Cumulus Media Inc. announced on Friday that it has completed financial restructuring and emerged from the Chapter 11 reorganization process.
It has a new board and is now privately owned, but its management team will stay in place, including President/CEO Mary Berner.
The company had received the necessary approvals earlier from the bankruptcy court and, in August, from the Federal Communications Commission.
This is the second time the company has gone through a Chapter 11 process in nine years. In 2018 it concluded a reorganization to alleviate $1 billion in debt.
This latest restructuring stripped away another $550 million owed. Cumulus says the process was completed on an accelerated timeline without disruption to its normal business.
Berner has led the company since 2015. In a statement she said, “I am grateful to our lenders and noteholders for their collaboration throughout this process, and to our employees, vendors, affiliates, customers, and partners for their continued trust and support.”
The company emerges with a significantly stronger balance sheet, Berner said.
“We are more committed than ever to providing engaging content across our national footprint, serving as a lifeline and voice for the local communities we serve, driving meaningful growth for our advertising partners, and delivering value for our new shareholders.”
The company also owns Westwood One and the Cumulus Podcast Network.
Shedding some assets
Atlanta-based Cumulus had 2,862 employees, 2,078 of them full-time, at the end of 2025.
It has 377 radio stations in 84 U.S. markets. That number has dropped since the beginning of the Chapter 11 process. According to our previous reporting, the company owned 393 stations earlier this year.
Cumulus has surrendered the licenses of some AM stations, including KZAC in San Francisco.
But it has also been selling some FMs. In May, Cumulus said it planned to sell WWFF in Huntsville, Ala., WWFN in Florence, S.C., and a translator in Atlanta to Radio Training Network for $2.45 million. In August it sold KKEG in Bentonville, Ark., and WIXV in Savannah, Ga., also to RTN, for $2.05 million. The transactions are subject to regulatory approval.
Among commercial U.S. radio companies, though, it still holds the No. 2 slot for the number of radio stations owned, after iHeartMedia.
Cumulus and certain of its subsidiaries commenced the prepackaged Chapter 11 process in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on March 4.
The process involved a comprehensive restructuring support agreement with a group of its lenders.
Cumulus says it canceled 100% of its existing funded indebtedness in exchange for 100% of the reorganized equity and $50 million of new convertible notes issued to former lenders.
It said it also amended and restated its asset-based revolving credit facility to provide continued liquidity.
