This year is shaping up to be one in which many Cumulus Media salespeople will be hitting the streets without any ratings data in hand. In court filings last week, attorneys for both Cumulus and Nielsen agreed to series of legal deadlines in their ongoing dispute that will see their legal fight stretch to mid-year, and potentially beyond.
District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas approved a series of paperwork deadlines that begin in March and continue through the end of May. The courthouse timeline isn’t unusual, but a radio group the size of Cumulus without ratings for many of its markets is. The company’s contract with Nielsen expired Dec. 31, and that has left stations in Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) markets without any numbers by which to use in their sales pitches to clients or programming decisions. In large PPM-measured markets like Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta, where ratings are likely most critical, the data remains flowing.
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