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• The bad news half way through the year that is accelerating Cumulus cutbacks.
• What’s eating at market managers being squeezed harder.
• Cumulus revenue trends at the halfway point analyzed from their own Forcebook figures.
• Mary Berner’s plan to keep market managers from knowing how other markets are performing.

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• What does this mean for David Field and Entercom.
• Why the most powerful Wall Street analyst and Entercom cheerleader was relieved of her duties.
• And why just days before her high profile appearance at this week’s NAB Radio Show.
• Now no major lender is left to cover the industry – what does that look like for the future of radio.
• How losing Ryvicker is almost as important as losing Weezie – maybe more.

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• The investment money expires in 60 days, here’s what he will buy with it.
• What happened to taking over Cumulus. 
• The “surprise” decision that will eventually reshuffle the radio industry.
• The plan to morph Modern Luxury publishing into Modern Media.
• The chance that Modern Media will soon be hiring.

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1. What if Lew Dickey takes a pass on buying Cumulus?  How do lenders cash out then?
2. What changed in the past 2 months that could affect Malone’s iHeart takeover and a Dickey bid for Cumulus.
3. How employees will pay with their jobs if these two takeovers don’t happen.
4. Details and timeline of the fire sale that is coming.
5. The changes that will be forced on Cumulus without fresh money from an outside bidder.
6. How long before a Cumulus selloff.
7. The big cost cutting ahead.

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1. The radio job you don’t want if you want to buy a house.
2. The new ways groups are looking to save money as revenue erodes.
3. SiriusXM is the model – I’ll explain.
4. The potential for digital and podcasting jobs in radio.
5. You won’t even recognize the local station office due to big cuts.

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INSIDE …

• Why Lew Dickey hired radio’s top social media expert away from Cumulus.
• Why now.
• How he plans to use her expertise.
• The other Cumulus employees who also want to join Lew.
• What happens to Berner’s “toxic workplace”.
• The rehearsal for what is to come.

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1. Mary Berner feel good tactics are coming to Entercom – here’s a sampling.
2. The most pissed off CBS employees working at Entercom – and why.
3. Is it possible for Entercom to undo parts of the merger?
4. The reason why CBS employees are not assimilating well into Entercom.
5. How they plan to handle widespread morale problems on the CBS side.

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1. How iHeart, Cumulus & Townsquare are putting themselves in extreme financial trouble.
2. Group owners demanding top dollar – for trade, not cash!
3. Relaxed advertiser credit standards – how low some radio groups are now willing to go.
4. The new normal for getting top ad rates – and there’s nothing normal about it.
5. Townsquare’s mind-blowing barter deals.
6. How TS explains their loose credit policies in their own words.

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• The CBS Merger Fix – What Entercom is going to do now to fix their botched CBS merger assimilation.
• iHeart’s Bankruptcy Bluff – Why nothing seems to be urgent about coming to an agreement to emerge from bankruptcy.
• What Cumulus Employees Want – One group of employees actually faced down CEO Mary Berner with this request.  She denied it.
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• The timetable for Dickey’s first acquisitions.
• What’s the surprise first purchase out of left field.
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• How debt is suddenly squeezing Entercom.
• The 2 programming issues that worry lenders and investors the most.
• What happens if Entercom’s quarterly $7 million losses continue.
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• A look at the Entercom plan to fix the botched integration of CBS Radio.
• Emergency spare cash is almost tapped out – now what?

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• How trade put on the books as cash will be used to cover-up expected big losses in the third-quarter.
• How that actually works -- legal but deceptive.
• The latest Cumulus revenue pacing numbers based on their own metrics with only one month left in the third quarter.
• The cover-up revealed – even board members may be fooled by this disguise.
• The Cumulus markets leading the race to the bottom.
• The most endangered market managers.

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• The reasons financial people expect Cumulus to file for a second bankruptcy along with what will trigger it.
• The affect another bankruptcy will have on the fragile station group and Westwood One.
• The true financial condition of Cumulus by experts – not speculation or corporate hype we’ve been hearing.
• The list of costs that should be going down after emerging from bankruptcy that are actually going up.
• Why Cumulus is suddenly losing key people at the worst time possible.
• The prognosis for Westwood One.

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• The concerning story of what’s really going on today at Westwood One.

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• A timetable you can take to the bank – the specific month all of this goes down.
• What happened to his takeover bid for the failing Cumulus.
• What Dickey’s first acquisitions will be from these sellers – either in part or whole.
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• How a company touting a digital revolution let radio’s acknowledged best social media expert quit?
• The role “flipping” may have played in her departure.
• The rumored Mary Berner Hit List – 2 of the alleged targets are gone already – what it means for the others.
• Money walking out the door – the latest Cumulus top-biller and Key Account Manager also quit Berner.  How that went down.
• The Cumulus employee who was just fired after commenting on a post by a former Dickey confidant – you have to see this, the post, the comment that ends ugly.
• Little known details of jealousy and demands of loyalty that may further impact the bottom line that even the board of directors doesn’t know about.

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1. Future RIFs – Berner has repeatedly denied saving money through personnel reductions but now we know how much she actually saved – one time or ongoing?
2. Selling assets – Is Berner ready to start selling off stations to keep Cumulus afloat?
3. Money to fix and maintain stations – how Cumulus is planning to handle that going forward.   
4. DC land sale – Something’s up with the troubled $75 million sale of land near Bethesda that keeps getting delayed.
5. Podcasting to offset declining local radio?  Wait until you see their plans.
6. Digital – The surprising approach to a category that Cumulus is betting its future on. 

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David Field loves the iHeart system of cutting commissions for top sales people.

And, yes, that’s what it has come down to.

Entercom badly needs to get revenue back up after its disastrous merger with CBS Radio and yet what he’s beginning to do is likely to have the opposite effect.

If you want to see what poor morale gets your sales department, look no further than Cumulus that lost many of its best sellers when the company sapped them from selling with corporate red tape and unnecessary procedures.

This trick that Field is going to pull – you’ll see the details in a moment – is his dream compensation strategy because iHeart does it and anything iHeart does, Field seems to want to do.

And second, because he will make more money and the sellers will make less.

Field is not a warm and fuzzy guy.  He doesn’t connect with employees because he makes all the money and they get nickel and dimed to death.

This plan being installed at some Entercom stations right now is the future for the entire merged company as well as dangerous temptation for other groups to follow.

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Newstips

INSIDE …

• Which market managers will be more at risk – the ones at Cumulus or iHeart.
• Huge cutbacks have been leaked for iHeart employee RIFs – take a look.  Here’s what will trigger them.
• The new market manager-lite setup coming to iHeart and Cumulus.
• And it’s not just these two groups – here’s a radio company that is likely to ask their market managers for hometown discounts. 
• This begs the question if market managers are about to take a big hit, is there a well-paying job in radio that is relatively safe?  Yes – this is the one.

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• How does a just out of bankruptcy radio company with suspended stock worth only a few pennies start trading again at over $20 a share -- $17.70 as of closing yesterday.
• Cumulus stock is worth more than the merged Entercom and CBS Radio.
• Cumulus outperforming Entercom?
• Is this a sign of a successful  “Hail Mary” from Berner?
• What does the stock market know about the future of Cumulus that everyone seems to be missing?
• The critical indicators to watch.

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• Entercom can’t deliver promised cost savings. 

• 7 Incremental fixed expenses are going up. 

• Meaning that David Field’s $110 million promise is way too low. 

• What is Entercom going to do to make good on merger efficiencies it promised lenders?

• New cuts to CBS stations, Entercom stations or both?

• Down to one last option.

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• A name change to double down on radio.

• A way to stop the unfavorable comparisons with CBS.

• Rumblings from sellers, buyers and competitors too loud to ignore.

• The reported leading choice to replace the name “Entercom”.

• More consumer-oriented.

• Reportedly inspired by iHeart.

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• WTF?  What was so urgent that it took a virtually unprecedented marathon board meeting to unpack?
• Their biggest concern -- it’s not what most people think.
• First read on their feelings about CEO Mary Berner.
• With big losses to be reported this week, how long are they giving Berner to turn things around.
• How important is “toxic work culture” to the board.

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1. Why the future of Alpha is no longer assured.
2. An honest look at the many problems in selling the company that made one strategic mistake after another.
3. Who is likely to pick the bones of the radio group that once had everything going for it – and how long will it take to liquidate.
4. But wait, before the stations can be sold off – there is a glitch that could blow up and make things even worse.
5. What Alpha employees can expect.

