Cumulus Media is restructuring its upper level management under Chairman/CEO Lew Dickey.
The position of Co-Chief Operating Officer will be eliminated with Jon Pinch retiring in November. John Dickey, who also held that title will become Executive Vice President of Content and Programming with duties to include oversight of brands like Nash and Cumulus’ partnership with Rdio.com. Steve Shaw will be promoted to President of Westwood One with oversight of all sales initiatives for not only Westwood One, but all Cumulus stations and Rdio. A search will be held to identify an Executive Vice President of Radio who will oversee daily operations at all of Cumulus’ stations.
Cumulus Media Inc. (Nasdaq: CMLS) today announced that it is putting in place a new organizational leadership structure, the goal of which is to enhance the Company’s strategic and operational focus and leverage its business platform.
The announcement follows the completion of the integration of Citadel and Westwood One. Lew Dickey, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Media, said, “Our vision has been to build the radio company of the future and that is exactly what we are achieving. Towards that end, we have strategically broadened the Company’s scope and now have in place differentiated distribution channels and multiple content development platforms.
To accelerate our plans, we are putting in place a new organizational structure to reflect the Company’s strategic evolution, bringing clarity, focus and accountability to key leadership roles in both our station and network groups.”
As part of the executive organizational changes, Cumulus will be eliminating its Co-Chief Operating Officer positions, previously held by Jon Pinch and John Dickey. Mr. Pinch will be retiring at the end of November, after more than 45 years in the broadcasting industry and 14 years with Cumulus. The following newly-created leadership positions will report directly to Lew Dickey.
Executive Vice President of Radio – Cumulus has engaged executive search firm Spencer Stuart to assist in identifying an exceptional candidate for the newly-created position of Executive Vice President of Radio. The executive that assumes this position will be focused on providing day-to-day operational and strategic leadership of Cumulus’ radio station group consisting of its 460 stations in 90 U.S. markets. Executive Vice President of Content and Programming – John Dickey, who served as Co-COO since 2006, was named to the newly-created position of Executive Vice President of Content and Programming. He will focus on developing and maximizing content and programming. Establishing this focused position recognizes the critical importance of Cumulus’s development and promotion of content and programming across the Company’s station group, Westwood One network and other media platforms including Nash and Rdio. President of Westwood One – Steve Shaw, who joined Cumulus in early 2013 and served as head of national spot sales for Cumulus’ station group, will serve as President of Westwood One and oversee all national and digital sales for both Westwood One, Cumulus’ station group and Rdio.
