Westwood One

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(Redirected from
Dial Global
)

Westwood One, Inc.
Cumulus Media
Websitewestwoodone.com

Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.

The company takes its name from an earlier network also named

Viacom. It was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group before merging with Dial Global in 2011. In December 2013, Dial Global was, in turn, acquired by Cumulus Media. Prior to the sale's completion, Dial Global re-assumed the Westwood One name. After the completion of the purchase, Westwood One was merged into the Cumulus Media Networks
division (the former ABC Radio Networks).

Content syndicated by Westwood One includes talk shows, music programs and 24-hour formats. It is particularly prominent in sports radio, distributing the CBS Sports Radio network and holding various play-by-play rights, including the National Football League's main radio package.

History

Dial Global was founded as X Radio Networks, a division of Excelsior Radio Networks. It merged with Dial Communications and Global Media in 2006, from which it derived the Dial Global name. Dial Global initially specialized in syndicated weekend music programs of various types. In 2007 it acquired the former

Waitt Radio Networks and Jones Radio Networks
. Triton used the Dial Global name for all of its programming and later bought the remainder of Westwood One in 2011, folding it into its Dial Global subsidiary.

Dial Global began exhibiting signs of financial distress in late 2012, a possible side effect of its numerous acquisitions. On November 15 of that year, Dial Global announced a disappointing third quarter that it attributed in part to the financial impact of its exposure to the controversy surrounding a certain controversial talk personality, which was widely assumed to be a veiled reference to Rush Limbaugh in the wake of the Rush Limbaugh–Sandra Fluke controversy (although Limbaugh has no direct association with Dial Global). It simultaneously announced that it had filed for delisting from NASDAQ.[1] At the time of the announcement, Dial Global stock was trading at $2.00 a share; by mid-January 2013, DG's stock was trading at .30 a share. In a SEC 8-K filing dated January 15, 2013, DG announced that it had extended a loan waiver agreement with certain lenders.[2]

On August 29, 2013, Cumulus Broadcasting announced its intent to acquire Dial Global for $260 million, and merge it into its existing Cumulus Media Networks division. To fund the sale, Cumulus sold 53 radio stations to Townsquare Media (a radio broadcasting company owned by Oaktree), and traded 15 more stations to Townsquare in exchange for a cluster in Fresno, California formerly owned by Peak Broadcasting—which was also being acquired by Townsquare.[3][4]

On September 4, 2013, ahead of the completion of the purchase, Dial Global announced that it would rename itself Westwood One, citing stronger name recognition.

ABC, which still owns a few stations outside its original network primarily for ESPN Radio as of December 18, 2015 until 2023, pulled its content from Cumulus on January 1, 2015; and NBC, after having its content dropped from Westwood One in 2015, moved its content to iHeartMedia in 2016.) Among the numerous other holdings Cumulus now controls are the libraries of Transtar, RKO, Waitt, Jones, BPI, Watermark, and Drake-Chenault
.

The company's numerous acquisitions prompted rival Talk Radio Network to file an antitrust lawsuit against what was then Dial Global in August 2012.[7] Cumulus settled the lawsuit with TRN on amicable terms in March 2014,[8] which was followed by TRN filing another lawsuit over the issue in April 2016.[9] Cumulus won the lawsuit in late 2017, and TRN ceased operations at the end of that year.

By 2015, Westwood One had been fully integrated into Cumulus Media Networks, with Westwood One as the surviving brand. The merger resulted in layoffs from its Westwood One's facilities in Colorado, including some of its in-house airstaff (who would be offered vacant positions at Cumulus stations). The company stated that it planned to leverage talent from Cumulus's local stations (particularly in major markets) for its 24-hour formats.[10]

Cumulus filed for

The E. W. Scripps Company in October 2018; as Scripps does not operate radio stations (it had a brief foray in the medium after its acquisition of Journal Media Group, but divested its stations in 2018), the radio-related assets remain in the possession of Westwood One.[11]

Talk programming

Sports programming

Music and entertainment programming

Nights with Elaina

News

References

  1. ^ Dial Global Posts Disappointing Q3 Financials, Points Finger At Rush Limbaugh For Some Problems All Access Radio Group, November 16, 2012
  2. ^ Dial Global files 8K on loan waiver extension Radio Business Report, January 16, 2013
  3. ^ "Official: Cumulus Buys Dial Global, Spins Some Stations To Townsquare; Peak Stations Sold To Townsquare, Fresno Spun To Cumulus". All Access. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  4. ^ "Cumulus Makes Dial Global And Townsquare Deals Official". RadioInsight. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  5. ^ Moses, Lucia (September 4, 2013). "Dial Global Brings Back WestwoodOne Name". Adweek. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  6. ^ "Dial Global becomes WestwoodOne ahead of Cumulus acquisition". Los Angeles Times. September 4, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  7. ^ Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Archived August 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. RadioInfo.com. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  8. ^ TRN companies and Cumulus Media announce amicable Westwood One settlement. Press release (March 7, 2014). Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  9. ^ "Cumulus Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Advertising Payouts - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  10. ^ "A 'Significant Number' Of People Laid Off At Westwood One". All Access. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  11. ^ "Scripps Acquires Triton Digital". RadioInsight. October 17, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  12. ^ "Zach Sang Launching Syndicated Nights Show". allaccess.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.