Clear Channel TV head Perry steps down

San Antonio -- U.S. media firm Clear Channel Communications Inc. said Wednesday Donald Perry would step down as its TV division head.

Perry, who held the spot since January 2006, "will depart the company to pursue the next phase of his broadcast career," the San Antonio broadcaster and billboard advertiser said in a statement.

Senior Vice President Craig Millar will assume Perry's duties until a new TV
division president and chief executive officer is named, Clear Channel said.

Perry was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the TV division in 2005.

Clear Channel Television owns or operates 51 stations nationwide in two dozen U.S. markets.

Parent Clear Channel has a $19.5 billion private-equity buyout deal with two private-equity firms pending.

The buyers, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital Partners LLC, said they would assume $8 billion in debt, but the company is yet to receive needed regulatory approvals and the termination date of the deal has been extended, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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