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1. Why Bob Pittman is handling the bankruptcy like a radio promotion but the “second caller” doesn’t win and the new owner has already been identified.
2. The main reason – and there is a big one – that Bob Pittman is dragging this thing out.
3. Why you should keep an eye on this potential bidder.
4. The surprise ending soon-to-be-burned iHeart lenders want.
5. The toll this drawn out bankruptcy is already taking on iHeart stations and employees – ratings for this major format are beginning to erode from neglect.
6. If you want to get past all the circus optics and get to the new owner, here’s who will come in and take iHeart away.

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Radio CEOs are just like politicians.

They don’t let facts get in the way.

So yesterday, David Field showed us all what he was doing at Ivy League schools while he should have been learning the radio business.

Field took a whopping 8% decline in revenue and turned it into a 20% stock price gain.

Here’s the stunt David Field pulled off that employees, investors and lenders are going to pay for big time.

Read the full article here

There are rumors that Cumulus is getting ready to buy some or all of Univision’s radio stations.

But Cumulus can’t buy a copy machine right now and Univision is just as dysfunctional as Cumulus.

Here’s why everyone is looking in the wrong place.

READ MORE …

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            Bonneville’s Back – Or Is It?

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            The Sale of Westwood One

            Alpha Media After Larry Wilson

            Entercom/USTN Deal Gone Bad - What Really Happened

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1. Potential conflicts of interest with Mike McVay.
2. The truth about that new stock Cumulus just issued.
3. Westwood One has been turning in profits quarter after quarter, so why is Cumulus now acting to separate the two companies.
4. The rumor that Cumulus is a buyer – well, is it?
5. The untold story of Dave Milner and Bob Walker.
6. How is the relationship going between Mary Berner and her new board representing lenders who have traded equity for debt.
7. The over/under on a second Cumulus bankruptcy as incredible as it may seem.

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TOP STORIES

• The Sale of Westwood One 

• Alpha Media After Larry Wilson 

• Entercom/USTN Deal Gone Bad - What Really Happened 

• Cumulus & Univision Together 

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• Who Will Buy Cox Radio

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Inside 

• Suddenly, their growth plan is in jeopardy.  The serious ramifications. 

• Can they stop the race to the bottom stock price decline that THEY caused because of bad strategic planning?  

• How David Field snookered Caroline Beasley. 

• Future acquisition plans – what now? 

• Why Beasley is hanging around without any prospect of attaining scale. 

• Is Beasley a SELL?

Recent Stories

            Who Will Buy Cox Radio
            The likely buyer is the most unlikely buyer

            iHeart’s Silver Lake Takeover Bid
            Another suspicious offer Bain is not accepting 

            Less FM for Entercom
            Repeating how they killed the CBS merger

            iHeart, Entercom & Cumulus
            Which one is the next Toys “R” Us? 

            Lew Dickey’s Cumulus Takeover Bid Update
            When, how & chances of success

            Cumulus Troubles
            Now add the new board to their problems   

            Entercom’s Dire Future
            A bombshell announcement is coming

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Summary

• With Cox Media Group announcing the sale of its TV assets, there is no longer any synergistic reason to keep radio.
• Which radio groups or investor is most motivated to make an offer to buy some or all of the Cox radio properties.
• Why this is the worst time for Cox radio to be in play for groups that desperately need their stations more than ever.

Cox has no reason to keep its 60 plus radio outlets when it sells its TV stations as the company announced it would do yesterday.

Either a sale or a merger, but a sale is most likely.

Perhaps to the dreaded Sinclair or to Tribune to make it Sinclair-proof going forward.

Cox radio stations are highly desirable because unlike other radio groups, Cox knows how to super monetize them.  They hire outstanding people and their stations are well managed.

There are a number of radio groups that would like to cherry pick the Cox radio roster and one potential stealth buyer who could buy the entire radio group.

Because even purchasing Cox radio does not make another iHeart or Entercom for an existing radio group but the companies nibbling at some Cox stations are looking to grow more than dominate.

And look what happened when Beasley bought back WXTU-FM, Philadelphia at very high multiples.

Their stock tanked because they will have to issue more stock and dilute current shareholder’s value. Since Monday Beasley stock has dropped from the $9 range to the $7 range.  Does that leave Beasley out of the Cox radio sweepstakes?

Nevertheless, there is a surprising group of suitors who will find the money if they can pry some Cox stations away. 

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• Why iHeart has gotten 2 takeover bids and apparently rejected both.
• The main reason Liberty pulled its $1.1 billion initial offer for 40% of iHeart.
• What is suspicious about Silver Lake’s recent and lesser bid.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the company that ran like a circus with CEO Bob Pittman selling snake oil should find itself in a circus-like bankruptcy.

A second company has come forward to bid on iHeart.

Private equity firm Silver Lake is offering $500 million to its largest creditor groups (Franklin Mutual Advisors and Pacific Investment Management) that could go toward making lenders who will be taking a haircut more whole.

But as with the previous Liberty Media takeover bid, iHeart is not acting.

Liberty has withdrawn its $1.1 billion offer for a 40% stake in the company for reasons that are both strategic and concerning.

Why so many bids and none of them being seriously considered?

Read more 

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            iHeart, Entercom & Cumulus – Which one is the next Toys “R” Us?

            Lew Dickey's Takeover Bid Update – When, how & will he succeed?

            Cumulus Troubles – Now, add the new board to their problems.

            Entercom’s Dire Future – Eye-popping revenue slide coming.

            iHeart Bankruptcy – 2 bidders, so why aren’t they taking any offers?

            Smart Speakers & Radio – Truth about Alexa and radio usage at home.

            Ramifications of 8 FM Stations Per Market – Scary unintended consequences.

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• Why is it so difficult for radio’s three biggest groups to start regaining audience and revenue again?
• iHeart’s biggest strategic mistake.
• How Entercom keeps losing revenue with all those great CBS stations onboard.
• Why Cumulus is obsessed with controlling the narrative instead of growing revenue share.
• How lenders are prepared to turn radio’s best assets into Toys “R” Us.

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            Lew Dickey's Takeover Bid Update

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            Entercom’s Dire Future

            iHeart Bankruptcy

            Smart Speakers & Radio

            Ramifications of 8 FM Stations Per Market

            Entercom’s Projected CBS Merger Cutbacks

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• Details on what is Lew going to do with that $207 million blank check that expires in November.
• Why Dickey is raising even more money beyond what it would take to buy Cumulus back.
• 3 radio groups from which Dickey could buy stations.
• First look at his radical new plan and where radio fits into it.
• We pinpoint the month when Dickey is going to make that offer to buy Cumulus.

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            Cumulus Troubles

            Entercom’s Dire Future

            iHeart Bankruptcy

            Smart Speakers & Radio

            Ramifications of 8 FM Stations Per Market

            Entercom’s Projected CBS Merger Cutbacks

            Cox – Seller or Buyer?

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• 3^rdquarter ad revenue pacing revealed
• The July 25th Town Hall
• The new Cumulus board
• Those market manager surveys
• Layoffs

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• Revenue – why is it continuing to nose dive.

• How long before an Entercom turnaround.

• Trouble ahead at their former CBS all-news stations.

• New danger for 24 major market sports outlets.

• No ad revenue growth means more cutbacks – whose next and when.

• An Entercom bankruptcy?  Is that even possible.  What financial people say. 

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INSIDE …

• Liberty or Silver Lake – which one is going to make a bid for iHeart.
• What about all those leaks to the news media about interest in buying iHeart – who’s the source?
• The major victory for iHeart in bankruptcy court that is going unnoticed.
• What’s in all this for Bob Pittman.
• When to expect the serious bidders to make their move.

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• Which groups have the most to gain if ownership rules are eased.
• The unintended consequences in key markets if ownership limits are expanded.
• The growing list of radio groups lining up in opposition to owning more stations than currently allowed.  And why!
• The scary new meaning of monopoly if this legislation gets passed.
• How easing ownership limits could kill some radio groups – say, Entercom to name a big one.

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            Entercom’s CBS Synergies

            Cox – Seller or Buyer?

            iHeart’s New Buyer

            Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

            iHeart’s Threat To Buy More Stations

            CBS Sales Rebellion At Entercom

            First Cumulus Report Card After Bankruptcy

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• How CBS news shakeup is about to get bigger.
• How much of a pay cut is coming for surviving CBS employees.
• CBS sports franchises.
• The CBS format likely to get hurt the most from coming cutbacks.
• What CBS key exec left the building last Friday.

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            Cox – Seller or Buyer?

            iHeart’s New Buyer

            Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

            iHeart’s Threat To Buy More Stations

            CBS Sales Rebellion At Entercom

            First Cumulus Report Card After Bankruptcy

            The Scripps Spinoffs

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin withCox – Seller or Buyer? here. 

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• The Cox radio markets that could be available – 4, possibly 5.
• Which group will pay big multiples to get Cox stations.
• The markets where Cox could also be a buyer. 
• Cox’s new strategy of “convergence” explained.

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            iHeart’s New Buyer

            Beasley’s $250 Million Acquisition Fund

            iHeart’s Threat To Buy More Stations

            CBS Sales Rebellion At Entercom

            First Cumulus Report Card After Bankruptcy

            The Scripps Spinoffs

            The Entercom Exodus

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1. Information leaked over the Fourth that there is a second bidder interested in taking over iHeartMedia – which one would be the better owner?
2. iHeart would emerge from bankruptcy with $10 billion less debt – is it enough or will there be more layoffs to come?
3. The parts that will likely be sold off to pay down debt even further no matter who comes away with iHeart.
4. And one bidder would keep selling until iHeart’s debt was de-levered – which one is that?
5. The rise of SiriusXM – how it fits into Liberty’s plans to remake iHeart programming.

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• Why Beasley filed with the SEC to raise $250 million at this late date.
• Public speculation about iHeart spinning off stations to Beasley.
• Alpha, Townsquare and Scripps/Milwaukee – which are now potential Beasley acquisition targets.
• How Beasley will be impacted by iHeart’s threat to buy more stations not sell if ownership limits are eased.

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• Why iHeart, the biggest consolidator, is now strongly against easing ownership rules.
• How owning more stations will sit with Liberty, their buyer in waiting.
• The real reason iHeart is threatening competitors if the NAB-backed deregulation legislation is passed.
• How iHeart’s threat to get even bigger might affect Entercom, Beasley, Cumulus and other groups looking to grow.
• Will more stations be good for iHeart employees?

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• Why CBS sellers are stewing over the latest Entercom order to get billing up.
• And they can’t believe it’s being crammed by Weezie Kramer.
• Panic in Philly – if things aren’t fixed by this date – the entire company may go down.
• Will there be more resignations ahead in sales.
• The safest Entercom executive – virtually bulletproof. You’ll be surprised.                                           

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• The most significant thing about that Scripps-Griffin sale in Tulsa a few days ago that everyone missed.
• Buyers market or sellers market?
• Will relaxation of cross ownership rules impact radio station sales? 

• How desperate are sellers getting – here’s one that will leave you scratching your head. 

• What’s a decent multiple today – is anyone getting it?                                            

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1. What’s working and what’s still not working post-bankruptcy.
2. Will there be a demand for cost synergies?
3. The first meeting of the new board.
4. How long is the new board prepared to wait for a turnaround.
5. First look at pacing now that Mary Berner has regained full control.                                           

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• Finally, a spinoff in Tulsa but which group is closing in on the rest of Scripps?
• The reported lead bidder is a serial cost cutter.
• What everyone wants to know – did Scripps get 5 times cash flow for their stations (very few others can).
• The big fish reportedly chasing the Milwaukee cluster.                                                

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• Why CBS executives are now quitting David Field after he wiped out more than 10 CBS market managers and countless programmers and talent.
• The real story of Chris Oliviero’s surprise exit not the varnished version in the happy talk radio trade press.
• How Oliviero’s departure could put the nail in Entercom’s coffin – seriously.
• Startling revelation of the one CBS exec Entercom can’t afford to lose next –in spite of the salary savings benefit.
• The reason the few ex-CBS employees David Field wants to keep don’t want to work at Entercom any longer. 
• The new CBS “you can’t fire me, I quit” mentality taking hold at Entercom.

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• A hack attack on iHeart’s sale price.
• A warning about the huge number one bidder would cut if they take over.
• Employee nightmare:  highest synergies in the history of radio to make an iHeart takeover work. 
• The real reason Liberty just officially walked on their $1.1 billion takeover bid.
• Surprise -- Who is next?

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NewsTips

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• Using analysts’ numbers and public projections, how Entercom lost half its value in record time and why it is now considered damaged goods.

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• As amazing as it may seem, why iHeart & Cumulus oppose the NAB’s current attempt to win easing ownership rules when consolidation 22 years ago was actually responsible for their growth.

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• Entercom reportedly eying these well-paid CBS managers.
• Where’s Weezie?
• Is any CBS manager safe?
• Hard deadlines.
• The “plexiglass” ceiling for women.

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• Revealed:  Behind the scenes efforts to create an entirely new business that Entercom’s competitors don’t see coming.
• What damage would it inflict in Entercom markets.
• What happens to Entercom if this big deal turns out to be a dud.
• The likely name of Entercom’s new startup.  You won’t believe their choice of a name.
• All the details of what this new venture will do (their words, their document) and how it will hurt competitors in their markets.

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What the market is learning about Mary Berner is that she could make victims of the Titanic believe there was an upside to drowning.

No matter how she says it – promises, slogans, new logos – her fate and the fate of Cumulus will come down to a second bankruptcy and ending the long decline in revenue that lumbers on quarter after quarter.

It is likely that Cumulus will be the target of a takeover at some point now that it is out of bankruptcy. When it was mired in Chapter 11, Cumulus argued and received permission from the court to bar outside bids while they were trying to get their house in order.

The one thing that would make a takeover less likely – a hostile takeover, that is – is if they got their debt down and revenue up.

So in spite of the happy talk about the future of the company, Mary Berner is going to have to show in real terms that her management team that started the decline leading to bankruptcy is capable of stopping it on a dime.

Your guess is as good as anyone’s.

But assets will have to be sold or a second bankruptcy initiated that brings a slew of additional problems or else Cumulus 2.0 will be dead on arrival by next year at this time.

The painful process of selling assets will shock but here are the options on the table.

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TOP STORIES

• Trouble for Scripps Spinoffs
• Entercom Getting into the Unwired Network Business
• Townsquare Merger
• Major Pivot Coming For Cumulus
• 4 New Entercom Cutbacks
• Entercom Pay Cuts
• Downsizing iHeart

• Hey, it’s cheaper than buying Westwood One.
• What David Field has in mind by going full frontal against iHeart.
• Is Entercom’s new venture a rep firm in drag?
• How Entercom’s 2 traffic networks come into play.

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• How can a small market radio group like Townsquare that can’t find a buyer pull off a merger?
• The unlikely buyer who looks like the likely merger partner.
• How urgent is this?

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• What’s the biggest change in the way Cumulus will be doing business under its new owners and board.
• Who will be getting more authority – here’s the list.
• What’s the plan to stop the bleeding with Cumulus pacing down again – this time $8 million for the third quarter.
• More interference or less – early indications of which way they are moving.
• How cash and trade will be handled now that they are out of bankruptcy.

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            4 New Entercom Cutbacks

            The Timeline For the New Cumulus

            Entercom To Negotiate Pay Cuts

            Downsizing iHeart

            Cumulus Management Reorganization

            Alpha’s Financial Problems

            Saving Townsquare           

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Joe Field finally pumped up Entercom stock Wednesday getting it back to $7.  But yesterday, it fell apart again into the $6 range.

Investors lost $100 million in share value since the CBS merger was announced.

Revenue down 7% that translates into a $28 million loss.

EBITDA cut in half.

Today, 4 new Entercom cutbacks toward keeping David Field’s promise of $110 million in merger synergies detailed and revealed in advance.

Luckily, none of them apply to David Field.

BUT … competitors are taking notes.

Real time quote from one of our subscribers who also happens to be an Entercom executive:  “The insights and honesty this industry needs”.

Another Entercom subscriber:  “thank you for your insights especially into Entercom”.

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INSIDE …

• Can Mary Berner do something different than what didn’t work the first 3 years (with the same people)?
• Misleading financial claims – how much is Cumulus losing from people intimately familiar with how the company operates.
• Panic management – a sample of how it will affect one poor market manager next week and more after that.
• Increased interference – this is how they plan to go about it.
• The future of remnants and trade.
• Mission accomplished, right?  Berner killed off Lew Dickey’s takeover bid, right?

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INSIDE …

• Details on the big time pay cuts Entercom will be cramming on employees.
• Here’s how it will work – sit down and stay away from sharp objects.
• And who is going to get clipped.
• It’s bad enough that Entercom doesn’t have a large representation of women in executive positions – here’s how they are going to handle their female compensation vs. well-paid women CBS managers.
• David Field has already botched talent pay negotiations so if you’re talent, this is how far your CEO is willing to go to negotiate a pay cut even if he damages ratings and his brand. 

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3,933 archived stories included.

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1. Townsquare and other radio groups are waiting to buy iHeart stations, do they know something we don’t?
2. Piercing the silence of iHeart’s bankruptcy – what are they hiding with the court’s permission?
3. What if Liberty withdraws its takeover bid – where does that leave everyday operations of iHeart?
4. Post-bankruptcy iHeart cost-saving synergies now on the table.
5. Business as usual or business unusual when they emerge.

