Big Country Radio Station Owner Cumulus Files For Bankruptcy. Again.
Cumulus Media, the owner of some 65 country music radio stations in the United States, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yet again. The company first filed for bankruptcy in 2017. The company owns 394 radio stations overall in 84 separate markets.
The announcement on Thursday, March 5th by the company claims the move will help the company reposition their debt for future growth. But with the continued decline of radio, it’s another troubling sign for the format, especially in the current consolidated and nationalized approach of companies like Cumulus that take the local and live aspect out of the format.
The Atlanta-based company filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas to eliminate $592 million of the company’s $697 million in debt. In the last Cumulus financial report, they cited $553.6 million in net revenue for the nine previous months that ended on September 30, 2025, with a net loss of $65.6 million over that time.
The company cited increasing competition from digital audio and streaming platforms, changes in advertising markets, and continued declines in its radio audiences as the culprit for their debt woes. Cumulus employs about 3,000 people, but insists the bankruptcy with cause “no disruption to our operations, our people, and our strategies,” according to CEO Mary Berner.
But perhaps it should disrupt their strategies. Laying off local talent and nationalizing playlists has made radio unappealing to many consumers, along with the ability of consumers now to find the music they want to listen to via alternatives to radio as the format continues to attempt to dictate taste as opposed to serving the public what it wants to hear.
In 2018, the then VP for Cumulus country, Charlie Cook, listed off his favorite artists as Bob Seger, Steely Dan, and Tears for Fears. He said of Sturgill Simpson who was a year removed from winning the Grammy for Best Country album, “I know I’m supposed to listen to him. He’s a huge act, sells out six shows at the Ryman in a blink. But I am a hit-oriented listener and I need a sing-along hook. I do not believe he is about that.” Cook left the company in 2024.
If the Cumulus bankruptcy goes through, it will completely eliminate the company’s equity shares and make Cumulus solely the property of its lenders.
Cumulus is not the only major radio station owner who has filed for bankruptcy. The biggest radio company iHeatMedia declared bankruptcy in 2018. Audacy filed for bankruptcy in January of 2024.
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March 5, 2026 @ 7:54 pm
Listening to radio in 2026 is crazy. Just stream whatever you want to hear off the internet.
March 5, 2026 @ 9:10 pm
That requires high speed internet access. On many longer drives in my part of Oregon we don’t have that, and since most new cars don’t have CD players, that leaves radio as the only option. Unless you preload stuff on your phone beforehand, which is a level of planning I never achieve. But yeah, the car is the only place I still listen to radio at all. Otherwise I usually stream like you suggest.