Cumulus Reaches Agreement With Merlin Media

Will Continue LMA

CUMULUS MEDIA has reached an agreement with MERLIN MEDIA (NET NEWS 1/19) regarding the operation and sale of Alternative WKQX and Rock WLUP/CHICAGO. Under the terms of the agreement, CUMULUS will no longer be required to acquire the CHICAGO stations for approximately $50 million, and CUMULUS and MERLIN will temporarily extend the local marketing agreement under which CUMULUS has been operating the stations while MERLIN conducts a sale process for the stations. CUMULUS expects operations at the stations to continue uninterrupted during the sale process.

“We’re pleased to reach this mutual agreement, which establishes a clear path forward for these stations and our employees in CHICAGO following months of negotiations with MERLIN,” said CUMULUS Pres./CEO MARY G. BERNER. “We continue to be interested in permanently acquiring these stations on economic terms that make sense for our business. In the meantime, as we have for the past several years, CUMULUS will continue to operate WKQX-FM and WLUP-FM while MERLIN seeks a new owner. Importantly, nothing is changing in the near-term. It is business as usual for team members, advertisers and partners, and we look forward to achieving a favorable outcome for all parties involved.”

The agreement with MERLIN provides for an approximately three month extension of the local marketing agreement with additional extensions thereafter, exercisable upon mutual agreement by CUMULUS and MERLIN.

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