Cumulus, Katz Ink Rep Deal

Katz Radio Group (KRG) has announced it is launching a new representation division dedicated to Cumulus O&Oed stations.

The new rep firm, Westwood One National Sales, will provide advertisers and agencies direct access to the line-up of Cumulus stations across the country.

Bryan Forbes is appointed Senior VP/GM of WONS. Forbes is currently VP/Director of Sales at KRG, a position he has held since 2003. In his new role, Forbes will oversee National Sales for all 460 Cumulus owned-and-operated radio stations. The new rep firm will have dedicated offices in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Westwood One National Sales will offer advertisers and agencies access to Cumulus's newly developed traffic system. The technology is designed to improve speed-to-market, giving Cumulus advertisers and agencies real-time pricing and availability of minute-by-minute, market-by-market opportunities across the country.

Mark Gray

"Our common goal is to get radio a much bigger share of advertiser spending by solving their marketing problems and showcasing the unmatched results radio delivers," said Katz Radio Group President Mark Gray. "Our new partnership with Cumulus to launch Westwood One National Sales strengthens our ability to deliver the most innovative marketing solutions for advertisers and agencies across the expanding advertising platform of one of our important partners."

"We are thrilled about our new agreement with the Katz Radio Group," said Westwood One President Steve Shaw. "This collaboration allows us to focus on creating more multi-platform solutions for our advertisers including our assets in network, spot, digital, sports and spoken word."