven years.  Our client contracts for transit displays, either traditional or digital, generally have terms ranging from one week to one year, or longer.

Other International InventoryDisplays and Services

The balance of our revenue from our International outdoor segment consists primarily of advertising revenue from mall displays, other small displays and non-advertising revenue from sales of street furniture equipment, cleaning and maintenance services and production revenue.  Internationally, our contracts with mall operators generally have terms ranging from five to ten years and client contracts for mall displays generally have terms ranging from one to two weeks, but are available for periods up to six months.  Our International inventory includes other small displays that are counted as separate displays since they form a substantial part of our network and International outdoor advertising revenue.  We also have a Smartbike bicycle rental program which provides bicycles for rent to the general public in several municipalities.  In exchange for providing the bike rental program, we generally derive revenue from advertising rights to the bikes, bike stations, additional street furniture displays, or fees from the local municipalities.  In several of our International markets, we sell equipment or provide cleaning and maintenance services as part of a billboard or street furniture contract with a municipality.

Advertising Inventory and Markets

As of December 31, 2011,2014, we owned or operated more than 630,000540,000 displays in our International outdoor segment, with operations across 3026 countries.  Our International outdoor display count includes display faces, which may include multiple faces on a single structure. Asstructure, as well as small, individual displays.  As a result, our International outdoor display count is not comparable to our Americas outdoor display count, which includes only unique displays.  No one property is material to our overall operations.  We believe that our properties are in good condition and suitable for our operations.

Competition

The international outdoor advertising industry is fragmented, consisting of several largerlarge companies involved in outdoor advertising, such as JCDecaux and CBS,ExterionMedia, as well as numerous smaller and local companies operating a limited number of displays in a single market or a few local markets.  We also compete with other advertising media in our respective markets, including broadcast and cable television, radio, print media, direct mail, the Internetonline and other forms of advertisement.

Outdoor companies compete primarily based on ability to reach consumers, which is driven by location of the display.

Other

Our Other segmentcategory includes our 100%-owned media representation firm, Katz Media, as well as other general support services and initiatives which are ancillary to our other businesses.

Katz Media, a leading media representation firm in the U.S. for radio and television stations, sells national spot advertising time for clients in the radio and television industries throughout the United States.  As of December 31, 2011,2014, Katz Media represents approximately 3,900represented more than 4,000 radio stations, approximately one-fifth of which are owned by us, as well as approximately 950 digital properties.us.  Katz Media also represents approximatelymore than 700 television and digital multicast stations.

Katz Media generates revenue primarily through contractual commissions realized from the sale of national spot and online advertising.  National spot advertising is commercial airtime sold to advertisers on behalf of radio and television stations.  Katz Media represents its media clients pursuant to media representation contracts, which typically have terms of up to ten years in length.

Employees

As of JanuaryDecember 31, 2012,2014, we had approximately 15,40014,500 domestic employees and approximately 5,8004,700 international employees, of which approximately 18,00017,700 were in direct operations and 2,7001,500 were in administrative or corporate related activities.  Approximately 840800 of our employees in the United States and approximately 265 of our employees outside the United States are subject to collective bargaining agreements in their respective countries. We are a party to numerous collective bargaining agreements, none of which represent a significant number of employees.  We believe that our relationship with our employees is good.

Seasonality

Required information is located within Item 7 of Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Regulation of our Media and EntertainmentiHeartMedia Business

General

General

The following is a brief summary of certain statutes, regulations, policies and proposals affecting our media and entertainmentiHeartMedia business.  For example, radio broadcasting is subject to the jurisdiction of the FCC under the Communications Act.  The Communications Act permits the operation of a radio broadcast station only under a license issued by the FCC upon a finding that grant of the license would

serve the public interest, convenience and necessity.  Among other things, the Communications Act empowers the FCC to: issue, renew, revoke and modify broadcasting licenses; assign frequency bands for broadcasting; determine stations’ frequencies, locations, power and other technical parameters; impose penalties for violation of its regulations, including monetary forfeitures and, in extreme cases, license revocation; impose annual regulatory and application processing fees; and adopt and implement regulations and policies affecting the ownership, program content, employment practices and many other aspects of the operation of broadcast stations.

