The story
Joseph M. Field founded the company as Entertainment Communications (which would later be shortened to Entercom) on October 21, 1968, on the conviction that FM broadcasting, then in its infancy, would eventually surpass AM broadcasting as the leading radio broadcast band.
Acquisitions
During the 1990s, the Federal Communications Commission's regulations on the ownership of multiple radio stations were eased, beginning with the introduction of duopoly rules, which allowed a company to own two stations in each radio market. Entercom took advantage of the change to expand its presence in the markets where it already operated. In April 1995, the company paid $24.5 million for three stations in Portland, Oregon, acquiring KGON, a classic rock station; KFXX, an all-sports station; and KMUZ-FM, a modern rock station.
In January 1999, Entercom went public in an IPO in which it raised around $236 million. In July 1999, the company purchased 43 radio stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group for $821.5 million in cash. It was Entercom's largest deal under that name. The deal included stations in eight markets, Kansas City, Missouri; Milwaukee; New Orleans; Memphis, Tennessee; Buffalo, New York; Norfolk, Virginia; and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The deal more than doubled both the number of stations under the company's control, and the number of markets in which it had stations. The acquisition made Entercom the fifth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States, with 88 stations in 17 markets. That year, Entercom announced that it would direct its radio stations not to play songs that promoted violence.
On August 21, 2006, Entercom agreed to buy 15 mid-market stations from CBS Radio. Locations included Austin, Texas; Cincinnati; Memphis, Tennessee; and Rochester, New York. Due to ownership limitations set by the FCC, Entercom had to sell three of its stations in the Rochester market; these were acquired by Stephens Media Group. Shortly after the transaction, the company exited the Cincinnati market by trading all four of its stations in Cincinnati and three of its stations in Seattle in exchange for three stations in San Francisco in a deal with Bonneville International.
On December 8, 2014, Entercom announced its acquisition of Lincoln Financial Media for $105 million; the deal gave the company 14 additional stations in Atlanta; Denver; Miami; and San Diego. To comply with FCC ownership limits in the Denver market and DOJ antitrust concerns, Entercom entered into an exchange agreement with Bonneville under which Entercom exchanged four stations in Denver for classic rock station KSWD in Los Angeles and $5 million in additional consideration. The stations Entercom exchanged with Bonneville were KOSI-FM, KYGO-FM, KKFN-FM and KEPN-AM. Entercom previously owned KOSI-FM, while the remaining stations were acquired through the acquisition of LFM.
Entercom and Bonneville began operating the exchanged stations under time brokerage agreement (TBAs) once the LFM transaction was completed. In November 2015, the swap deal was closed successfully.
In October 2016, Entercom announced that it would acquire four radio stations in Charlotte, North Carolina, from Beasley Broadcast Group for $24 million in cash. The deal closed in January 2017 and WBT AM/FM, WLNK-FM and WFNZ-AM joined Entercom.
On August 3, 2017, Entercom announced the purchase of a 45% stake in Cadence13 (formerly DGital Media), a startup that handled ad sales and distribution for podcasts, including Pod Save America, Recode Decode and The Tony Kornheiser Show.
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On February 13, 2019, Entercom announced that it would trade its Indianapolis cluster (WNTR, WXNT, and WZPL) to Cumulus Media for WNSH (now WXBK) in New York City, WMAS-FM in Enfield, Connecticut, and WHLL in Springfield, Massachusetts. Both companies began operating their newly acquired stations via LMA on March 1; the swap was completed on May 13, 2019.
In March 2021, Entercom acquired podcast ad network Podcorn in a deal valued at $22.5 million. The company also reached a long-term licensing agreement with Global Music Rights (GMR), allowing the company to perform all of the songs from songwriters and publishers represented by the performance rights organization.
Legal issues
In 2006, Entercom was investigated for payola and fined $4.45 million by the FCC. Then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer also brought suit in the New York Supreme Court, before judge Ira Gammerman, which settled.
In 2007, Entercom station KDND was sued after a participant in a "Hold Your Wee For a Wii" contest held by the station's morning show died of water intoxication.
Merger with CBS Radio
On February 2, 2017, Entercom announced that it had agreed to merge with CBS Radio. The purchase will give Entercom operations in 23 of the top 25 markets, and make it the second-largest owner of radio stations in the US, behind iHeartMedia. Under the terms of the Reverse Morris Trust, the company would retain the Entercom name, board of directors and base of operations, but CBS shareholders would hold 72% of its stock. The company also shut down KDND in Sacramento and returned its license to the FCC, with its programming moved to sister station KUDL. The FCC had designated that the renewal of KDND's license would be subject to a hearing over allegations it had failed to operate in the public interest.
On September 26, 2017, KSOQ-FM, WGGI and KSWD were sold to the Educational Media Foundation. KSWD and WGGI affiliated with the EMF's K-Love Christian music network, and KSOQ with its Air1 network.
