Lew Dickey Talks Nash FM, Streaming & More On Bloomberg TV
February 8, 2013
Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey appeared on Bloomberg TV's In The Loop yesterday, to discuss a number of issues facing the company. Dickey discussed the recent launch of Country WNSH (Nash 94.7)/New York, as well as Cumulus' plans to expand the Nash brand across the U.S.
Dickey spoke about the power of the Country format, and pointed out the sales success of Country artists recently, saying that the company plans to make "Nash" a national Country brand across multiple platforms.
He also said that Cumulus is now "organizing our programming around key content verticles. Country, which we just talked about is one. Talk is another, Sports is yet another...and then Rock." Dickey noted that in the Talk radio realm, the industry is seeing a shift from political talk to Sports, saying that "I think people may be tired of all the partisan bickering."
As for online streaming of terrestrial signals, Dickey noted that "streaming is really expanding the market," adding that Cumulus has become the "third largest streaming platform in the country behind Pandora and Clear Channel." However, Dickey added that monitizing streaming is another matter and that "we don't yet see a business model there." As for mobile, Dickey said that it is "really good at...search and commerce. The device is not particularly conducive for display advertising. So that’s why you’re seeing display be somewhat challenged."