This summary does not comprehensively cover all current and proposed statutes, regulations and policies affecting our media and entertainmentiHeartMedia business.  Reference should be made to the Communications Act and other relevant statutes, regulations, policies and proceedings for further information concerning the nature and extent of regulation of our media and entertainmentiHeartMedia business.  Finally, several of the following matters are now, or may become, the subject of court litigation, and we cannot predict the outcome of any such litigation or its impact on our media and entertainmentiHeartMedia business.

License Assignments

The Communications Act prohibits the assignment of a license or the transfer of control of an FCC licensee without prior FCC approval.  Applications for license assignments or transfers involving a substantial change in ownership are subject to a 30-day period for public comment, during which petitions to deny the application may be filed and considered by the FCC.

License Renewal

The FCC grants broadcast licenses for a term of up to eight years.  The FCC will renew a license for an additional eight-year term if, after consideration of the renewal application and any objections thereto, it finds that the station has served the public interest, convenience and necessity and that, with respect to the station seeking renewal, there have been no serious violations of either the Communications Act or the FCC’s rules and regulations by the licensee and no other such violations which, taken together, constitute a pattern of abuse.  The FCC may grant the license renewal application with or without conditions, including renewal for a term less than eight years.  The vast majority of radio licenses are renewed by the FCC for the full eight-year term.  While we cannot guarantee the grant of any future renewal application, our stations’ licenses historically have been renewed for the full eight-year term.

Ownership Regulation

FCC rules and policies define the interests of individuals and entities, known as “attributable” interests, which implicate FCC rules governing ownership of broadcast stations and other specified mass media entities.  Under these rules, attributable interests generally include: (1) officers and directors of a licensee or of its direct or indirect parent; (2) general partners,partners; (3) limited partners and limited liability company members, unless properly “insulated” from management activities; (3)(4) a 5% or more direct or indirect voting stock interest in a corporate licensee or parent, except that, for a narrowly defined class of passive investors, the attribution threshold is a 20% or more voting stock interest; and (4)(5) combined equity and debt interests in excess of 33% of a licensee’s total asset value, if the interest holder provides over 15% of the licensee station’s total weekly programming, or has an attributable broadcast or newspaper interest in the same market (the “EDP Rule”).  An entity that owns one or more radio stations in a market and programs more than 15% of the broadcast time, or sells more than 15% per week of the advertising time, on a radio station in the same market is generally deemed to have an attributable interest in that station.

Debt instruments, non-voting corporate stock, minority voting stock interests in corporations having a single majority stockholder, and properly insulated limited partnership and limited liability company interests generally are not subject to attribution unless such interests implicate the EDP Rule.  To the best of our knowledge at present, none of our officers, directors or 5% or greater shareholders holds an interest in another television station, radio station or daily newspaper that is inconsistent with the FCC’s ownership rules.

The FCC is required to conduct periodic reviews of its media ownership rules.  In 2003, the FCC, among other actions, modified the radio ownership rules and adopted new cross-media ownership limits.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit initially stayed implementation of the new rules.  Later, it lifted the stay as to the radio ownership rules, allowing the modified rules to go into effect.  It retained the stay on the cross-media ownership limits and remanded them to the FCC for further justification (leaving in effect separate pre-existing FCC rules governing newspaper-broadcast and radio-television cross-ownership).  In 2007, the FCC adopted a decision that revised the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule but made no changes to the radio ownership or radio-television cross-ownership rules.  In 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated the FCC’s revisions to the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule and otherwise upheld the FCC’s decision to retain the current radio ownership and radio-television cross-ownership rules.  Litigants, including Clear Channel, have sought review by theThe U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the Third Circuit’s decision.  The FCC began its nexta periodic review of its media ownership rules in 2010 and has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, but did not complete the proceeding.  The FCC has commenced its 2014 periodic review and has incorporated the record of the 2010 review proceeding with a further notice of proposed rulemaking.  We cannot predict the outcome of the FCC’s media ownership proceedings or their effects on our business in the future.

Irrespective of the FCC’s radio ownership rules, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) have the authority to determine that a particular transaction presents antitrust concerns.  In particular, where the proposed purchaser already owns one or more radio stations in a particular market and seeks to acquire additional radio stations in that market, the DOJ has, in some cases, obtained consent decrees requiring radio station divestitures.

The current FCC ownership rules relevant to our business are summarized below.

