Future of media gets cloudier and cloudier

Big announcement this week that Clear Channel...which started as a single radio station in San Antonio and is now the largest owner of radio outlets in the world...has purchased Thumbplay, a Pandora-like cloud-based music service.  Why?  Because CC finally understands, unlike most other traditional broadcasters, that listeners will expect to find their media in myriad places, available on a wide range of "devices," so they can consume that media in any way they wish.

I first met Bob Pittman when he was in broadcasting.  He left radio to start a little cable channel called Music Television (MTV).  He later worked with AOL and was unfortunate enough to ascend to the CEO position after the ill-conceived merger with Time-Warner.  Now, he has joined Clear Channel to try to help them understand the rapidly changing nature of media. 

HERE he is interviewed on CNBC's "Power Lunch" about the Thumbplay acquisition and what is happening in media. 

Funny thing is, nobody has it figured out yet.  And when somebody does, it will change the next day.  But somebody has to lead radio into the future.  Pittman is one guy who could do it.  Watch this one.  It could be the harbinger of...not spring, like the first robin...but of the future of mass media.