The Internet Debate

Since November 1998 the Company had been developing an internet platform for classified employment advertising. The new system would operate in tandem with the radio station cluster in each market and offer employers the chance to post available positions on the web and promote their company and the position on the radio stations. At the time of the dot-com bust the system was in beta test in two markets. One of the short-lived but important impacts of the dot-com bubble burst was a loss of confidence that the promise of the internet would ever happen. Many professional radio people like Dickey were skeptical and believed the best course for Cumulus was to focus on the radio strategy and drop the internet projects.^[17] Weening who had started a Silicon Valley e-commerce software company in the early 90's had conceived and was overseeing development of the employment platform.^[18] Weening advocated for continuance of the project as a key potential source of revenue with a service that would be unique among radio companies. Ultimately, the board backed Dickey not Weening and the Internet project was scrapped.

Changing of the Guard

According interviews with two former members of the Cumulus board, Lew Dickey and his brother John convinced the board to let them run the Company. Dickey, whose family had just sold an Atlanta station for a reported $250 million, offered to invest in Cumulus if needed to close pending acquisitions. The board was concerned about the restatement of revenues and the shareholder lawsuits. This is consistent with reports in a radio industry newsletter ^[19] which reported that it was a widely held belief in the Radio industry was that the Dickey brothers orchestrated events that lead to the board's decision not to back the Internet project, placing Dickey at the helm of Cumulus, moving the Cumulus headquarters from Milwaukee to Atlanta and to Weening's ultimate resignation as an employee and director in January 2001.^[20][21] According to public filings Weening, QUAESTUS management company and other Weening related interests sold their interests in Cumulus a year later in May 2002 at prices ranging from $17 to $21.50 per share not The $55 high but considerably higher than share prices after their sale.
The new CEO of Cumulus Media, as of September 2015 is Mary Berner.
In April 2016, Talk Radio Network filed a lawsuit against Cumulus Media and associated defendants, alleging "antitrust violations, unfair competition, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, among other claims", similar to a lawsuit launched in 2012 and dropped in 2014 by the same plaintiff.^[22] In June 2016, Cumulus Media and Westwood One moved to have the new suit dismissed.^[22]
In June 2016, Cumulus Media announced the resignation of its Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, Joseph P. Hannan, to "pursue other interests" after six years with the company, to be replaced by John F. Abbot.^[23]