Inside Music MediaJerry Del Colliano

Mary Berner is just like the other radio CEOs when it comes to putting lipstick on a pig.

She just does it with more enthusiasm.

The happy talk radio trade press picks up on this combination of carefully selected information and brute optimism without challenge to give Cumulus a pass.

These free passes are based on no specifics, details or quantifiable metrics that a sophisticated public media investor would ever wrap their arms around.

Things are worse there than Berner is letting on.

Revenue problems, EBITDA problems, digital future problems and the evidence is all there for those who know where to look deeper into their Q4 pre-release and investor deck filed in the 8-K.

It turns out to be a lot of half-truths and taking liberty with the numbers.

Here are the real Cumulus numbers unpacked.

• The real Cumulus revenue figure and how they compare to the adjusted ones Mary Berner is selling.
• What’s being thrown in to prop Cumulus performance up.
• It’s right there in the numbers – the specific group of employees who will be taking the brunt of coming expense cuts.
• What’s the impact of Berner’s podcasting initiative?
• The expected effects of the sale of WPLJ and watering down major markets on revenue.

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