UPDATE 1-Private equity exec confident on Clear Channel deal

(Adds background on hearing, deal, shares)

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - A managing director of Thomas H Lee, one of the private equity firms behind the buyout of U.S. radio operator Clear Channel Communications Inc CCU.N, said on Tuesday he was confident the deal worth nearly $20 billion would go through.

"We continue to be confident that the Clear Channel deal is going to get done," said Richard Bressler, managing director at Thomas H Lee Partners, as he was leaving a congressional hearing, where he had been testifying about the role of private equity deals in the U.S. media industry.

Bressler was questioned by members of the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet about the public impact of private equity ownership of the media.

The market has been nervous about the ability of Lee and its partner Bain Capital to complete the buyout because the recent credit turmoil has made financing large leveraged deals tough to do.

Clear Channel's shares were 4 percent higher at $35.26. The deal values the company's shares at $39.20. (Reporting by Peter Kaplan, writing by Megan Davies, editing by Maureen Bavdek and Derek Caney)