Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media Inc. owns and operates FM and AM radio station clusters serving mid-size markets throughout the United States. We are the second largest radio broadcasting company in the United States based on the number of stations owned or operated. According to Arbitron’s Market Report and data published by Miller Kaplan, we have assembled market-leading groups or clusters of radio stations that rank first or second in terms of revenue share or audience share in substantially all of our markets. As of March 31, 2004, we owned and operated 306 radio stations in 61 mid-sized U.S. media markets. In addition, we own and operate a multi-market network of five radio stations in the English-speaking Caribbean. Under our LMAs, we provide sales and marketing services for two radio stations in two U.S. markets in exchange for a management or consulting fee, pending FCC approval of our acquisitions of these stations. Including all pending acquisitions announced through March 31, 2005, we will own and operate a total of 310 stations in 61 U.S. markets upon FCC approval and consummation of all of our pending acquisitions.
Relative to the 50 largest markets in the United States, we believe that the mid-size markets represent attractive operating environments and generally are characterized by:
- a greater use of radio advertising as evidenced by the greater percentage of total media revenues captured by radio than the national average;
- rising advertising revenues, as the larger national and regional retailers expand into these markets;
- small independent operators, many of whom lack the capital to produce high-quality locally originated programming or to employ more sophisticated research, marketing, management and sales techniques; and
- lower overall susceptibility to economic downturns.