Cumulus Media has released its 2025 financial results, and the data offers a better sense of the urgency surrounding its bankruptcy reorganization announcement in March.

Cumulus reported net revenue for the year of $742 million, a decrease of 10.3% from $827 million from 2024.

The media company’s net loss last year totaled $201 million.

As we have previously reported, Cumulus seeks to eliminate roughly $592 million in debt in a prepackaged reorganization with lenders in bankruptcy court. As part of the reorganization, Cumulus will become a private company.

A hearing to consider compliance with the bankruptcy code’s disclosure requirements, any objections and confirmation of the broadcaster’s plan will be held before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alfredo Perez in Houston on April 15.

Observers told us that the judge’s approval could come as early as May.

“The company’s recently announced financial restructuring marks an important step toward meaningfully reducing the debt burden that has constrained the business,” Mary Berner, Cumulus’ president and CEO, said in a statement.

For the fourth quarter of 2025, Cumulus reported net revenue of $188 million, a decrease of 14% from the same three months the year prior, and a net loss of $135 million in in Q4 2025.

Revenue breakdown

Broadcast revenue dominated Cumulus’ totals for the year. It reported $339 million of spot revenue, down 13% from 2024, and $136 million from its Westwood One audio network operations for 2025.

Digital, which includes the Cumulus Podcast Network, totaled $151 million, which was down 2% YoY. Another $116 million in annual revenue was attributed to “other” revenue.   

The Atlanta-based broadcaster finished the year with roughly $670 million of 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.

“Looking ahead, we remain focused on building on the core strengths of the company to maximize value,” Berner said.

Cumulus, which has 393 owned-and-operated radio stations across 84 markets, did manage to shrink expenses in 2025. It said operating expenses last year were $880 million, which were down from just over a billion dollars in 2024. It reported having a total of 2,862 employees, 2,078 of whom were employed full-time.

The company’s most recent balance sheet reported capital expenditures of $20.2 million in 2025.

According to court documents, Cumulus recently reached agreements to retain its top leadership throughout the bankruptcy process and through the end of 2026. That includes the 66-year old Berner, and CFO Francisco Lopez-Balboa, age 65.

The media company remains embroiled in a lawsuit with Nielsen regarding the ratings company’s bundled ratings policy, though the case was paused by a federal judge after Cumulus filed for reorganization in March. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas also issued a stay in the countersuit by Nielsen.

(Read Cumulus Media’s 2025 earnings release.)

The post For Cumulus, Financial Losses Were Mounting Before Its Chapter 11 Filing appeared first on Radio World.

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s executive order to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service was unconstitutional.

The ruling’s impact is unclear. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia noted that since Congress withdrew funding through last year’s Rescissions Act, and because the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has dissolved, no order can provide “meaningful relief” regarding that specific pool of money.

But Judge Randolph Moss repeatedly wrote in the Tuesday ruling that President Trump’s order crossed the line of the First Amendment. Moss was appointed to the D.C. district court in 2014 under President Obama’s administration.

Moss said that the order was issued without regard to nationwide interconnection systems, calling such distribution the “backbones” of public radio and TV. 

Colorado Public Radio was a partner in the lawsuit challenging the executive order, along with NPR, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT. CPR said in a release that the ruling prevents the executive order from restricting CPR and other stations from using any federal funds for NPR content. In December, Radio World reported on the stations’ concerns.

NPR, according to its own reporting, said that it was not clear what the decision, which could be appealed by the Trump administration, would mean for the future of federal funding of public broadcasting. But the organization’s comments celebrated the decision.

“Today’s ruling is a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide,” Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, said in a release.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement: “This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law.”

Representatives from the three Colorado public radio stations, according to a release, said the stations remain prepared to defend the ruling should the Trump administration appeal.

Timeline

The executive order issued by President Trump last May ultimately clawed back $1.1 billion in funding that Congress had set aside for public media outlets. Later last year, it led to a dispute between CPB and NPR over public radio distribution.

CPB dissolved this past February.

The D.C. court acknowledged in its order that while the federal government may impose limits on grants or fund its own speech to promote specific perspectives, “the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the power of the purse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others.”

