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| Lew Dickey |
Under the deal announced Friday, Cumulus Media will pay $260
million for Dial Global, ($45 million in equity and $215 million in retired
debt) while pocketing $238 million from Townsquare. It will also trade 15
stations in smaller markets for five stations located in Fresno , California
According to Forbes, consolidating its presence in top-100
markets and producing more of its own content are the twin pillars of Cumulus
CEO Lew Dickey’s strategy. The Dial
acquisition gives Cumulus radio rights to NFL and NCAA games and NASCAR races,
as well as to special events including the Grammy Awards and the Olympic Games
and talk programming including “The Dennis Miller Show.”
“We believe ultimately, as with all media, that content is
king, and with this we have some excellent, exclusive premier content to
distribute across platforms,” Dickey told Jeff Bercovici at Forbes.
“In essence, it sets us up not only for today but also for
the future as audio media expands with mobile and through digital channels.”
Producing and syndicating more of the content it airs means
Cumulus — which leaped into radio’s big leagues with its 2011 acquisition of
Citadel Broadcasting for $2.4 billion — doesn’t have to worry as much about how
listeners choose to get their audio news and entertainment.
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