·Radio-Television Cross-Ownership Rule.  FCC rules permit the common ownership of one television and up to seven same-market radio stations, or up to two television and six same-market radio stations, depending on the number of independent media voices in the market and on whether the television and radio components of the combination comply with the television and radio ownership limits, respectively.

Alien Ownership Restrictions

The Communications Act restricts foreign entities or individuals from owning or voting more than 20% of the equity of a broadcast licensee directly anddirectly.  It also restricts foreign entities or individuals from owning or voting more than 25% of a licensee’s equity indirectly (i.e., through a parent company)., unless the FCC has made a finding that greater indirect foreign ownership is in the public interest. Since we serve as a holding company for FCC licensee subsidiaries, we are effectively restricted from having more than one-fourth of our stock owned or voted directly or indirectly by foreign entities or individuals.  In November 2013, the FCC clarified that it would entertain and authorize, on a case-by-case basis and upon a sufficient public interest showing, proposals to exceed the 25% foreign ownership limit in broadcasting holding companies.

Indecency Regulation

Federal law regulates the broadcast of obscene, indecent or profane material.  Legislation enacted by Congress provides the FCC with authority to impose fines of up to $325,000 per utterance with a cap of $3.0 million for any violation arising from a single act.  Several judicial appeals of FCC indecency enforcement actions are currently pending. In July 2010, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in one of those appeals,in which it held the FCC’s indecency standards to be unconstitutionally vague under the First Amendment, and in November 2010 denied a petition for rehearing of that decision. In January 2011, the Second Circuit vacated the agency decision at issue in another appeal, relying on its July 2010 and November 2010 decisions. In JanuaryJune 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in itsruled on the appeals of several FCC indecency enforcement actions.  While setting aside the particular FCC actions under review on narrow due process grounds, the Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of the Second Circuit’s actions, settingFCC’s indecency policies, and the stage for a Supreme Court decisionFCC has since solicited public comment on indecency regulation in 2012. The outcome of this proceeding, and of other pending indecency cases, will affect future FCC policies in this area. those policies. We have received, and may receive in the future, letters of inquiry and other notifications from the FCC concerning complaints that programming aired on our stations contains indecent or profane language.  FCC action on these complaints will be directly impacted byWe cannot predict the outcome of our outstanding letters of inquiry and notifications from the FCC or the nature or extent of future FCC indecency court proceedings and subsequent FCC action in response thereto.enforcement actions.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The FCC’s rules require broadcasters to engage in broad equal employment opportunity employment recruitment efforts, retain data concerning such efforts and report much of this data to the FCC and to the public via periodic reports filed with the FCC or placed in stations’ public files and websites.  Broadcasters could be sanctioned for noncompliance.

Technical Rules

Numerous FCC rules govern the technical operating parameters of radio stations, including permissible operating frequency, power and antenna height and interference protections between stations.  Changes to these rules could negatively affect the operation of our stations.  For example, in January 2011 a law that eliminates certain minimum distance separation requirements between full-power and low-power FM radio stations was enacted, which could lead to increased interference between our stations and low-power

FM stations.  In March 2011, the FCC adopted policies which, in certain circumstances, could make it more difficult for radio stations to relocate to increase their population coverage.

Content, Licenses and Royalties

We must pay royalties to copyright owners of musical compositions (typically, songwriters and publishers) whenever we broadcast or stream musical compositions.  Copyright owners of musical compositions most often rely on intermediaries known as performanceperforming rights organizations (“PROs”) to negotiate so-called “blanket” licenses with copyright users for the public performance of their compositions, collect royalties under such licenses and distribute them to copyright owners. We have obtained public performance licenses from, and pay license fees to, the three major performance rights organizationsPROs in the United States, known aswhich are the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers or ASCAP,(“ASCAP”), Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”), or BMI, and SESAC, Inc., (“SESAC”).  There is no guarantee that a given songwriter or SESAC.publisher will remain associated with ASCAP, BMI or SESAC or that additional PROs will not emerge.  For example, a new PRO has reportedly been formed to seek premium royalty rates for certain high-value copyright owners, and a major music publisher has announced that it is considering withdrawing all of its rights from ASCAP and BMI.  The withdrawal of a significant number of musical composition copyright owners from the three established PROs, and/or the emergence of one or more additional PROs, could increase our royalty rates and negotiation costs.

