If you've lived in or visited the United States in the past 30 years, you've encountered it: Britney Spears has built her career with the help of it, your local television news broadcaster may be run by it and even your wardrobe may have been influenced by it. While this may sound like the riddle your parents e-mailed you that 98 percent of all Harvard graduates can't solve, the truth is much more compelling.

"It" is actually one of the largest conglomerates in the world: Clear Channel Communications. But after its recently-announced merger with the equity group Thomas H. Lee Partner, L.P. and Bain Capital Partners, LLC, Clear Channel's influence on and dominance of American media might get a little weaker.

In a Nov. 16 announcement, Clear Channel said it would accept the merger with the equity groups for a little more than $26 billion (including the payment of nearly $8 billion of debt the communications giant had totaled). In addition, Clear Channel announced its plans to sell 448 of its near 1,500 radio stations as well as its entire television station group (totally more than 40 separate stations). But this enormous clearance of networks will be unable to stop what many feel is a malignant monopoly on American media and pop culture.

The history of an empire

Founded in 1972, Clear Channel bought its first radio station in San Antonio, Texas. At that point, it continued to buy a number of different stations but were restricted by the Communications Act of 1934. Under the Act, Clear Channel wasn't allowed to own more than two stations in any given market. But this ability to control the monopolization of American media was almost completely diminished six decades later, when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed - removing nearly all restrictions placed on Clear Channel and other companies concerning the ownership of said stations.

At this point, Clear Channel began purchasing as many media outlets as possible. It even began to buy out television networks and opened an entire branch of outdoor advertising (from billboards to advertisements on taxis). As it currently stands, Clear Channel owns 9 percent of all radio stations in the United States - with four radio stations in Ann Arbor alone and a total of 17 in the state of Michigan. This accounts for 18 percent of radio broadcasting revenue in the United States. It also owns traditional and digital billboards in some of the most prominent areas of the nation (including Times Square and the Atlantic City Boardwalk).

Merging conglomerates

Clear Channel will certainly not lose any power with this merger. In fact, there's a strong chance it will become a more prevalent and dominating fixture in American media. The two firms it will merging with, Bain Capital Partner, LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P., own about 200 companies worldwide. Bain Capital has investments in companies like AMC Entertainment and Burger King. Clear Channel will most likely buy advertising space at movie theaters, and may implement their ads at the fast food chain as well. Needless to say, Clear Channel is not losing many opportunities to build upon their influence. Thomas H. Lee Partners owns a similar amount of real estate and manages a number of worldwide corporations.

And don't be fooled by the sale of 448 radio stations or Clear Channel's television broadcast group. Not only will those radio frequencies hardly make a dent in the company's immensely thick shell of stations, but none of them are within the top 100 markets in the nation. So while it may appear that the company is relinquishing some of their tremendous power with this merger, it's clear that Clear Channel is losing little influence.

Cultural dictators

The real reason that Clear Channel has drawn so much attention since its blanket cleanup of media networks is because of its ability to dictate and control American pop culture and thought. It's nearly impossible to book a show in a major venue (say, The Palace of Auburn Hills) without going through Clear Channel. And as many believe, if Clear Channel doesn't agree with a group's attitude, perception or beliefs, it won't allow the group to play a venue.

While Clear Channel often denies these claims, there have been a number of instances that point to this situation (all of which Clear Channel vehemently denies). Shortly after Sept. 11, it was noted that Clear Channel radio networks weren't playing songs by the group Rage Against the Machine and neglecting to play songs that included words like "plane" or "crash." Rumors started to circulate that Clear Channel had banned these songs from its networks in an effort to show their patriotism. But the outcry from many never ceased. Clear Channel denied these claims, saying, "Clear Channel Radio does not issue mandates with regard to individual artists or songs .