Nielsen Countersues Cumulus Media

Nielsen has fired back in its legal battle with Cumulus Media, filing counterclaims in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The audio measurement company accuses Cumulus of breaching their 2023-2025 Services Agreement by secretly sharing Nielsen's confidential and proprietary radio ratings data with rival Eastlan Ratings in early 2025.

Nielsen alleges that Cumulus and Westwood One Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard emailed Eastlan CEO Michael Gould, attaching Nielsen's confidential ratings data. This sharing, Nielsen claims, violated contract provisions barring unauthorized disclosure to third parties. 

The company cites testimony from Gould on December 11 confirming the transfer, describing the data as information that could help Eastlan benchmark and improve its measurements for radio ad sales.

The counterclaims seek actual and consequential damages (with no specific amount stated), plus interest; a declaratory judgment that Cumulus breached the contract; and an injunction to stop Cumulus from sharing Nielsen data with unlicensed parties and to cease using data obtained under the 2023 agreement.

This escalates the ongoing dispute. Cumulus originally sued Nielsen in October 2025, alleging antitrust violations through the company's Network Policy and Subscriber First Policy, which Cumulus claims are anticompetitive tying arrangements that force broadcasters to buy unwanted bundled services.

Nielsen previously denied the allegations and raised 26 affirmative defenses, arguing its policies serve legitimate business interests.

An initial pre-trial conference is set for March 17, 2026.