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• Widespread firings in these 2 job categories.
• As close as you will get to job security for the next 12 months in this job category.
• Which one of these three leftovers will get fired next – McVay, Walker or Milner?
• Which format changes to expect.

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• Three options remain – all of them bad or impossible.
• Talk of a merger.

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• Will the recent sale of their live events division stop the bleeding?
• Is Townsquare closing in on acquiring some iHeart stations as it is promising publicly?
• The bankruptcy watch – when does time run out.
• The one thing that could fix everything if they have the cujones.

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• 10 key CBS employees fired – is David Field done yet?
• BUT, raising eyebrows by who they just promoted while firing more qualified managers. 
• Faux promotions.
• Hiding CBS firings – how Entercom is trying to fool the public while continuing its war on CBS managers.
• Why has Weezie Kramer turned a blind eye toward so many of her CBS comrades.
• Lawsuits? 
• What shareholders know that the public doesn’t that is driving them to sell Entercom.

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• Already, questions about the debt.
• Will Mary Berner version 2 keep McVay, Milner & Walker.
• Deep problems at Westwood One hidden by increase in remnant ad sales.
• Lew Dickey is lurking – here is his estimated time of arrival for a takeover.
• The new, most unsecure jobs at Cumulus after it emerges

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• Entercom is complaining about traffic compensation then does this.
• What’s going sour with their U.S. Traffic Network relationship.
• Why David Field is rebuking another CBS deal that was working fine.
• The new plan.
• Why employees are holding their noses.

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• Another major CBS Radio executive is popped.
• Is Entercom done firing CBS employees.
• The targets for Entercom’s coming $110 million in cost synergies.
• Are even Entercom employees immune from being fired as revenue tanks.
• Next victims.
• Two fortunate CBS execs likely to survive – for now.

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• The company is no longer operable with the present setup – what is expendable.
• The new operational plan to prepare iHeart for sale after bankruptcy.
• What coming changes mean to employees currently in limbo – market managers, sellers and programming people.

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WHAT YOU WILL READ …

1. Cumulus employees out their CEO on how her spin is being used to impress the soon to be installed new board. 
2. Direct quotes on how Berner is manipulating the revenue numbers to make large losses look better.
3. 3 markets that are killing Cumulus revenue – expect shakeups.
4. True pacing figures for the present quarter direct from Cumulus but without the Berner spin.
5. Things are going to change very soon and here’s what it will mean for the new Cumulus.

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1. Here’s the math – proof positive that Entercom is on its way to $4 a share – or less by year’s end.
2. How much Entercom shareholders lost as of last week due to the CBS merger.
3. The amount of value that has been destroyed in just 3 months of Entercom at the helm.
4. The chance Entercom could find itself in a bankruptcy situation.
5. Why previously bullish analysts are running for the exit now.
6. EBITDA is down 50% in the first quarter alone, revenue off 7.5% – here’s where Entercom is with 6 weeks left in the second quarter.

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1. Liberty is the only bidder with real money on the table to buy iHeart, what’s holding up a deal.
2. The strength of Liberty’s interest in buying iHeart at this point.
3. Why Liberty doesn’t want to pull a “David Field”. 
4. Is Liberty’s $1.1 billion offer for 40% negotiable. 
5. What if there is no Liberty deal – where does that leave iHeart after bankruptcy.

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1. How investors are now looking at Townsquare’s future.
2. With virtually no options to sell, how will Townsquare now operate.
3. They’ve been acting like the company is off the market – is that true?
4. Something is fishy with expenses at Townsquare – here’s what’s scaring investors and lenders.
5. Three radio groups that could be acquired ahead of Townsquare – in order of availability making Townsquare’s exit options almost impossible.

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1. You know a merger is in trouble when you do this – what radio’s money people say Entercom is doing that doesn’t bode well.
2. Not U.S. Traffic, not 6 format flips – what’s wrong with Entercom/CBS that it is losing money already.
3. David Field is still blaming the CBS stations – the detrimental effect it is having on revenue.
4. Will the merger pay off by mid-2019 when Entercom will have operated the CBS stations for one full year.
5. Heads could roll – some could be shockers.
6. What Entercom is now saying about cost synergies last promised at $110 million.

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1. Sources close to Cumulus say lenders expecting a new beginning when bankruptcy ends in June are in for a rude awakening – here’s why.
2. Amazing as it may seem, how even the bankruptcy judge is reportedly not aware of the rapidly declining EBITDA problem.
3. The evidence as to why a second bankruptcy will be necessary even if a new owner takes over.
4. The status of the Lew Dickey hostile takeover bid as of last week.
5. The one scenario under which Mary Berner can save her job and keep the company – it comes down to this.

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1. Over 700 bonuses in a scheme to mislead the bankruptcy court.
2. Which iHeart employees are among the lucky 700.
3. Cumulus just got away with the same thing – what are iHeart’s chance of getting a bankruptcy court to go along with their ruse.
4. iHeart is a company that hasn’t give raises in many, many years – here’s how they changed their tune in a court document.
5. What happens to the lenders, unsecured bondholders, vendors and others who are facing large losses in bankruptcy.

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1. Entercom’s quarterly revenue is scaring the stock market and Entercom employees.
2. David Field blames U.S. Traffic Network for their revenue problems – is he right?
3. Now will Field unleash the nuclear option he has threatened in the past?
4. What’s behind Entercom shunning CBS minds and opting to go with a not-ready-for-primetime group of Field cronies.
5. A $4 Entercom stock was predicted a month ago, will that happen and wreck both CBS stations and Entercom?
6. How CBS Radio employees are going to pay for Entercom’s mistakes.

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1. The surprise doom and gloom scenario Mary Berner’s CFO is now offering after initially assuring a reasonable turnaround.
2. Just how bad is the latest Cumulus financial outlook.
3. How did the court ignore these draconian predictions and approve the Berner Plan anyway and why unsecured creditors have returned to court to object.
4. What’s real and what isn’t with Cumulus revenue – here are the confidential pacing’s as of last Friday.
5. What happens to Lew Dickey’s takeover attempt?  His “blank check” loan expires if no Letter of Intent is signed by mid-November – then what?

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1. Why David Field just took a position in USTN instead of buying the whole thing – how much did he buy.
2. Is buying all of USTN still on the table for Entercom.
3. Field has complained that USTN killed its revenue in the previous quarter, here’s how Entercom renegotiated the deal originally done by CBS pre-merger.
4. How stable is USTN’s future.
5. Westwood One or some other syndicator – Entercom needs one, will they buy one.

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1. Disturbing rules restricting personal behavior – here’s a sampling, all true.
2. Tons of rules – even on how and when to dispose of birthday balloons (you can’t make this stuff up).
3. Lamps, work stations, how to behave – new rules for these things and more.
4. We break into the iHeartMedia Design Guide and share.
5. Why and how iHeart employees are pushing back and calling management “dumb bastards”.

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1. A painful reckoning is coming at the end of the second quarter.
2. The real EBITDA (and value of the company) is … (no more “adjusted” numbers).
3. The new value of Cumulus and how much is debt after bankruptcy– don’t even try to guess.  You’re wrong.
4. Berner’s next surprising idea to raise much needed cash.
5. The lenders got most of the equity but they are in ill-humor – here’s why.
6. What their quick emergence from bankruptcy means for any takeover bidders.

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1. The future of Katz rep firm under a new owner like Liberty Media.
2. Two currently unthinkable options for Katz suddenly are on the table.
3. The fate of Total Traffic under a new owner like Liberty.
4. Liberty has already said it would sell Clear Channel Outdoor, but what would be their plans to sell radio stations.
5. How Liberty could drop billions and still wind up with virtually no debt – what experts think.

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1. Mary Berner says Cumulus will emerge from bankruptcy at the end of May – what does she know that everyone else doesn’t.
2. Their unsecured creditors must sign off but they have been resistant – here’s the surprising thing they did just a few days ago to complicate matters more.
3. Cumulus is offering these resistant bondholders double what iHeart is offering their unsecured creditors – why aren’t they biting and what specifically do they want.
4. How two reported takeover bids are affecting an end to this bankruptcy.
5. Cumulus employees want to know what’s going to happen to them when bankruptcy finally ends – here are the two most likely outcomes

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1. Alpha Media’s continuing battle to keep the company due to debt problems.
2. How founder Larry Wilson poisoned the well for other radio groups, many of them also in financial trouble today.
3. Alpha’s tower debacle – now that story can be told.
4. Could Wilson just walk away from the company if it gets any worse.
5. Alpha’s biggest lender is running out of patience – here are the options.

