Clear Channel Chief Executive Mark Mays, citing competition from satellite-delivered subscription radio, proposed that broadcast radio operators be able to own 10 stations instead of eight in markets where there are at least 60 stations and up to 12 stations in markets where at least 75 radio outlets operate.

“Free radio is struggling. The cost of competing with new technologies and increased listener choice is staggering and profits are down,” Mays said at a speech to the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Clear Channel, which owns about 1,200 radio stations, saw earnings decline 13 percent in the second quarter because of weak advertising revenues

“We are streaming the vast majority of our radio stations,” he said in response to a question. “From that perspective, we are cannibalizing ourselves and we feel like we have to be in that Internet space.” [Thanks to the Heater Man]

Bill Figenshu, former group head for Viacom’s radio group, more recently a SVP at Infinity and a Regional President for Citadel, and now a consultant, on a panel (“Future of Radio”) at the recent National Association of Broadcasters annual meeting:

“I’m concerned when I walk into Circuit City or Best Buy and I ask to see the HD radios — and I know they carry the Kenwood model — and the sales guy takes me to the Sirius display and tells me, “This is it! This is digital.”

More on the NAB at Kurt Hanson’s Radio and Internet Newsletter.