To secure the rights to stream music content over the Internet, we also must obtain performance rights licenses and pay public performance rights royalties to copyright owners of sound recordings (typically, performing artists and recordingrecord companies).  Under Federal statutory licenses, we are permitted to stream any lawfully released sound recordings and to make ephemeral reproductions of these recordings on our computer servers without having to separately negotiate and obtain direct licenses with each individual copyright owner as long as we operate in compliance with the rules of those statutory licenses and pay the applicable royalty rates to SoundExchange, the non-profit organization designated by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect and distribute royalties under these statutory licenses.  In addition, we have business arrangements directly with someFederal law governs copyrights for sound recordings fixed on or after February 15, 1972.  Sound recording copyright owners have asserted that state law requires payments for digital audio transmissions services for unauthorized public performances and reproductions of recordings fixed before that date (“pre-72 recordings”).  Sound recording copyright owners have sued digital audio transmission services for unauthorized public performances and reproductions of pre-72 recordings under various state laws, and courts in two states have issued decisions favorable to receive deliveriesthe copyright owners.  If one or more of their soundthese decisions is upheld on appeal and held to apply to radio broadcasting or Internet simulcasting, it could impede our ability to broadcast or stream pre-72 recordings for use inand/or increase our Internet operations.licensing and negotiating costs of doing so.

The rates at which we pay royalties to copyright owners are privately negotiated or set pursuant to a regulatory process.  In addition, we have business arrangements directly with some copyright owners to receive deliveries of and, in some cases, to directly license their sound recordings for use in our Internet operations.  There is no guarantee that the licenses and associated royalty rates that currently are available to us will be available to us in the future.  Congress may consider and adopt legislation that would require us to pay royalties to sound recording copyright owners for the broadcast of those recordings on our terrestrial radio stations. In addition, proceedings before the Copyright Royalty Board have commenced to establish copyright royalty rates for the public performance and ephemeral reproduction of sound recordings by various noninteractive webcasters, including radio broadcasters that simulcast their terrestrial programming online, to apply to the period January 1, 2016-December 31, 2020.  Increased royalty rates could significantly increase our expenses, which could adversely affect our business.

Privacy and Data Protection

We collect certain types of information from users of our technology platforms, including, without limitation, our websites, web pages, interactive features, applications, Twitter and Facebook pages, and mobile application (“Platforms”), in accordance with the privacy policies and terms of use posted on the applicable Platform.  We collect personally identifiable information directly from Platform users in several ways, including when a user purchases our products or services, registers to use our services, fills out a listener profile, posts comments, uses our social networking features, participates in polls and contests and signs up to receive email newsletters.  We also may obtain information about our listeners from other listeners and third parties.  We use the information we collect about and from Platform users for a variety of business purposes.

As a company conducting business on the Internet, we are subject to a number of laws and regulations relating to consumer protection, information security, data protection and privacy, among other things.  Many of these laws and regulations are still evolving and could be interpreted in ways that could harm our business.  In the area of information security and data protection, the laws in several states require companies to implement specific information security controls to protect certain types of personally identifiable information.  Likewise, all but a few states have laws in place requiring companies to notify users if there is a security breach that compromises certain categories of their personally identifiable information.  Any failure on our part to comply with these laws may subject us to significant liabilities. Further, any failure by us to adequately protect the privacy or security of our listeners’ information could result in a loss of confidence in us among existing and potential listeners, and ultimately, in a loss of listeners and advertising customers, which could adversely affect our business.

We collect and use certain types of information from our listeners in accordance with the privacy policies posted on our websites. We collect personally identifiable information directly from listeners when they register to use our services, fill out their listener profiles, post comments, use our social networking features, participate in polls and contests and sign up to receive email newsletters. We also may obtain information about our listeners from other listeners and third parties. Our policy is to use the collected information to customize and personalize advertising and content for listeners and to enhance the listener experience.

We have implemented commercially reasonable physical and electronic security measures to protect our proprietary business information and to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of our listeners’ personally identifiable information.  However, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and we may be unable to anticipate or prevent unauthorized access to our listeners’ personally identifiablesuch information.  Any failure or perceived failure by us to protect our information or information about our listeners or to comply with our posted privacy policies or privacy-related laws and regulationsapplicable regulatory requirements could result in damage to our business and loss of confidence in us, damage to our brands, the loss of listeners, consumers, business partners and advertisers, as well as proceedings against us by governmental authorities or others, which could harm our business.