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1. Compelling evidence that radio is unnecessarily driving even loyal listeners away.
2. Let’s start with Beasley – you won’t believe what one of their Greater Media  stations was clocked at for spot overload recently.
3. Which group has well exceeded 30 units per hour – and counting. 
4. How sales starved groups are using trade to pump up revenue – and deceive their own investors.
5. Pressure from Facebook and digital competitors is causing radio to take any ad at any price – here’s the percentage of how much digital is bleeding off the local radio spend.
6. How radio is alarmingly following the magazine industry’s ad practices.
7. A list of solutions – yes, there are ways to begin to put a stop to spot  excesses and raise local revenue even while being pressured by digitally-minded local agencies.  Some damn good alternatives.

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Mary Berner says there’s no way Lew Dickey is returning to run Cumulus.

Jeff Warshaw is reportedly already talking spin-offs to buyers who think Connoisseur can steal Cumulus from lenders for pennies on the dollar.

And then there’s Lew Dickey, the founder and CEO ousted in a bloodless coup by the chairman of the board more than two years ago who wants back.

Which one is full of crap?

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1. For the first time – the Dickey takeover plan.
2. The timing of the takeover bid.
3. The biggest thing Lew Dickey has going for him and what’s working against him.
4. The clueless lenders and bondholders are in for this rude awakening that can totally disrupt the outcome.
5. The best thinking on when Cumulus can get out of bankruptcy and back to business.
6. Whether current management is making any progress winning over bondholders who are refusing to sign on to their second operating plan.

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INSIDE …

• Putting aside all the spin, what’s the truth about Cumulus revenue – here’s the final first quarter numbers and current pacing. 
• The one Cumulus top exec who is not spinning performance statistics so if this guy is worried, be worried. 
• What’s the one tell-tale sign a radio company is headed into the toilet – guess what, it just showed up at Cumulus.
• The absolutely wrong thing to do when the majority of your market managers are not able to turn things around – Cumulus did it a few days ago. 

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We know that there are at least two bidders looking to takeover Cumulus when it emerges from bankruptcy – or even before if the judge allows outside bidders.

Lew Dickey is one, the founder of the company ousted by Board Chairman Jeff Marcus after Dickey had it out with Marcus over allegedly undermining his ability to run the company.

And now there is Jeff Warshaw, the CEO of Connoisseur Version 2.  Warshaw sold 37 stations in 9 markets to Cumulus for $242 million in 2000 as the original Connoisseur.

Mary Berner continues to spin that she is guaranteed to return to run the debt-free version of Cumulus when they emerge from bankruptcy and lenders and bondholders are stinging from the haircuts they had to take.

• Warshaw is looking to steal Cumulus from lenders – Connoisseur is in a bit of a financial tight spot itself selling off its Buckley Hartford stations and most recently three stations in New Jersey to Townsquare for $17 million including one of Connoisseur’s most profitable ones, an FM in Trenton.  Approximately 50% of Connoisseur’s acquisitions account for debt of some kind.  That’s why Warshaw may not be just opting for a chance to buy Cumulus but may need it for Connoisseur to survive.

• How stealing Cumulus buys Jeff Warshaw another day
• How much of Cumulus would Warshaw keep
• Who do the lenders want running Cumulus
• What happens if Cumulus falls into a second bankruptcy
• Will there be a bidding war for Cumulus 

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“At first I was reluctant to pay for ‘insightful, deadly honest’ reporting.  I know tons of media people already do.  But, it turned out that 27 cents a day was more than fair for what Jerry tackles.  Now I don’t want to go back to relying on just the free happy talk publications”.

Al Liggins and Cathy Hughes have managed to do the impossible over the years – avoid bankruptcy.

But what kind of shape is a boutique black-targeted media company like Urban One really in?

On one hand, they have seen a lot of competitors fall on hard times not the least of which is the number one group, iHeartMedia with their 850 stations.

And Cumulus with 90 markets, the majority of which are not and have not been making their numbers even before they filed for bankruptcy.

Yet, Urban One is still afloat albeit in uncertain times.

Their employees very much care about whether they can remain whole and avoid the uncertainties of bankruptcy.

Of course, their banks and lenders care.

But so do other radio groups who might covet the major markets they are in if they have to sell properties to stay afloat.

So, what’s Urban One’s financial condition?  

• They diversified and placed a bet on help from non-radio businesses – As of now, Urban One (formerly Radio One) is reportedly deriving approximately half of its income from sources other than radio station revenue.  That is highly unusual among radio companies, but it was a strategy that Liggins and Hughes personally felt they had to pursue. 

• What Urban One is doing to as a hedge against increasing debt that other groups may have to do, too

• The TV One acquisition – accretive or too risky

• The current biggest threat to Urban One’s future 

• Can Urban One avoid bankruptcy in a year when 2 of the 3 biggest radio groups could not 

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            Mary Berner’s Job Security

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Connoisseur CEO Jeff Warshaw is sure acting funny lately.

He has sold off some major assets recently – the Buckley stations he bought in Hartford and the moneymaking WPST-FM, Trenton and two insignificant AM’s near the Jersey Shore for $17 million.

That sale was curious enough because no matter how crunched a radio company is today with debt and cash flow problems, they rarely sell the stations that are producing lifeblood cash flow for them.

That’s the problem Larry Wilson has at Alpha.  He wants to sell the marginal stuff and buyers want the cash producers.

But Warshaw is selling cash flow, a startling revelation unless you believe he has another play ready to go.

From the intel we’re gathering, it now appears Connoisseur wants to make a run at Cumulus. 

• Warshaw reportedly wants to pull a Lew Dickey – Remember back when Dickey made a hostile takeover of Citadel after it had become virtually debt free?  At the time Dickey’s Cumulus was in financial hot water itself so the only way he could survive was to grow – to buy another radio group free of debt and bury the considerable Cumulus debt in it. Warshaw’s got debt problems of his own right now which might be why he is willing to sell positive cash flow assets to stay afloat. 

• How spinoffs would be handled

• What Connoisseur would do with unwanted markets 

• Why is a relatively small and mediocre company like Connoisseur trying to take over Cumulus 

• How Warshaw puts Connoisseur at risk by making this hostile takeover try 

• Warshaw’s takeover bid – by the numbers

• How does a Warshaw takeover affect Lew Dickey’s take back of Cumulus 

• What kind of financial shape is Cumulus really in to be getting potentially two offers

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1. Six times cash flow is a nice number for owners to sell their stations – would you believe what the new number will be and where it’s heading next?
2. You’ve probably heard of a good number of stations and groups in the market to sell all or some of their stations – now you can add these three to your list.
3. Potential buyers are now in the driver’s seat, but they are still not buying at favorable prices – why?
4. Multiples are down, too many stations on the market – what new factor has emerged in the last 45 days as the biggest deterrent to station acquisitions.
5. The increasing list of sellers have real pressure to get out – here’s what happens if they can’t. 

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1. Entercom is not a $9.65 stock (that’s not me talking, it’s the market) – here’s what it really is (and the math to prove it).
2. David Field keeps upping the synergy cutback number from $25 million then quadrupled to $100 million and now an extra $10 million added on to $110 million – if he really plans on cutting $110 million, here’s what that will look like. 
3. Not one day after the CBS merger happened did investors bet up the prospects for the merged company – in fact, Entercom stock lost 40% of its value and still hasn’t recovered – what the market knows that Entercom is not telling us.
4. Major benefits cuts are coming to Entercom’s CBS employees – here’s how the law of unintended consequences may backfire.
5. When does the honeymoon end – here’s what analysts say is Entercom’s put up or shut up date. 

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1. Liberty’s plans for iHeart if it succeeds in taking control of the company.
2. Where Liberty-owned SiriusXM will fit into this possible merger.
3. Which assets Liberty will likely sell.
4. How eroding local radio ad sales will affect the prospects for iHeart under Liberty.
5. New intel on how much of radio’s spend is now going to Facebook, Google and other digital options. 

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1. Mary Berner just saved WKQX from slipping away from Cumulus the way WLUP did – here’s the story of how the deal was botched from the very beginning.
2. So she paid $18 million for WKQX but ability to pay for WKQX and The Loop was never the problem – this was.
3. Merlin’s Randy Michaels was actually reasonable on pricing – here’s how far he went to help Berner not lose the stations she badly needed.
4. Cumulus also bought the intellectual property of WLUP – here’s what they are planning.
5. Cumulus is way under its maximum station count in major markets – what they are going to do about getting more scale. 

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1. How iHeart is outsourcing its negotiating for a deal while in bankruptcy.
2. Why a new offer may be coming in soon.
3. Will there be a breakup of iHeart’s many platforms.
4. The most surprising indication of post-bankruptcy layoffs and cutbacks.
5. How did Lee & Bain make out on their failed investment – a profit or a loss? 

