Cumulus Media gets court approval for $592 million debt reduction

Cumulus Media

15/04/2026 21:37

By Dietrich Knauth

NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - Radio station owner Cumulus Media on Wednesday received a U.S. judge's approval for a bankruptcy restructuring that will cut $592 million in debt and hand over control of the company to its lenders.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alfredo Perez approved the restructuring at a court hearing in Houston, Texas, saying that the deal had been overwhelmingly supported by the radio company's creditors.

 It must now be approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission before it becomes final and Cumulus can emerge from bankruptcy under new ownership.

Cumulus filed for bankruptcy in March, seeking to reduce its $697 million debt load after suffering losses related to increasing competition from digital audio and streaming platforms, changes in the advertising market, and recurring annual declines in its radio audiences.

 The company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, owns 393 radio stations, a radio syndication business and a podcast network.

Cumulus ​said its decline was hastened by a legal dispute with Nielsen Audio, which provides ratings data that network broadcasters use ‌to sell ⁠advertising. Cumulus sued Nielsen in October, arguing that Nielsen was leveraging its dominance over national and local radio audience data to charge inflated prices and force radio companies to buy data they did not need or want.

Cumulus had net revenue of $741.7 million in 2025, a 10.3% decrease from the previous year, and it had a net loss of $200.7 million, according to company financial statements published on April 10.

Cumulus previously ​filed for bankruptcy in 2017. Other large ⁠radio companies, like Audacy and iHeartRadio, have also used bankruptcy to restructure their debts in recent years.

The case is In re: Cumulus Media Inc., U.S. Bankruptcy ⁠Court for ​the Southern District of Texas, No. 26-bk-90346.

For Cumulus: Paul Basta ​of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; John Higgins of Porter Hedges; among others

Read more:

Radio network Cumulus Media sues Nielsen ​over alleged ratings monopoly

FCC approves radio license transfers to allow Audacy to exit bankruptcy

(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth)