Type | Public |
---|---|
NYSE: TSQ (Class A) Russell Microcap Index component | |
Industry | Mass media |
Founded | 1994 |
Headquarters | Purchase, New York, United States |
Key people |
|
Services | Digital media, radio |
Revenue | US$ 441.22 million (2017) |
US$ 84.73 million (2017) | |
US$ 10.25 million (2017) | |
Total assets | US$ 122.63 million (2017) |
Total equity | US$ 390.05 million (2017) |
Owners | |
Number of employees | ~2,900 (2017) |
Website | TownsquareMedia.com |
Footnotes /references [1] |
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting with the acquisition of the MOG Music Network. As of 2019, Townsquare was the third-largest AM–FM operator in the country, owning over 321 radio stations in 67 markets. [2]
Townsquare Media was established as Regent Communications by Terry Jacobs in 1994. Jacobs was formerly the CEO of Jacor Communications, a radio broadcasting company which he created in 1979. [3] Bill Stakelin later shared chief status in the company with Jacobs, and the two established JS Communications, later selling Regent to Jacor in 1997. Stakelin and Jacobs resurrected the Regent name to replace JS, with approval by Jacor. [4] Jacobs left the company in 2005. [5]
On October 27, 2008, Regent Broadcasting joined Radiolicious and began streaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Regent is the first major radio group to contract for all of its streaming stations to be available through the Radiolicious application. [6]
Regent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 1, 2010, with $211.3 million in debt, $166.5 million in assets, and a pre-arranged plan for exiting bankruptcy, with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The filing plan made Oaktree Capital Management the majority owner of Regent after the bankruptcy and gave the old shareholders 12.8 cents per share. [7] After the privatization, the company was renamed Townsquare Media by its co-founders Steven Price, Stuart Rosenstein, Alex Berkett, Dhruv Prasad, and Scott Schatz. [8] Gap Broadcasting Group, another radio group owned by Oaktree, was merged into Townsquare, giving it ownership of 171 radio stations in 36 markets. [6] [9]
In December 2010, the company began to expand its digital media operations, overhauling its stations' websites and launching a new country music news website known as Taste of Country. [10]
Townsquare acquired a number of stations from Double O Radio in August 2011. [11]
On April 30, 2012, Townsquare Media announced a deal to acquire 55 stations in 11 markets from Cumulus Media, in exchange for Townsquare's stations in the markets of Bloomington and Peoria, IL and $126 million. [12] [13]
On August 24, 2012, Townsquare reached a deal to acquire the MOG Music Network, an advertising network for music blogs. The network was part of MOG, a streaming music service that had previously reached a deal to be acquired by Beats Electronics. [14]
On October 1, 2012, Townsquare Media created Townsquare Interactive. Townsquare Interactive is the digital marketing division of Townsquare Media and focuses on creating comprehensive web presences for small businesses across the United States. [15] [16] [17] [18]
In June 2013, Townsquare announced it would acquire a number of music-related blogs from AOL, including The Boombox, The Boot, and Noisecreep , along with ComicsAlliance. The deal came following the abrupt shutdown of AOL's Music division in April 2013. [19]
On August 29, 2013, it was announced that Cumulus would purchase Dial Global, after the programming syndication service was showing signs of financial distress in late 2012. Cumulus paid $260 million for this service, a portion of which was used to pay off Dial's debt before it was folded into Cumulus. To make the sale work, Cumulus once again made a pair of station deals with Townsquare Media; the first deal sent 53 stations in Danbury, CT, Rockford, IL, Cedar Rapids, IA, Quad Cities, IA–IL, Waterloo, IA, Portland, ME, Battle Creek, MI, Kalamazoo, MI, Lansing, MI, Faribault, MN, Rochester, MN, and Portsmouth, NH, to Townsquare for $238 million. The second sent 15 more stations in Dubuque, IA and Poughkeepsie, NY, in exchange for Peak Broadcasting's Fresno cluster. Peak, which like Dial Global and Townsquare has a large investment held by Oaktree, also had its Boise cluster folded into Townsquare. Due to market overlaps, three of Townsquare's newly acquired stations were placed in a divestiture trust. [20] The acquisition of the Cumulus stations closed on November 14, 2013.