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1. Preview of the ugly lawsuit with examples of bullying, discrimination and retaliation.
2. Details of alleged and continuing abuse that led to two hospitalizations, two family leaves, threat of a huge pay cut and the firing.
3. We reveal the identity of the plaintiff and the charges.
4. How Bob Walker and Dave Milner were allegedly caught red-handed in the act.
5. How a feckless HR department punted.
6. Bullying so bad it caused PTSD – from the company that keeps accusing the previous management of running a toxic workplace. 

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1. Will Cumulus emerge from bankruptcy this spring as promised.
2. Why iHeart is acting awfully nice to John Malone’s Liberty but refusing its takeover bid.
3. How Cumulus is misleading lenders and unsecured creditors about the financial health of the company.
4. Why iHeart employees are being given a false sense of security about the future of their jobs. 

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1. What Connoisseur is doing that Alpha and Townsquare absolutely refuse to do.
2. Where Alpha’s attempt to sell more stations is right now and what their options are.
3. Why Townsquare is buying even as they try to sell the entire company.

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• Mary Berner’s Job Security
• iHeart’s Massive Station Selloff
• Townsquare’s Future
• The New Cumulus Board
• iHeart Under Liberty Media 

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1. The likelihood of Berner being retained as Cumulus CEO when bankruptcy ends.
2. How long will the new board give her to finally turn the company around.
3. Why she continues to pound away at “toxic culture” 2½ years after taking control.
4. Can she survive a planned hostile takeover.

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1. Forbes is claiming iHeart will conduct a massive selloff of stations after it emerges from bankruptcy – what do they know.
2. Other major changes coming post-bankruptcy.
3. If Liberty Media wrestles control of iHeart, how will the company be different.
4. If current owners emerge with a second chance, what will that look like.
5. How the advertising model drastically changes. 

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1. With so many radio stations on the market, two of the largest groups in bankruptcy and more to follow, where is Townsquare headed.
2. What to make of a $17 million station acquisition just yesterday.
3. Is Townsquare still on the market as it was last year.
4. What about their chief backer, Oaktree, that has wanted out for sometime.
5. Watch for Townsquare’s “Hail Mary” detailed here.

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1. How this new board can turn Cumulus upside down.
2. A new way for looking at expenses and revenue that will affect everyone – on the way.
3. Current management’s report card and what the new board is likely to do.
4. How the new board will respond to a Lew Dickey takeover attempt.
5. Today’s half-filled Berner Town Hall, sex predators still working at Cumulus stations, Berner’s end game

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1. Who is likely to run iHeart under Liberty management – some unexpected choices.
2. What happens to the Katz rep firm.
3. Is Liberty buying iHeart to retain Premiere and traffic.
4. Their plans for SiriusXM combined with terrestrial radio.
5. Will iHeart remain an 850 station group or will Liberty move to downsize.

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1. The correct status of Mary Berner’s millions in bonus money.
2. Why Cumulus MUST convince a bankruptcy court to give them another four months for exclusive rights to strike a restructuring deal.
3. Why the Cumulus bankruptcy was unnecessary from day one – and why they chose to do it anyway.
4. How Liberty Media’s continuing presence in an iHeart restructuring affects the Cumulus outcome.
5. New confidential revenue numbers that are scaring the hell out of lenders and unsecured creditors worried about the future of Cumulus.

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1. In spite of the hype, the undeniable sign that Entercom is in trouble already and missing their numbers.
2. Next cuts and renegotiations – here are three big areas and one Entercom is eying.
3. What recent corporate decision is not sitting well with investors.
4. How is confidence in Entercom’s programming ideas compared to the CBS stations they are inheriting.
5. Growth plans that have little to do with radio.

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1. If the deal Bob Pittman struck with lenders cuts their $20 billion debt by $10 billion, why did iHeart have to file for bankruptcy.
2. What about Liberty Media’s $1.1 billion offer to buy 40% of iHeart – here’s the status of Liberty’s takeover bid now that iHeart is in Chapter 11.
3. Odd tactic – why is Clear Channel Outdoor being held out of the radio group bankruptcy.
4. Already lawsuits are being threatened – here’s the effect they will have on how long iHeart will be in bankruptcy.
5. Once the litigation finally ends – here is the likely new owner of iHeart.

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1. Their latest ploy to make expenses seem less.
2. Why it is focused on new business only.
3. How this is the ultimate kick the can down the road maneuver.
4. How it affects Cumulus stations and employees.
5. Here’s why this is being done after 30 months of Mary Berner’s tenure as CEO.

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1. How Entercom plans to change the rules for CBS employees.
2. Unexpected negatives under David Field’s new setup.
3. And, these unexpected positives under CBS – will soon be history.
4. Why CBS employees hate the many format flips Entercom has started doing.
5. $10 million has been added to the Entercom cutbacks – here’s where to look for them.

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1. Is Cox looking to sell more stations or remain in the radio business.
2. The chances of Cox being an acquirer.
3. What Cox will be selling.
4. The line on whether the Cox family will remain in the media business.
5. What Cox clusters will look like from here on out.

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1. Phantom or uncollected billing that will terrify Cumulus lenders – the secret is revealed.
2. How much Cumulus is writing off in bad advertising debt months after they claimed it as revenue growth.
3. Why Cumulus is asking their bankruptcy judge for another 4 months of exclusive negotiating rights with lenders and bondholders who are increasingly concerned about current management.
4. Two tricks that make Cumulus operating revenue seem higher – exposed here.
5. What recent events may force lenders to not agree to a restructuring of Cumulus.

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1. Why David Field keeps publicly slamming CBS employees.
2. Ways Entercom is starting to disappoint investors.
3. How much Field is going to up the cost cutting – a third time – and who is going to get the brunt of it.
4. Why Entercom’s newly switched formats are already in trouble.
5. What if Entercom stock continues to slide – is Entercom a bankruptcy waiting to happen.

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1. What creditors are accusing Cumulus CEO Mary Berner of trying to pull off.
2. Why “Berner Bucks” are getting approved to the CEO instead of going to buy WLUP and WKQX.
3. What happens to the thousands of bonuses paid to employees not named Mary Berner.
4. The lower employee commission rates that came after iHeart’s Bob Pittman and Rich Bressler’s bonus grab.
5. What about future Cumulus bonuses – here’s what Cumulus is trying to get away with.
6. How Cumulus’ actual EBITDA is getting creamed by new problems their lenders may not be aware of.

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1. Why the Cumulus bankruptcy from hell never needed to happen in the first place.
2. They lost The Loop dicking around over price – what’s the chance that they also lose Merlin’s WKQX.
3. The unforeseen consequences of a bankruptcy that could have been prevented.
4. How Cumulus now has to deal with revenue shortfalls they can ill afford.
5. How Cumulus risks lender lawsuits over mismanaged expectations.

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1. How employee security and toxic workplace issues are debasing the company.
2. Their cure for sagging morale and what they are threatening to do about it.
3. How the tenuous situation with Cumulus vendors is becoming a potential worry.
4. Drastically falling EBITDA that will be a rude awakening to lenders who are currently in the dark about actual figures.
5. Why lenders and bondholders may be concerned about Berner’s stewardship of Cumulus – and what that means to the company’s future.
6. Evidence of eroding revenue sources and close calls.

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1. What David Field plans to do if his CBS employees don’t shape up soon.
2. Meet the future head of Entercom programming for the merged companies.
3. What formats Entercom has in the pipeline against the advice of savvy CBS programmers.
4. What’s pressuring Field to come down so hard on only the CBS employees.
5. Panic is setting in – Wall Street has a drop-dead date to judge Entercom. Here it is, and here’s what they expect.

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1. Not one, two, three, four but 5 sexual harassment complaints by women – how Cumulus handled it.
2. A sixth victim complained outside the cluster -- would you believe an advertiser.
3. The creepy details.
4. Who Cumulus HR believed – the accuser or the alleged perpetrator in each of the complaints.
5. Also impropriety issues at headquarters close to Mary Berner.

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1. How long can Alpha remain a going concern now that its refinancing bid has been rejected.
2. Is it terminal or is there a rescuer out there.
3. Why the careers of Alpha employees are now at risk.
4. Can the company be sold at a lower price.
5. How Alpha’s debt problem will be resolved and what that will look like.

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1. What Liberty really wants from this $1.1 billion takeover bid and it’s not 850 plus stations.
2. Why even lenders and venture capitalists are missing what Liberty’s purchase of iHeart is likely to do with Pandora that is never discussed publicly.
3. Bondholders and lenders are all in on the Liberty rescue plan – but is iHeart?
4. What angry bondholders have on Lee & Bain that could cause a lot of costly lawsuits.
5. Liberty & Bob Pittman in cahoots?  What’s in it for both of them to make this happen.