To comply with federal ownership caps, Entercom stated that it would divest at least 15 stations. On November 1, 2017, Entercom announced a settlement with the Department of Justice, which allowed the merger with CBS Radio. The company also announced a series of asset exchange agreements with iHeartMedia and Beasley Broadcast Group in Boston, Seattle, Richmond and Chattanooga; and local marketing agreements with Bonneville International Corporation in San Francisco and Sacramento.
On November 9, 2017, the FCC gave the final approval needed for the Entercom merger by granting two 6-month waivers for market station limits in Miami and San Francisco. The merger occurred at midnight on November 17, 2017. Later that day, Entercom would switch WBMP in New York to alternative. This would then be followed up by WJMK in Chicago's switch to classic hip-hop and KVIL in Dallas-Ft. Worth's flip to alternative. The company also introduced a new corporate logo as well as other corporate strategy changes. The Entercom Divestiture Trust then entered into agreements with Bonneville International to operate its stations on their behalf.
Shortly afterward, the company announced renewed radio broadcasting partnerships with the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Eagles. The company also has partnerships with additional professional teams including the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Red Wings.
On July 19, 2018, Entercom announced that it would acquire Philadelphia market-leader WBEB from Jerry Lee Radio for $57.5 million. WXTU was divested back to its previous owner, Beasley Broadcast Group, to comply with ownership limits.
On August 3, 2018, Entercom announced that Bonneville would buy all eight stations for $141 million, which the company had been operating under LMA since after the merger with CBS Radio. The deal was completed on September 21, 2018.
Radio.com
On June 25, 2018, Entercom announced that Radio.com would become the exclusive streaming portal for all of its stations, beginning with its legacy stations on July 6, and former CBS Radio stations beginning August 1, ending its relationship with the third-party service TuneIn. All Entercom properties were also branded on-air as "Proud to be a Radio.com station".
Following the termination of its deal with United States Traffic Network, Entercom launched an internal Traffic Weather and Information Network (TWIN) in August 2018.
In February 2019 Radio.com Sports was created, featuring appearances from experts on Entercom sports stations across the country. Mercedes-Benz was the first sponsor to sign on as a brand partner.
On August 19, 2019, Entercom launched the Radio.com Sports Digital Network, a collection of daily live audio and video programming from the company's sports stations. Later that month, Paul Suchman became the company's Chief Marketing Officer.
In September 2019, Entercom partnered with Apple to integrate access to Radio.com stations via Siri (on the iOS 13 update) and Apple Music. In November, it also released a capsule for Samsung Bixby.
Radio.com was relaunched as the Audacy app and website as part of the company's 2021 rebrand.
Developments
In May 2014, Entercom announced its launch of SmartReach Digital product line focused on creating digital marketing options for small and medium businesses.
Early in 2020, Entercom opened a HD Radio Sound Space in Los Angeles as an event space and home for future live events. The space was opened with a live performance from Coldplay.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Entercom developed the Stay Connected programming that included "Heroes & Difference Makers," and "Love Local," and "I'm Listening: Stay Connected," a daily digital series on mental health hosted by "LOVELINE"'s Dr. Chris Donaghue.
In 2022, Audacy announced plans to open a new studio on Broadway in Nashville, as part of the company's partnership with Hard Rock International. The studio opened in September 2024.
In February 2023, Audacy released a ground-breaking study alongside research and analytics platform Veritonic that highlights how to make audio ads most effective.
In March 2024, Audacy introduced dynamic AI and machine learning into its Ad Tech stack to help brands more precisely target podcast consumers. This capability will allow advertising partners to target messages that are aligned with podcast content.
Rebranding
On March 30, 2021, after more than 50 years as Entercom, the company rebranded as Audacy to clarify its position as a scaled multi-platform audio content and entertainment company. The Radio.com name was also rebranded as the Audacy app. On the same day, Audacy and BetMGM agreed to a multi-year deal designating the sports betting and gaming platform as the preferred sports betting partner with Audacy.
Emergence from bankruptcy
On May 16, 2023, Audacy was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange due to the company's common stock trading at an abnormally low share price. Audacy announced their intention to appeal the exchange's decision while seeking a reverse stock split from their shareholders to remedy the situation. However, in October 2023, Audacy's appeal was denied, and the NYSE continued to proceed in the process of delisting Audacy's stock, which became effective on November 10, 2023.
In early January 2024, it was announced that Audacy would be preparing to file for bankruptcy within the upcoming weeks. On January 7, 2024, Audacy filed for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, Audacy has made a deal with its creditors to transfer control to them while cutting approximately $1.6 billion of its debt.
On September 30, 2024, Audacy completed its financial restructuring, implementing a consensual, deleveraging transaction that equitized approximately $1.6 billion of funded debt, a reduction of 80% from approximately $1.9 billion to $350 million. The company emerged from bankruptcy with a total net leverage of approximately 2.7x, differentiated by its premium audio content.
TuneIn restoration
On June 21, 2023, Audacy and TuneIn reached a new agreement and restored access of its stations to TuneIn users after a near five-year absence.
From Wikipedia’s article on Audacy, Inc., shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7