On February 25, 2014, Townsquare Ignite was created to offer business owners across the United States online advertising solutions, such as PPC, SEM, social media advertising and website retargeting. [21]
On June 24, 2014, Townsquare Media filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, valued at $143.8 million. [22] [23] On July 24, 2014, Townsquare Media became a public company with an initial offering price of $11 a share. [24]
In September 2014, Townsquare Media acquired XXL , King , and Antenna from Harris Publications. Townsquare then ceased print publication of XXL. [25]
In August 2015, Townsquare Media acquired North American Midway Entertainment of Farmland, Indiana, an amusement park company with operations in the United States and Canada. [26]
On August 17, 2016, The Madison Square Garden Company acquired a 12% stake in Townsquare Media. [27]
On October 16, 2017, Townsquare Media announced the transition of Steven Price, Townsquare's founder and chief executive officer, to the new role of Executive Chairman of the Board. He was replaced by Bill Wilson and Dhruv Prasad, who are serving as Co-Chief Executive Officers. In addition, Erik Hellum was announced as Chief Operating Officer, Local Media. [28]
On February 15, 2018, Townsquare Media acquired classic rock station WOUR-FM 96.9 from Galaxy Communications. [29]
On January 2, 2019, Townsquare Media announced the departure of Co-Chief Executive Officer Dhruv Prasad and the transition of Bill Wilson from Co-Chief Executive Officer to sole chief executive officer of the company. [30]
Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 media markets. It also owns and operates Westwood One. Its headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Its subsidiaries include Cumulus Broadcasting LLC, Cumulus Licensing LLC and Broadcast Software International Inc.
KROC-FM is a commercial radio station serving Rochester, Minnesota. The station's transmitter is located near the Minnesota-Iowa border. The station is owned by Townsquare Media. It airs a Top 40 (CHR) music format.
WDBQ-FM is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Located near Galena, Illinois, United States, the station serves the Dubuque, Iowa area. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and licensed to Townsquare License, LLC.
KSKS is a commercial radio station in Fresno, California. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and it airs a country music radio format branded as "93.7 Kiss Country". Its studios are at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno and its transmitter is off Auberry Road in Meadow Lakes, California. KSKS has local DJs during the day, and in the evening, airs the syndicated Nash Nights with Shawn Parr from Nash FM, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media.
KWYE is a radio station in the Fresno, California, area that airs a hot adult contemporary music format. The station is owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno and its transmitter is northeast of Clovis.
WCYY is a commercial radio station licensed to Biddeford, Maine, and serving the Portland metropolitan area. Its target audience are men between 18 and 44. The station airs an active/alternative rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. It carries the syndicated morning show Toucher and Rich from WBZ-FM Boston. WCYY studios are at One City Center in Portland.
Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
KRNA (94.1 FM) is a classic rock-formatted radio station licensed to Iowa City, Iowa. The station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. KRNA's studios located in the Alliant Energy Building in Downtown Cedar Rapids, and their transmitter is located west of Oxford.
WBCK is a radio station in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States, owned by Townsquare Media. WBCK has a news-talk format.
KCRR is a radio station in Iowa serving Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and surrounding cities with a classic rock format. This station is owned by Townsquare Media. Elwin Huffman serves as morning news host. KCRR carries the Dwyer and Michaels Morning Show.
KOEL-FM is a radio station serving Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and the surrounding area known as the Cedar Valley with a country music format. The station is owned by Townsquare Media.
KKHQ-FM, branded as Q98-5, is a radio station serving Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and surrounding cities with a Top 40/CHR format. This station is owned by Townsquare Media.
KDHL is a radio station broadcasting a Classic Country format. Licensed to Faribault, Minnesota, United States, the station is currently owned by Townsquare Media and features programming from ABC News Radio.
WXXQ is a radio station serving the Rockford, Illinois, United States, area with a country music format.. WXXQ broadcasts on FM frequency 98.5 MHz and is under ownership of Townsquare Media. WXXQ was originally WFRL-FM, with sister station WFRL-AM, sharing studios that were located in Freeport, Illinois.
WPUT was a radio station licensed to Brewster, New York, United States. The station was owned and operated by Townsquare Media. The station operated on a Class D license and was in operation during daytime hours only, to protect Class-A clear-channel station WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee at night.
KRFO is a classic hits music formatted radio station in Owatonna, Minnesota. The station is owned by Townsquare Media.
KXGE is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format serving the Dubuque, Iowa, United States, community. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and licensed to Townsquare License, LLC. 102.3 at one time broadcast a country music format as KXKX. The station also broadcasts every home and away game for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL).
KQCL is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock music format. Licensed to Faribault, Minnesota, United States, the station is currently owned by Townsquare Media.
KRFO-FM is a radio station airing a country music format, licensed to Owatonna, Minnesota. KRFO-FM is owned by Townsquare Media.
Beats Music was a subscription-based Digital music store streaming service owned by the Beats Electronics division of Apple Inc. The service combined algorithm-based personalization with expert music suggestions from a variety of sources.
{{cite press release}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)