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1. Liberty’s Eleventh Hour stealth move to buy lenders and bondholders out – here’s their next move.
2. Will iHeart owners Lee and Bain go for this deal or sink the company into bankruptcy to prevent this surprise John Malone sneak attack?
3. How does SiriusXM fit into this mega terrestrial radio takeover.   And Pandora, 19% of which is owned by Liberty.
4. Bet on this person to run the new mega-company.
5. If this takeover happens, it changes everything for Entercom, Cumulus and the smaller operators in ways they never anticipated – here’s how.

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1. What’s up with Emmis – which markets get sold next or do they?
2. Their stock closed up almost 20% Friday -- what the market is sensing.
3. Unpacking their recent St. Louis sell-off – the real multiples, how the buyers came together, what else Emmis got.
4. The status of Emmis’ debt problems that led to these asset sales.
5. Best look at the new Emmis.

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1. More cleansing of existing CBS management is on the way – where it’s happening now and how extensive will it be.
2. David Field is $75 million short of his promise to lenders for additional cost efficiencies – here’s how he thinks he can find a huge savings like that.
3. Revised benefits are in play now that Entercom has so many more employees – what they are thinking.
4. Paychecks with nothing in them – it happened in numerous markets including some majors – how Entercom made it worse.
5. Now it is known – specifically who will have the safest jobs at Entercom.

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1. One week from today, iHeart will be in bankruptcy.  Here’s what that will look like.
2. iHeart has the money so why is it voluntarily submitting to bankruptcy?
3. Prepare for asset sales – here is the first thing to go.
4. Meanwhile iHeart has become more vulnerable to competitors – where they are getting weaker.
5. The court will likely give iHeart the chance to make management decisions. Here are the first cuts they will make under the cover of bankruptcy.

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1. The latest move to bail Alpha out failed last Friday.  Here’s what went down.
2. Now something has to give real quickly. These are the four rescue options and their potential repercussions.
3. Larry Wilson will pay a high price to stay afloat – here’s what “high price” means.

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The Dickey Cumulus Hostile Takeover

The Entercom Management Fail

iHeart’s Bully Bankruptcy Move

A Second Cumulus Bankruptcy

Cumulus Rate War Against Competitors

Cumulus Orders More Trade

The iHeart Breakup

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CONTENTS …

• Status of Lew Dickey’s hostile takeover plans
• Jeff Marcus and Mary Berner’s “prevent” defense
• The way lenders are leaning because they are the ones who have to choose
• The list of other candidates interested in taking over Cumulus
• The real timeline not the one being touted publicly
• Changes in how Cumulus will be run until they emerge with a new owner

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• Why is the Entercom management structure imploding – already?
• How Entercom’s sports radio franchise is being mismanaged and what they are going to have to do about it.
• The meltdown in Boston – big advertisers bolting. Trouble in Philly. A neutered program exec.
• Why CBS holdovers are livid at David Field.
• The rising new program director at Entercom.

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            iHeart’s Bully Bankruptcy Move Backfires

            A Second Cumulus Bankruptcy

            Cumulus Rate War Against Competitors

            Newspapers Buying Radio Stations

            Cumulus Orders More Trade

            The iHeart Breakup

            Cumulus Management Consolidation      

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Future now in doubt as debtholders call iHeart’s bluff

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List of all stories for the past year – Scroll through

Inside a Second Cumulus Bankruptcy

• The scenario for another Chapter 11 filing soon after the first ends.
• How Cumulus is keeping lenders completely in the dark. They don’t see it coming.
• How Cumulus is actively trying to prevent a hostile takeover offer.
• What happens to Mary Berner in a second bankruptcy.

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• How a competitor caught Mary Berner authorizing huge rate discounts on the very day she called out the radio industry at CRS for dropping rates.
• New Cumulus rate discounts that are so low they sent a shock wave to competitors.
• The competitor that directly asked Mary Berner to stop cutting ad rates.
• And, you won’t believe Berner’s response.
• Details of the biggest Cumulus ad giveaway on it’s number one station.
• What corporate is telling market managers they must now accept for ad deals leaving competitors helpless.
• A big related issue between program directors and Mike McVay.
• The low ball Cumulus ad package, rates, times – all the details.

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            Newspapers Buying Radio Stations

            Cumulus Orders More Trade

            The iHeart Breakup

            Cumulus Management Consolidation

            Alpha – Dead Man Walking

            iHeart & Cumulus – Big Plans After Bankruptcy

            Radio Groups Likely To Sell Or Buy

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INSIDE … 

• Yes or no, will you be working for a newspaper chain now that they can buy radio stations? 

• Why the current prediction about newspaper owners is way off. 

• How the glut on stations and radio groups on the block (i.e., Townsquare, Scripps, et al) will impact newspaper companies getting into radio. 

• BTW – here’s WTMJ’s likely buyer (and this buyer is not a newspaper).
• How a potential new group of buyers will impact selling prices of stations.

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INSIDE … 

• The corporate memo that left market managers in disbelief – printed here.
• Why push for trade when sales are needed? – here’s the answer.
• Startling revelation about Cumulus first quarter pacing.
• What Cumulus is not telling bankruptcy court about how it does business.
• Deep troubles at Westwood One that threaten NFL & NCAA rights.

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Talk to Jerry privately here.

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• Cumulus Management Consolidation 

• Alpha – Dead Man Walking 

• iHeart & Cumulus – Big Plans After Bankruptcy 

• Radio Groups Likely to Sell or Buy

• Entercom Local Sales Ploy

• Scripps Station Sell-off

• 2^nd Bidder for Cumulus Takeover 

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Why it matters – Cumulus is awarding contract extensions and bonuses to Mary Berner’s publishing pals (and negotiating her own no-cut extension) while reducing air staffs, programming and sales and now – management.

Deadly honest – Who the SOB is behind these cuts / which managers are going to get popped / preview of the new Cumulus management hierarchy.

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A new subscription also unlocks these articles (plus 3,851 more) …   

• Alpha – Dead Man Walking

• iHeart & Cumulus – Big Plans After Bankruptcy

• Radio Groups Likely to Sell or Buy

• Entercom Local Sales Ploy

• Scripps Station Sell-off

• 2^nd Bidder for Cumulus Takeover 

• The Cumulus Talent Dump

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A new subscription also unlocks these articles (plus 3,850 more) …   

• iHeart & Cumulus – Big Plans After Bankruptcy 

• Radio Groups Likely to Sell or Buy

• Entercom Local Sales Ploy

• Scripps Station Sell-off

• 2^nd Bidder for Cumulus Takeover

• The Cumulus Talent Dump 

• Entercom Purge of CBS Radio

Complete list of all stories for the past year here

Newstips

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with IHRT & CMLS – Big Plans After Bankruptcy here.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get …

• Which one gets broken up – or do both?
• What markets will be sold first – some big surprises here.
• Dickey is hovering over Cumulus, who is looking to takeover iHeart?
• How working at both iHeart & Cumulus will change in ways never seen before in radio.
• How the iHeart bankruptcy will totally disrupt its competitors.
• How long will it really take to resolve these two bankruptcies.
• How about an honest answer: what is business as usual?

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Radio Groups Likely to Sell or Buy

            Entercom Local Sales Ploy

            Scripps Station Sell-off

            2^nd Bidder for Cumulus Takeover

            The Cumulus Talent Dump

            Entercom Purge of CBS Radio

            Mary Berner vs. Randy Michaels 

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,849 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first). Everything.

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Radio Groups Likely to Sell or Buy here. 

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• The most deadly accurate list of who is likely to buy and sell radio stations as revenue for the industry stalls.
• Covered in this report: Alpha, Emmis, Cherry Creek, Townsquare, Cumulus, Connoisseur, iHeart, Cox, EMF, Entercom, Hubbard, Saga and Beasley – who are the sellers, who will be buyers.
• The realistic multiple number in the year ahead.
• The main reasons so many stations will flood the market and who has the most realistic strategy.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Entercom Local Sales Ploy

            Scripps Station Sell-off

            2^nd Bidder for Cumulus Takeover

            The Cumulus Talent Dump

            Entercom Purge of CBS Radio

            Mary Berner vs. Randy Michaels

            Bain’s iHeart Rescue Plan 

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,848 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first). Everything.

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Entercom Local Sales Ploy here. 

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• How Entercom is playing dirty with local buyers
• Details of their new strategy to cut competitors off from getting any of the major ad buys
• How they use their lesser rated stations to get more of local buys
• BUT, what independent stations are doing to get around them – and it works

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Scripps Station Sell-off

            2^nd Bidder for Cumulus Takeover

            The Cumulus Talent Dump  

            Entercom Purge of CBS Radio  

            Mary Berner vs. Randy Michaels 

            Bain’s iHeart Rescue Plan 

            Catastrophic Cumulus  

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,847 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first). Everything.

