Chief Executive Mark Mays tells the Q4 conference call there was "particular strength in our larger markets" for radio. (The Outdoor division showed the same pattern.) Clear Channel credits radio growth in both local and national business, and "improved rates" for advertising. Topline revenues improved from $712 million a year earlier to $783 million. Operating income grew from about $178 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 to nearly $230 million. Re-structuring costs at the radio division, a result of layoffs and reorganization, dropped from $13.5 million to $9.1 million. Check the press release with fourth quarter and full-year 2010 results here.

Mark Mays announced last Summer that he would be stepping down as President/CEO, and now he puts a date on that exit - by March 31. It's possible he would leave sooner, if there is a successor in place. Mays, a member of the founding family of Clear Channel, will remain as Chairman. In mid-November, the company attracted Bob Pittman as a new executive specializing in digital media, carrying the title of Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms. Mays tells the conference call that if there is no successor in place by March 31, there will be "some kind of interim-type solution", relying on current division executives such as Radio chief John Hogan. The San Antonio-Austin Board of Radio-Info.com is talking about Clear Channel here.