Other

Congress, the FCC and other government agencies and regulatory bodies may in the future adopt new laws, regulations and policies that could affect, directly or indirectly, the operation, profitability and ownership of our broadcast stations and Internet-based audio music services.  In addition to the regulations and other arrangements noted above, such matters may include, for example:  proposals to impose spectrum use or other fees on FCC licensees; legislation that would provide for the payment of sound recording royalties to artists and musicians whose music is played on our broadcast stations; changes to the political broadcasting rules, including the adoption of proposals to provide free air time to candidates; restrictions on the advertising of certain products, such as beer and wine; frequency allocation, spectrum reallocations and changes in technical rules; and the adoption of significant new programming and operational requirements designed to increase local community-responsive programming and enhance public interest reporting requirements.

Regulation of our Americas and International Outdoor Advertising Businesses

The outdoor advertising industry in the United States is subject to governmental regulation at the Federal,federal, state and local levels. These regulations may include, among others, restrictions on the construction, repair, maintenance, lighting, upgrading, height, size, spacing and location and permitting of and, in some instances, content of advertising copy being displayed on outdoor advertising structures.  In addition, international regulations have a significant impact on the outdoor advertising industry.  International regulation of the outdoor advertising industry can vary by municipality, region and country, but generally limits the size, placement, nature and density of out-of-home displays. Other regulations may limit the subject matter and language of out-of-home displays.

From time to time, legislation has been introduced in both the United States and foreign jurisdictions attempting to impose taxes on revenue from outdoor advertising or for the right to use outdoor advertising assets. Several jurisdictions have already imposed such taxes as a percentage of our outdoor advertising revenue generated in that jurisdiction.  In addition, some jurisdictions have taxed our personal property and leasehold interests in advertising locations using various valuation methodologies.  While these taxes have not had a material impact on our business and financial results to date, weWe expect U.S. and foreign jurisdictions to continue to try to impose such taxes as a way of increasing revenue.  In recent years, outdoor advertising also has become the subject of targeted taxes and fees.  These laws may affect prevailing competitive conditions in our markets in a variety of ways.  Such laws may reduce our expansion opportunities or may increase or reduce competitive pressure from other members of the outdoor advertising industry.  No assurance can be given that existing or future laws or regulations, and the enforcement thereof, will not materially and adversely affect the outdoor advertising industry.  However, we contest laws and regulations that we believe unlawfully restrict our constitutional or other legal rights and may adversely impact the growth of our outdoor advertising business.

In the United States, Federalfederal law, principally the Highway Beautification Act (“HBA”), regulates outdoor advertising on Federal-Aid Primary, Interstate and National Highway Systems roads within the United States (“controlled roads”). The HBA regulates the size and placement of billboards, requires the development of state standards, mandates a state’s compliance program, promotes the expeditious removal of illegal signs and requires just compensation for takings.

To satisfy the HBA’s requirements, all states have passed billboard control statutes and regulations that regulate, among other things, construction, repair, maintenance, lighting, height, size, spacing and the placement and permitting of outdoor advertising structures.  We are not aware of any state that has passed control statutes and regulations less restrictive than the prevailing federal requirements on the federal highway system, including the requirement that an owner remove any non-grandfathered, non-compliant signs along the controlled roads, at the owner’s expense and without compensation.  Local governments generally also include billboard control as part of their zoning laws and building codes regulating those items described above and include similar provisions regarding the removal of non-grandfathered structures that do not comply with certain of the local requirements.  Some local governments have initiated code enforcement and permit reviews of billboards within their jurisdiction challenging billboards located within their jurisdiction, and injurisdiction. In some instances we have had to remove billboards as a result of such reviews.

As part of their billboard control laws, state and local governments regulate the construction of new signs.  Some jurisdictions prohibit new construction, some jurisdictions allow new construction only to replace or relocate existing structures and some jurisdictions allow new construction subject to the various restrictions discussed above.  In certain jurisdictions, restrictive regulations also limit our ability to relocate, rebuild, repair, maintain, upgrade, modify or replace existing legal non-conforming billboards.

U.S. Federalfederal law neither requires nor prohibits the removal of existing lawful billboards, but it does mandate the payment of compensation if a state or political subdivision compels the removal of a lawful billboard along the controlled roads.  In the past, state governments have purchased and removed existing lawful billboards for beautification purposes using Federalfederal funding for transportation enhancement programs, and these jurisdictions may continue to do so in the future. From time to time, state and local government authorities use the power of eminent domain and amortization to remove billboards.  Thus far, we have been able to obtain satisfactory compensation for, or relocation of, our billboards purchased or removed as a result of these types of governmental action, although there is no assurance that this will continue to be the case in the future.