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Scripps Station Sell-off here.

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• What Scripps can expect to get for selling 34 stations
• But what if they can’t find buyers, what happens then
• The list of potential buyers
• Selling to one buyer is not likely, so what happens if a prospect wants just Milwaukee – sell or wait until buyers are found for the others
• The likely outcome of the Scripps sell-off and its effect on competitors

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            2^nd Bidder for Cumulus Takeover  

            The Cumulus Talent Dump

            Entercom Purge of CBS Radio

            Mary Berner vs. Randy Michaels

            Bain’s iHeart Rescue Plan

            Catastrophic Cumulus

            Alexa & Radio 

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,844 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first). Everything.

For 27 cents a day, join the thousands of members who read Inside Music Media -- insightful, deadly honest and informative.

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with 2^nd Bidder For Cumulus Takeover here.

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• Who is the second bidder? Clue: it’s not a radio competitor.
• How this new bidder would compete with Lew Dickey who is also poised to attempt a hostile takeover.
• What the new bidder is likely to offer lenders and bondholders compared with what Dickey will offer.
• Why liquidation is a real possibility.
• What happens to current management, employees, contracts and benefits.
• When will attempts to takeover Cumulus happen.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            The Cumulus Talent Dump  

            Entercom Purge of CBS Radio

            Mary Berner vs. Randy Michaels

            Bain’s iHeart Rescue Plan

            Catastrophic Cumulus

            Alexa & Radio

            Entercom Talent Fee Scam           

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,843 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first). Everything.

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Inside Music Media contains no advertising. Accepts no corporate money or consideration. And is beholden only to subscribers who appreciate it so much that they pay for it. Thank you.

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with The Cumulus Talent Dump here.  

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get …

• Why if you’re a talent working for Cumulus, you’re in big trouble right now.
• What really happened to put a smile on Imus’ face while he was being fired.
• The precarious status of WPLJ’s Todd & Jayde, KLOS, LA’s Heidi & Frank, KNBR, San Fran’s Murph & Mac, Lamont & Tonelli at The Bone in SF, Jack Diamond at WRQX, DC and the Nash morning show.
• Will board president Jeff Marcus save his favorite talent from being fired or cut.
• Who is safe – actually bulletproof – from Cumulus contract breaking.
• Why these cutbacks are happening now when Cumulus isn’t paying bills in a long bankruptcy – what’s up with that?
• Why this talent dump is ironically spotlighting how Cumulus does not pay women equally to what men make – the proof.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Entercom Purge of CBS Radio

            Mary Berner vs. Randy Michaels

            Bain’s iHeart Rescue Plan

            Catastrophic Cumulus

            Alexa & Radio

            Entercom Talent Fee Scam

            Draconian Cumulus Non-Competes            

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,842 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first).  Everything.

For 27 cents a day, join the thousands of members who read Inside Music Media -- insightful, deadly honest and informative.

Inside Music Media contains no advertising.  Accepts no corporate money or consideration.  And is beholden only to subscribers who appreciate it so much that they pay for it.  Thank you.

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Entercom Purge of CBS Radio here. 

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get …

• It’s not their imagination - why CBS employees accuse Entercom of hating all things CBS – with proof to back it up.
• How CBS employees will be losing benefits under Entercom within the next year.
• Unrest – now there is discontent by former CBS execs with Weezie Kramer – where and why.
• The expected flushing of CBS executives.
• Why programming will be hit – harder!

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Mary Berner vs. Randy Michaels

            Bain’s iHeart Rescue Plan

            Catastrophic Cumulus

            Alexa & Radio

            Entercom Talent Fee Scam

            Draconian Cumulus Non-Competes

            Cumulus Unhinged            

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,841 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first).  Everything.

For 27 cents a day, join the thousands of members who read Inside Music Media -- insightful, deadly honest and informative.

Inside Music Media contains no advertising.  Accepts no corporate money or consideration.  And is beholden only to subscribers who appreciate it so much that they pay for it.  Thank you.

Start a subscription here. 

Newstips

• Who is going to buy Merlin’s 2 Chicago FMs – The ones Cumulus is walking away from
• How much Cumulus is losing without the 2 Merlin FMs – Leaked revenue figures
• The soap opera – Cumulus says they don’t need them. Merlin says they can run them. The truth.
• Third party buyers – Who else is out there to buy and disrupt the market

Keep reading

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Bain's iHeart Rescue Plan here.

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• A plan that involves talent in a big and unexpected way.
• Giving up some of iHeart’s platform but keeping others – here’s what they will keep.
• Chances for a hostile takeover like Lew Dickey is planning for Cumulus.
• iHeart is burning through cash – Bain’s fix.
• Yes, assets will be sold despite denials – what goes first.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Catastrophic Cumulus

            Alexa & Radio

            Entercom Talent Fee Scam

            Draconian Cumulus Non-Competes

            Cumulus Unhinged

            Secret Cox, iHeart & Cumulus Sales Arrangement

            New Name, People, Policies for Post-Berner Cumulus           

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,840 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first). Everything.

For 27 cents a day, join the thousands of members who read Inside Music Media -- insightful, deadly honest and informative.

Inside Music Media contains no advertising. Accepts no corporate money or consideration. And is beholden only to subscribers who appreciate it so much that they pay for it. Thank you.

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Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Catastrophic Cumulus here.

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• How competitors are poaching the best Cumulus people as their bankruptcy strategy falters.
• This is not the end to broken contracts – what’s next?
• Why layoffs are suddenly back on the table and the odd timing.
• Benefits, severance agreements and contracts – are they safe from Cumulus asking bankruptcy court to let them out of commitments.
• Will Randy Michaels seek revenge against Cumulus for stiffing Merlin Media’s 2 Chicago FMs.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Alexa & Radio

            Entercom Talent Fee Scam

            Draconian Cumulus Non-Competes

            Cumulus Unhinged

            Secret Cox, iHeart & Cumulus Sales Arrangement

            New Name, People, Policies for Post-Berner Cumulus

            Townsquare – Looking for a Buyer           

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,839 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first). Everything.

For 27 cents a day, join the thousands of members who read Inside Music Media -- insightful, deadly honest and informative.

Inside Music Media contains no advertising. Accepts no corporate money or consideration. And is beholden only to subscribers who appreciate it so much that they pay for it. Thank you.

Start a subscription here.

Subscribers get INSTANT ACCESS here.

Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Entercom Talent Fee Scam here. 

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get …

• How Entercom keeps endorsement and talent fees
• So bad, some managers refuse to go along
• Most talent get screwed but here’s how the shrewd ones push back
• Entercom got caught but here’s the radio group that has the best talent fee arrangement – you want to work for these people.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Draconian Cumulus Non-Competes

            Cumulus Unhinged

            Secret Cox, iHeart & Cumulus Sales Arrangement  

            New Name, People, Policies for Post-Berner Cumulus

            Townsquare – Looking for a Buyer

            New Warning About Entercom          

            Leaked Cumulus Vital Statistics

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,837 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first).  Everything.

For 27 cents a day, join the thousands of members who read Inside Music Media -- insightful, deadly honest and informative.

Inside Music Media contains no advertising.  Accepts no corporate money or consideration.  And is beholden only to subscribers who appreciate it so much that they pay for it.  Thank you.

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Subscribers get INSTANT ACCESS here.

Become a NEW SUBSCRIBER and begin with Draconian Cumulus Non-Competes here. 

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing and would like to access this story, let me tell you what you will get …

• What has now changed about how Cumulus handles employees who want to flea the bankrupt company
• The unfair advantage they are putting employees in.
• New delay tactics they’re using – from actual cases
• Surprise!  The one radio group that has stopped its restrictive non-competes
• Even if you’re taking a job 1,000 miles away, Cumulus has a plan to stop you – here it is.

A new subscription also unlocks these full articles …     

            Cumulus Unhinged

            Secret Cox, iHeart & Cumulus Sales Arrangement

            New Name, People, Policies for Post-Berner Cumulus

            Townsquare – Looking for a Buyer 

            New Warning About Entercom

            Leaked Cumulus Vital Statistics

            The Fight for Control of Cumulus      

Your new subscription includes access to every article for the past year and 3,836 in our archive like these (scroll through/latest first).  Everything.

For 27 cents a day, join the thousands of members who read Inside Music Media -- insightful, deadly honest and informative.

Inside Music Media contains no advertising.  Accepts no corporate money or consideration.  And is beholden only to subscribers who appreciate it so much that they pay for it.  Thank you.

Start a subscription here.