Why Are Cumulus Media Stations Missing From March PPMs?

Due to the ongoing antitrust lawsuit between Cumulus Media and Nielsen, Cumulus stations are not included (or are no longer publicly listed/visible) in the March 2026 PPM ratings now being released.

Cumulus's contract with Nielsen expired on December 31, 2025, and the two parties have not reached a new agreement amid the litigation (filed by Cumulus in October 2025, with Nielsen counterclaims and related appeals/stays).

As a result, Cumulus stations have been absent from publicly released Nielsen data since the start of 2026. This was already noted with the January 2026 PPM ratings and continues with the March 2026 book (survey period approximately March 5–April 1, 2026).

Industry sites covering the March 2026 PPM releases explicitly note that Cumulus-owned stations are not shown or "do not subscribe" in affected PPM markets, such as Dallas (e.g., KPLX, KSCS), Houston (e.g., WKHX), and others. Leaderboards and rankings exclude them.

The core issue involves Nielsen's "Network Policy," which Cumulus alleges unlawfully ties access to valuable national/network ratings to the purchase of local ratings in all markets where Cumulus operates stations. A preliminary injunction was initially granted in Cumulus's favor but has faced stays on appeal, and the broader case has been paused due to Cumulus's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. This has left Cumulus without full access to (or public inclusion in) Nielsen's PPM data for many markets.

In larger PPM markets (e.g., Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta), some data flow may have continued earlier in the dispute, but by the March 2026 releases, Cumulus stations are consistently omitted from public ratings reports due to the lack of a subscription/agreement.

This situation affects how Cumulus stations can be compared or ranked in the released books, though private/subscriber data access may differ. The ratings releases are ongoing (typically over several days), but the exclusion of Cumulus is a noted constant in current coverage.