Although CPB has been dissolved, the court clarified that this does not render the case moot because the executive order “sweeps beyond the CPB.”

The court is also issuing a permanent injunction to prevent federal agencies from enforcing the executive order. 

In a statement, PBS, said it was “thrilled with today’s decision,” calling the president’s order a “textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles.”

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FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty conjured up her collegiate gymnastics experiences to describe the challenges AI presents and how the American workforce can respond to them.

She gave a speech to the National Urban League Empowerment Summit that focused squarely on AI and how workers can adapt to using technologies that are reshaping the job market.

Trusty, one of two Republicans on the FCC along with Chairman Brendan Carr, said there’s also work for government to do.

“Foundational” role

Trusty cited the Trump administration’s “worker-first AI agenda” for promoting the birth of new occupations, including “new-collar” jobs that prioritize skills and certifications over traditional degree pathways.

She said the FCC has a crucial role in connecting touchpoints of the technology. She said it is working to implement an agenda that expands the availability, affordability and quality of these critical information services.

“Our role is foundational. AI cannot function without connectivity,” she told the gathering in Washington.

As to what people in the workforce can do, Trusty drew a parallel to her time as a gymnast for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the early 2000s.

She described a rulebook called the “Code of Points” and said it would change over time, requiring new standards of excellence.

“To stay competitive, I had to learn new skills, more difficult tumbling passes, more complex combinations and sometimes routines that felt risky and uncomfortable at first. This required retraining, a commitment to continuous learning and an understanding that transformation was required to be competitive at the collegiate level,” she said.

It’s much the same with AI, she said. “AI represents an updated Code of Points, as intelligent technologies are reshaping the job market and the skills needed for workers to succeed.”

She said workers should take the initiative to develop AI literacy, investing time to understand how tools work and how to use them responsibly. “It also means strengthening the uniquely human skills that AI cannot easily replicate: critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, ethical judgment and leadership.”

They also should seek early, hands-on experience through real-world situations like apprenticeships and on-the-job training. “To meet this moment, it is imperative that we embrace continuous learning. Skills cannot remain static in a dynamic economy. Just like in gymnastics, if the Code of Points changes, you train again. You evolve. You refine your routine.”

She said that for the workforce in particular, “access to high-speed broadband ultimately means access to education, to training, to entrepreneurship, to innovation and to the opportunity to participate in the AI economy. The FCC is actively working to implement an agenda that expands the availability, affordability and quality of these critical information services.”

She said the FCC’s work must include engaging with industry to support workforce development initiatives to prepare Americans for these careers. It can support AI literacy and skills development at every level, from K–12 exposure to workforce retraining, and help launch apprenticeship programs.

In many cases, AI will not replace workers, Trusty told the audience, but it will augment them. She said it will elevate productivity and efficiency, enhance decision-making and unlock new industries.

Trusty also cited the commission’s role in increasing broadband access to underserved and hard-to-reach communities. Universal connectivity, she said, will fuel the nation’s innovation capacity and ensure the development of an AI ecosystem open to all.

“Through our agency programs and regulatory authorities, the FCC is committed to closing the digital divide so that everyone can access AI-powered opportunities through high-speed connectivity,” she told the summit.

Trusty concluded by pointing to the importance of working with groups like the Urban League to move AI initiatives forward.

“The mission of the National Urban League has always been about ensuring that opportunity reaches every community. In the age of AI, that mission is more important than ever.”

The full text is available on the FCC website.

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CBS News will shut down CBS News Radio on May 22 as part of a restructuring that includes a 6% reduction in staff.

The development will leave approximately 700 affiliated stations seeking another source for features such as news at the top of the hour. While similar options are available from ABC News Radio, Fox News Radio and SRN News, there’s one iconic sounder that has been etched in the minds of many listeners for nearly a century, dating back to its use of the “chirp” tone.

(Read a full feature on the history of CBS Radio from our John Schneider.)

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and President Tim Cibrowski made the announcement Friday morning, informing staff in a memo reported by multiple media outlets that it was a “difficult day” for the company. Approximately 60 employees will be affected, according to the New York Times.

