Audacious: Audacy has filed for bankruptcy.
The behemoth radio chain has teetered financially for more than a year. I told you about this last May.
Audacy owns NewsRadio 88 and WINS, and 92.3FM in New York, plus radio station WCBS FM. They have the sole news station in Los Angeles –KNX AM and FM — and the oldies channel there, KRTH 101 FM, plus rock station KROQ. They also own WFAN, the sports station in New York.
The company basically owns all of what used to be CBS Radio, including news and music stations in all the largest markets.
But advertising is dismal. The stations count on junk ads touting unlicensed medical cures and firms that threaten penalties for not paying taxes, that sort of thing.
Audacy also owns more than 200 radio stations across the country, and also operates dozens of digital radio channels. The company also has partnerships with companies like Warner Bros. Discovery and Bloomberg LP.
The stations will remain on the air. New ownership will take over. But how to get real ads? That’s the question.
