Cumulus Media is planning an expansion of their digital efforts and has hired Larry Linietsky to a newly created position of Vice President of Digital Operations and Business Development.
Linietsky has spent the majority of his career at Clear Channel/iHeartMedia in multiple positions including SVP/Business Development and Partnerships where he worked on the rollout and expansion of the iHeartRadio app and bringing third party content into it. Most recently he served as Chief Operating Officer for High Times parent Trans-High Corporation.
Cumulus Media announces the appointment of veteran digital media executive Larry Linietsky to the Cumulus Media digital team in the newly-created corporate position of Vice President, Digital Operations and Business Development.
In his new role, Linietsky will lead and shape digital operations and business development, with a focus on developing, sourcing, and monetizing digital products and services for the radio station group and Westwood One, reporting to Suzanne Grimes, Executive Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Cumulus Media, and President, Westwood One. Linietsky will partner with executive leadership to capture digital opportunities that best leverage Cumulus’ rich portfolio of assets.
“We are focusing on our digital strategy and I am thrilled to welcome Larry at this transformational time when we are poised for game-changing digital expansion,” said Mary Berner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Media. “Larry is uniquely qualified to leverage the company’s assets and identify and build digital growth opportunities.”
Linietsky said: “Not only do I see massive potential for the company’s digital future, but the organization, people and programming are first-rate. This is a dream opportunity and I am honored to join Cumulus Media at this pivotal point in the company’s trajectory. ”
Linietsky brings direct relevant experience from his recent position as Senior Vice President, Business & Partner Development at iHeartMedia (Clear Channel Media and Entertainment). During his 10-year tenure there, he helped create and launch the iHeartRadio app built out across over 40 platforms, led partner acquisition and affiliations to bring over 2,000 radio stations and thousands of podcasts into the platform, managed vendor relations and forged key partnerships in programmatic, data and streaming for the company. Linietsky has more than 23 years of experience in building products, driving business development, and leading teams in both Fortune 500 and start-up cultures.
This can only be a positive. Cumulus has slacked on their digital presence for far too long.
Their failure with Rdio was moreso due to buying a company before figuring out if it could be integrated, something the Dickey brothers did quite a bit while at Cumulus.