Stations that use CBS News Radio programming, such as correspondent reports, include high-profile outlets like WINS(AM/FM) in New York, KNX(AM/FM) in Los Angeles, WBBM(AM) in Chicago, KCBS(AM) in San Francisco and WTOP(FM) in Washington, D.C.

“A shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities, has made it impossible to continue the service,” Weiss and Cibrowski wrote. “We are sharing this announcement now to fulfill our commitments to our radio partners and affiliates, which require advance notice of the service’s conclusion.”

Last October, Weiss was named editor-in-chief of CBS News after Paramount-Skydance acquired The Free Press, which she founded.

Several affiliates addressed the change publicly and assured listeners that their stations aren’t going away, such as WBBM in Chicago and WWJ in Detroit.

The union SAG-AFTRA issued a brief reaction announcement, saying it was “appalled to learn of CBS‘s decision to shut down CBS News Radio and lay off countless network news division staffers across its media platforms. For more than a century, CBS News has been a bedrock of broadcast journalism. Many distinguished journalists who performed their work with courage, integrity and loyalty to CBS lost their jobs today.”

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers expressed dismay about the employee cuts at CBS, noting, “This is the second round of cuts since CBS came under Skydance Media’s control.”

It said, “Skydance’s actions raise serious questions about the future of good union jobs in broadcasting. And with Skydance reportedly planning to merge CBS News into CNN following its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, lawmakers and regulators must ask whether further consolidation in the broadcast industry will help working people or hurt them.”

(Read a commentary about what the radio industry should do next from local broadcast entrepreneur John Caraciollo.)

History

The CBS News Radio division dates back to Sept. 27, 1927, with a live orchestra broadcast, according to Schneider. It was the second of the national radio networks to reach the airwaves after NBC, with 16 stations as far west as St. Louis, according to a New York Times profile from 1977 that celebrated the network’s 50th anniversary.

Desperate for a financial solution, Arthur L. Judson offered to sell controlling interest in the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System to Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of WCAU(TV) in Philadelphia. The Levys brought in additional investors, including Sam Paley, owner of the Congress Cigar Company.

Then, after a difficult year of trying to run the business remotely, they offered to sell part of the network to Paley’s 26-year-old son, if he would run it. William S. Paley was intrigued by the offer. He had managed his father’s cigar company radio advertisements on WCAU and the Columbia network and had been impressed with its impact on sales. And so, barely a year after the struggling network’s first broadcast, Paley moved to New York and took charge.

According to Wikipedia, CBS News Radio is the second-oldest unit of the Paramount-Skydance corporation after Paramount Pictures.

The network offers “news-on-the-hour” newscasts and the CBS World News Roundup, which itself dates back to Edward R. Murrow’s on-air debut in 1938 from Vienna.

Following the 2017 merger between CBS Radio and Entercom, the radio network remained under the management of CBS News, which later signed a distribution contract with Skyview Networks in August of that year.

Audacy’s Infinity Networks announced a distribution partnership with CBS News Radio in October.

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The National Association of Broadcasters has named Bert Goldman as the recipient of its NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award.

Goldman will be honored at the We Are Broadcasters Award Ceremony, held on the main stage of the 2026 NAB Show on Tue., April 21, in Las Vegas.

He is the owner and president of Goldman Engineering Management and has more than 50 years of leadership experience in broadcast engineering.

Goldman’s credentials

With a specialty in AM and FM spectrum analysis, Goldman has helped stations improve performance, expand coverage and enhance asset value, according to NAB’s release. His work spans station construction, technical operations and regulatory compliance.

He is widely regarded for his expertise in FCC rules, FM booster and translator engineering and directional AM antenna system design.

Red Apple Media, the parent of WABC(AM) in New York and WLIR(FM) on Long Island, hired Goldman as its chief technology officer last summer. He also works with GeoBroadcast Solutions as its chief engineering consultant.

[Related: “Goldman Answers Radio World’s Questions Regarding FM Geotargeting”]

Goldman previously served as corporate vice president of engineering for the ABC/Disney Radio Division, Nationwide Communications, Patterson Broadcasting and Shamrock Broadcasting. Over his career, he has overseen upgrades in most of the top 25 U.S. markets and managed the design and construction of more than 50 radio stations.

