“The company’s recently announced financial restructuring marks an important step toward meaningfully reducing the debt burden that has constrained the business.”
That’s what Cumulus Media President/CEO Mary Berner has to say about the fiscally challenged audio content creation and distribution company’s fiscal health as the second quarter of 2026 revs up ahead of next weekend’s start of the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas.
While the Q1 2026 numbers remain a mystery, Cumulus on Friday morning revealed its FY 2025 and fourth quarter 2025 results.
For the three months ended December 31, Cumulus saw its net revenue decline by 14% to $188.07 million, from $218.58 million. However, its net loss declined to $135.1 million (-$7.75 per diluted share) from $231.08 million (-$13.60).
That couldn’t help Cumulus’ adjusted EBITDA, which fell to $9.48 million from $25.04 million.
Continued network revenue challenges were seen in Q4, as Spot revenue was down by 17.2% in the quarter.
“Looking ahead, we remain focused on building on the core strengths of the company to maximize value,” Berner said in prepared comments.
With Cumulus presently in debtor-in-possession status and simultaneously in court as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Nielsen Audio regarding its audience measurement service contracts, the company’s shares have the tell-tale “Q” at the end of its “CMLS” ticker symbol that bankruptcy proceeds are ongoing.
Trading on the OTC Pink Sheets, the most volatile and risky of investments in the U.S. financial markets, “CMLSQ” is valued at just $0.0030 as of Thursday’s closing bell.
The full-year 2025 results help explain the financial distress that the company formerly associated with the Dickey family presently has — after already going through a bankruptcy restructuring under Berner’s leadership less than a decade ago.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, Cumulus reported net revenue of $741.7 million, a decrease of 10.3% from FY 2024. Its net loss of $200.7 million was lower by 29%, but the Adjusted EBITDA of $52 million declined by more than 37%.
