Stern was fired this year after a sexually explicit interview

Clear Channel Communications agreed to pay $1.75m (�950,000) in a deal with the Federal Communications Commission.

Stern was dropped by Clear Channel for indecency on air earlier this year after a sexually explicit interview.

The FCC said Clear Channel had now formally admitted it violated the law and had pledged to clean up its act.

The settlement is the largest negotiated by the FCC and a broadcaster, narrowly topping the $1.7m paid by Infinity Broadcasting in 1995 for indecency violations by Stern.

Indecency laws

Hailing the deal, FCC chairman Michael Powell said Clear Channel had agreed to train its employees on indecency laws, and suspend and fire staff who violated rules.

The agreement settles fines proposed by the FCC against Clear Channel for remarks Stern made in a broadcast in April last year.

It also covers investigations into more than a dozen other incidents, and further pending complaints lodged against shows on Clear Channel stations.

San Antonio-based Clear Channel, the biggest owner of radio stations in the US, said it allowed the company to wipe the slate clean and move forward.

Andrew Levin, executive vice-president, said: "We didn't agree that all the complaints were legally indecent, but some clearly crossed the line and for those we have taken full responsibility."

Crackdown

There has been a recent crackdown on indecency on radio and television in the US, following singer Janet Jackson exposing a breast during a national television broadcast earlier this year.

Parent groups and some senators have demanded stations clean up their act or face stiff penalties.

However, analysts pointed out that the Clear Channel settlement represented less than one per cent of the company's earnings.