A member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society, the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers and the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Goldman has also been active with the NAB National Radio Systems Committee and the NAB Radio Technical Committee.

Harvey Arnold receives NAB’s TV honor

The recipient of this year’s NAB Television Engineering Achievement Award is Harvey Arnold.

Since joining Sinclair in 1998, Arnold has led transmission engineering operations across the company’s television stations, with a strong focus in recent years on accelerating the industry’s transition to ATSC 3.0.

He is also working with NAB and industry partners to develop and implement the Broadcast Positioning System, coordinating field testing at Sinclair ATSC 3.0 stations and promoting awareness of the technology’s potential.

Hearst’s Rosellini to receive digital award

Michael Rosellini, senior vice president digital services for Hearst Television, will receive NAB’s 2026 Digital Leadership Award in recognition of his impact on local TV’s digital transition.

Promoted to his current role in 2023 after serving for a decade as vice president digital operations, Rosellini leads teams responsible for product development, engineering, data and operations across Hearst Television’s station-branded news websites and mobile apps, as well as its Very Local direct to consumer streaming platform, according to NAB.

Each year since 1959, NAB has presented the Engineering Achievement Awards to individuals for their outstanding accomplishments in the broadcast industry, with separate honors for radio and television established in 1991.

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Broadcast Electronics announced it has been acquired by a new ownership group led by CEO Rich Redmond and majority investor The Alzana Group.

The transaction was structured as an asset purchase from BE’s previous owner, Italy-based Elenos.

The company will continue to operate as Broadcast Electronics but under a new legal entity named BE Systems.

Redmond told Radio World that the new ownership is committed to the team at its headquarters in Quincy, Ill. He anticipates adding resources to drive innovations that help customers create content and deliver it to consumers across multiple platforms: “terrestrial, streaming, wherever they want to consume it,” Redmond said.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Redmond will become a significant owner of BE and will work with John Danner, the chairman of The Alzana Group.

Danner founded the investment firm in 2021. He previously served for five years as chairman of GatesAir and his time overlaps during Redmond’s 23-year tenure at the manufacturer.

The Alzana Group is based in Boston and provides capital solutions to family- and founder-owned businesses, according to the firm’s LinkedIn profile.

“Alzana is not a private equity firm, as it only invests its own capital and that of its partners,” it said on its LinkedIn.

Danner said in a BE release that Alzana views radio broadcast as an “underserved” market in great need of newer technology, better service and a partner focused on meeting and exceeding the needs of customers.

BE was founded in 1959 and began manufacturing transmitters in 1977.

Elenos acquired the manufacturer in 2017.

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Cumulus Media, seeking to eliminate its heavy debt burden, has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in bankruptcy court for the second time in under nine years.

The media company said this reorganization is “prepackaged,” meaning a financially distressed company obtains support for the plan from its lenders before filing.

“The company will continue operating in the ordinary course throughout the process, with no impact to employees, partners or listeners,” it said in the announcement.

In 2018 the company concluded a previous Chapter 11 reorganization to alleviate $1 billion in debt.

Cumulus is seeking to eliminate $600 million in debt this time. It said this would eliminate substantially all of its remaining debt and significantly strengthen its financial position.

The company’s OTC stock closed at around 8 cents per share yesterday. Cumulus moved its stock off of NASDAQ last spring in the face of a delisting threat.

President/CEO Mary Berner said: “While we have outperformed the market on many of our most important metrics, including share gains in both local and digital revenue, the broader macroeconomic and industry-wide pressures we have faced have remained unrelenting. Against that backdrop, it became clear that Cumulus’s remaining debt burden limited our ability to fully realize the company’s potential, and this agreement represents a major step forward.”

The case is in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Cumulus owns 394 radio stations, the Westwood One audio network and the Cumulus Podcast Network. It is the third-largest commercial U.S. radio group by revenue.

The post Cumulus Files for Another Chapter 11, With Lender Support appeared first on Radio World.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has announced it will be shutting down its Weatheradio Canada service.

The shutdown is effective March 16. The bilingual service operated with a network of approximately 225 transmitters from Nunavut to the Maritime Islands, according to data collected by William Hepburn.

