Cumulus Reports Q4 and 2015 Full-Year Numbers; Net Revenue Dipped 7.5% in 2015. The net revenue numbers for
Cumulus Media were not pretty but there was no expectation that they would be. The company's net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $308.8 million – down 6.2% from the same period in 2014. For all of 2015, net revenue was $1.1 billion; that represents a dip of 7.5% compare to all of 2014. Other fourth quarter numbers reveal big drops in the digital sector (- 42.7%) and in political advertising (- 78.3%). However, broadcast advertising was relatively flat (- 0.5). Breaking that down further, local advertising was flat (- 0.6) but national advertising was off 10.5% and network advertising was down 2.8%. New Cumulus CEO
Mary Berner was brutally frank about the state of the company she's been
leading for five short months. She told investors during yesterday's conference call, "As you can see by the continued underperformance we experienced this quarter versus our peers, we have a lot of work to do to stabilize the business. We are organizing that work around four foundational issues which I believe are responsible for our underperformance, and I will give you some context for the moves we are making to correct Cumulus' trajectory. First, a well-constructed operational plan wasn't or couldn't be executed at Cumulus due to a lack of management tools and information, as well as a misalignment of authority and responsibility across many functions. Second, the company had a corporate culture characterized by a lack of focus, accountability, and collaboration and under-investment in human capital which collectively resulted in significant turnover and economic leakage. Third, revenue was meaningfully impacted by multi-year declines in ratings across the entire platform in part due to a command and control operating strategy that often ignored local market dynamics. And finally, a substantial amount of leverage on the balance sheet has reduced the company's capital flexibility while increasing the pressure to execute in operational turnaround quickly. Our operational turnaround strategies thus are organized around these issues and are as follows; enhanced operational blocking and tackling, institute initiatives to improve the company's culture and drive ratings growth." Thanks to
Seeking Alpha for the conference call transcript. Members can read the whole transcript
here.
KNIX, Phoenix Adds Brooke Hoover to 'Ben and Matt' Morning Show. Air personality
Brooke Hoover moves from
iHeartMedia's CHR WDCG, Raleigh "G105" to country KNIX, Phoenix to serve as co-host on the "Ben and Matt Show," hosted by
Ben Campbell and
Matt McAllister. At "G105," Hoover – also assistant producer for the "Bob and the Showgram" AM show – was known as
Peanut Butter. About her new gig, Hoover says, "I'm excited about this new opportunity in Phoenix with Ben and Matt at KNIX. I love country music and the chance to join one of iHeartCountry's top morning shows. I have to thank the 'G105' team in Raleigh who supported me the last four years."
