If getting a debt-for-equity deal with Cumulus Media‘s bondholders OK’d wasn’t enough for President/CEO Mary Berner to celebrate about, she now has an honor from The Hollywood Reporter to cheer.
Berner, who joined Cumulus in November 2015 after the the company’s board removed Lew Dickey as CEO, has been named to the trade publication’s 2016 Women in Entertainment Power 100 list, which was released Wednesday (12/7).
Berner is the only radio executive on the list and is one of 26 new names on this annual listing of Hollywood’s most powerful women in entertainment.
When asked what was the best thing about working in Hollywood, Berner said, “This New Yorker really appreciates the Hollywood sunshine, but the best thing about doing business in Los Angeles is its great talent pool. We own KLOS, where the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones is among our on-air personalities [hosting the daily Jonesey’s Jukebox], and News/Talk KABC, which features Dr. Drew Pinsky, Jillian Barberie and John Phillips. The staffs of both stations include writers, actors and musicians. That’s something you don’t find in other cities.”
Berner was singled out for her turnaround effort at Cumulus.
From 2012-2015, Berner was President/CEO of MPA – The Association of Magazine Media. She took the role after four years as President/CEO of the Reader’s Digest Association. Before that, she held a similar role at Fairchild Publications.