We have introduced and intend to expand the deployment of digital billboards that display static digital advertising copy from various advertisers that change up to several times per minute. We have encountered some existing regulations in the U.S. and across some international jurisdictions that restrict or prohibit these types of digital displays.  However, since digital technology for changing static copy has only recently been developed and introduced into the market on a large scale, and is in the process of being introduced more broadly in our international markets, existing regulations that currently do not apply to digital technology by their terms could be revised to impose greater restrictions. These regulations, or actions by third parties, may impose greater restrictions on digital billboards due to alleged concerns over aesthetics or driver safety.

ITEM 1A.  RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to Our Business

Our results have been in the past, and could be in the future, adversely affected by economic uncertainty or deteriorations in economic conditions

We derive revenues from the sale of advertising.  Expenditures by advertisers tend to be cyclical, reflecting economic conditions and budgeting and buying patterns.  Periods of a slowing economy or recession, or periods of economic uncertainty, may be accompanied by a decrease in advertising. TheFor example, the global economic downturn that began in 2008 resulted in a decline in advertising and marketing by our customers, which resulted in a decline in advertising revenues across our businesses. This reduction in advertising revenues had an adverse effect on our revenue, profit margins, cash flow and liquidity. Although we believe that globalGlobal economic conditions are improving, economic conditionshave been slow to recover and remain uncertain.  If economic conditions do not continue to improve, economic uncertainty increases or economic conditions deteriorate again, global economic conditions may once again adversely impact our revenue, profit margins, cash flow and liquidity.  Furthermore, because a significant portion of our revenue is derived from local advertisers, our ability to generate revenues in specific markets is directly affected by local and regional conditions, and unfavorable regional economic conditions also may adversely impact our results.  In addition, even in the absence of a downturn in general economic conditions, an individual business sector or market may experience a downturn, causing it to reduce its advertising expenditures, which also may adversely impact our results.

We performed impairment tests on our goodwill and other intangible assets during the fourth quarter of 20112014, 2013 and 20102012 and recorded non-cash impairment charges of $7.6$19.2 million, $17.0 million and $15.4$37.7 million, respectively. Additionally, we performed impairment tests in 2008 and 2009 on our indefinite-lived assets and goodwill and, as a result of the global economic downturn and the corresponding reduction in our revenues, we recorded non-cash impairment charges of $5.3 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively.  Although we believe we have made reasonable estimates and used appropriate assumptions to calculate the fair value of our licenses, billboard permits and reporting units, it is possible a material change could occur.  If actual market conditions and operational performance for the respective reporting units underlying the intangible assets were to deteriorate, or if facts and circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the estimated fair value of the indefinite-lived assets or goodwill for these reporting units below their adjusted carrying amounts, we may also be required to recognize additional impairment charges in future periods, which could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

To service our debt obligations and to fund capital expenditures, we will require a significant amount of cash to meet our needs, which depends on many factors beyond our control

Our ability to service our debt obligations and to fund capital expenditures will require a significant amount of cash.cash.  Our primary source of liquidity is cash on hand, cash flow from operations.operations and borrowing capacity under iHeartCommunications’ receivables based credit facility, subject to certain limitations contained in iHeartCommunications’ material financing agreements.  Based on our current and anticipated levels of operations and conditions in our markets, we believe that cash on hand, as well as cash flow from operations, borrowing capacity under iHeartCommunications’ receivables based credit facility and cash flow from other liquidity-generating transactions will enable us to meet our working capital, capital expenditure, debt service and other funding requirements for at least the next twelve months. However, our ability to fund our working capital, needs,capital expenditures, debt service and other obligations, and to comply with the financial covenant under Clear Channel’siHeartCommunications’ financing agreements, depends on our future operating performance and cash flow,from operations and other liquidity-generating transactions, which are in turn subject to prevailing economic conditions and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. If our future operating performance does not meet our expectation or our plans materially change in an adverse manner or prove to be materially inaccurate, we may need additional financing.  In addition, the purchase price of possible acquisitions, capital expenditures for deployment of digital billboards and/or