Just like NOAA Weather Radio in the U.S., the Canadian stations transmit on frequencies between 162.400 and 162.550 MHz, usually with between 50 and 500 watts of transmitter power output.

ECCC also will discontinue the country’s “Hello Weather” program on the same date, which made local forecasts and alerts available via telephone.

“Due to increasing costs, maintaining the technology and services used to operate Weatheradio and Hello Weather is becoming increasingly challenging,” Samantha Bayard, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada, told Radio World.

As a result, she said ECCC decided to discontinue the services as “more viable alternatives are available.” Bayard said that the associated infrastructure for the transmitters will be decommissioned over a two-year period.

Emergency weather alerts will continue to be available through partners like Alert Ready, the national public alerting system in Canada, Bayard said. ECCC is working with Public Safety Canada to strengthen the country’s alerting system.

Bayard also pointed to the Canada.ca website and the WeatherCAN mobile app.

Environment Canada also operates a number of continuous marine broadcast stations, and Bayard said those stations will continue. The stations cover most Canadian marine regions, including the Great Lakes, Manitoba Lakes and Great Slave Lake.

Weatheradio Canada first broadcast in Montreal and nine other cities in 1976, according to Stephen Balena of The Suburban in Saint-Laurent, Quebec.

The service received a Specific Area Message Encoding technology upgrade in 2004.

Akin to the timeline for U.S.-based NOAA Weather Radio, computer-generated voices took over broadcasts in the early 2000s.

Radio World welcomes letters to the editor on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

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Saturday morning brought a heroic rescue in Longview, Texas of two hot air balloonists who struck the tower for 105.7 KYKX(FM).

Longview Fire Department members responded to the intersection of Farm to Market road 1844 and Texas Route 300 in northern Gregg County after receiving reports of a hot air balloon striking the tower. The balloon was left suspended in place.

The department provided us amazing drone footage.

There was one male and one female inside the balloon’s basket. A preliminary FAA briefing stated that the hot air balloon became entangled in a guy wire.

The 1100-foot tower is home to Connoisseur Media’s 100 kW ERP country-formatted 105.7 KYKX, as well as translators 99.9 K260CE(FM), which relays the Bott Radio Network, and 103.7 K279CI(FM), which airs KYKX(HD2), a simulcast of KKUS(FM)’s “The Ranch” classic country format.

Based on the geography of east Texas and the height of the tower, it was likely the tallest rescue in the department’s history.

According to Marcus Delaney, Longview Fire Department fire marshal and its public information officer, 35 members from the fire department responded, and 14 firefighters climbed the tower to help make the rescue, which took approximately four hours to complete.

Strong winds on Saturday complicated efforts, but both the man and woman escaped safely. Delaney credited the teamwork and preparation of all of the first responders involved to ensure the rescue went safely. He also lauded the support of neighboring agencies that assisted, including Longview Police, Judson Fire, East Mountain Fire, the Gregg and Upshur County Sheriff’s Offices and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

KYKX’s signal was off the air during the rescue, according to Delaney, along with the translators. He said that there was no harm to broadcast antennas or any other transmission equipment. KYKX was on the air normally as of this morning, Delaney said.

The tower is also used for cellular services and by public safety agencies.

According to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, the balloonists were taken to local hospitals as a precautionary measure.

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The Society of Broadcast Engineers has launched its annual membership drive, with the theme “Shape the Future.”

It’s urging current members to encourage colleagues to join the society. Last year the campaign recruited 49 people.

The campaign runs to the end of May.

“As a recruiting incentive to members, the SBE asks for prize donations from SBE sustaining member companies,” it said in the announcement.

“In addition, the recruiter will earn $5 per new member (up to $25) off his or her 2027 membership dues.”

Several SBE Sustaining Member companies plus the society itself are providing prizes including shirts, hats and broadcast equipment. Those are include BSW, Dielectric, GatesAir, Heartland Video Systems, LBA Group, SCMS, Telos Alliance and Time Base Consoles.

The SBE donates logo items, a copy of CertPreview and a free Webinars by SBE registration.

The society’s current membership across radio and TV is approximately 4,000 members in 117 chapters in the United States, Hong Kong and Eastern Europe. There are members in more than 25 other countries.

The website has details about the recruitment effort.

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