Pending a positive nod from the FCC of its reorganization plan, already confirmed by a Houston federal bankruptcy court, Cumulus Media will be a privately held operation with more than 30% of the voting shares held by Heath Freeman, the President of notorious daily newspaper investor Alden Global Capital.
Already, Cumulus has dramatically reduced payroll through the reduction-in-staff of many air personalities and supporting roles. Now, the company today led by CEO Mary Berner has issued its Q2 2026 results — all but certain to be the last it shares as a public company. How did the company once tied to the Dickey brothers fare? Not great.
“With our plan of reorganization confirmed by the court and the FCC approval process well underway, we are positioned to emerge from Chapter 11 with a stronger balance sheet to capitalize on future market opportunities,” Berner said in a prepared statement released late Friday (8/14) along with the company’s fiscal health report for the three-month period ending June 30.
The good news for the post-bankruptcy investors in Cumulus? The company’s year-over-year net loss fell to $9.21 million (-$0.52 per share), from $12.82 million (-$0.74) — a 28.2% improvement from Q2 2025.
That said, net revenue declined to $167.91 million from $186.02 million as the company’s adjusted EBITDA fell to $16.03 million from $22.36 million.
Furthermore, the decline in dollars by revenue-generating segment was omnipresent:
- Digital revenue was statistically flat, moving to $38.71 million from $38.83 million.
- Spot revenue declined by 10.6%, to $81.45 million from $91.15 million.
- Network revenue’s struggles continued, with dollars dipping to $21.41 million from $27.29 million.
Additionally, the $2.17 million in political revenue seen in Q2 couldn’t offset the overall advertising declines seen by Cumulus in the quarter.
As RBR+TVBR previously reported, Multiple Transfer of Control Amendments filed with the Commission note that Freeman will hold a 31.86% voting interest in a reorganized debt-reduced Cumulus through an entity called “Next Gen Radio Enterprises LLC,” pending regulatory approval.
Cumulus’ pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was made on March 5 in a Houston federal bankruptcy court; the court confirmed its reorganization plan on April 15. The plan doesn’t take effect until the FCC approves the ownership transfer, and this is a process Cumulus told a federal court in June it expects to close by late summer or early fall 2026.
