NEW YORK — Cumulus Media, an audio entertainment company that owns 394 radio stations, a radio syndication business and a podcast network, filed for bankruptcy protection late Wednesday in Texas with a restructuring deal that would eliminate most of the company’s $697 million in debt.
Cumulus said in its bankruptcy filing that its debt had become unsustainable due to unrelenting challenges such as increasing competition from digital audio and streaming platforms, changes in the advertising market, and recurring annual declines in its radio audiences. The company previously filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
The company owns and operates six radio stations in North Texas, including:
99.5 The Wolf/KPLX-FM (country)WBAP-AM NewsTalk 820 AM/93.3 FM (news/talk)Sportsradio 96.7FM/1310 AM The Ticket/KTCK-FM (sports)93.3 FM-HD2 Country Legends & Texas Classics/WBAP-HD2 (classic country)New Country 96.3/KSCS-FM (country)KLIF 570 AM/96.3 FM-HD2 (news/talk)
The restructuring deal would wipe out Cumulus’ existing equity shares and put the company under the ownership of its lenders, if approved in bankruptcy court. The deal is supported by the company’s lenders, and it would eliminate approximately $592 million in debt, according to Cumulus’ bankruptcy court filings.
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“The prepackaged process is intended to address the company’s debt efficiently with no disruption to our operations, our people, and our strategies,” Cumulus CEO Mary Berner said in a Thursday statement.
Cumulus reported $553.6 million in net revenue for the nine months that ended on Sept. 30, with a net loss of $65.6 million over that period, according to the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cumulus said its decline was hastened by a legal dispute with Nielsen Audio, which provides ratings data that network broadcasters use to sell advertising.
Nielsen changed its policy in late 2024 to require radio companies to buy data separately for all local markets in which they operate, rather than allowing them to buy only nationwide radio data, according to Cumulus’ court filings.
Cumulus sued over the change, arguing that the new policy raised Cumulus’ costs by forcing it to buy unwanted local ratings data products and preventing it from identifying and dropping products that did not generate positive returns. That litigation is ongoing, and Cumulus won an initial injunction that was later stayed by an appeals court, according to its bankruptcy court filings.
Other large radio companies, like Audacy and iHeartRadio, have also used bankruptcy to restructure their debts in recent years.
Cumulus Media is based in Atlanta and it has 3,000 employees. The bankruptcy proposal was filed in the Southern District of Texas.
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