Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radioplatform developed by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom).[1] The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national umbrella brand for the company's radio network aggregating its over 235 local radio stations across the United States. In addition, the service includes thousands of podcasts created for the platform, hosted elsewhere or station programming on demand. It was initially developed by CBS Radio and was acquired by the former Entercom as part of the company's takeover of CBS Radio. The service's main competitors are rival station groups iHeartMedia's iHeartRadio and TuneIn. Audacy is available online via mobile devices and devices such as Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV.
Audacy Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on January 7, 2024 (case no. 24-90024), along with 47 affiliated companies. The law firm Porter Hedges, LLP is representing the firm. The bankruptcy petition lists assets and liabilities of more than $1 billion and the number of creditors between 5,000 and 10,000.[2]
History
Radio.com logo used 2017-2018
The radio.com domain was formerly owned by CNET Networks, which purchased it, and tv.com from the nonprofit Internet Multicasting Service for $30,000 in 1996.[3] CNET, and in turn the radio.com domain, was acquired by CBS Corporation (the parent company of CBS Radio at the time) in 2008.[4]
Radio.com launched on July 16, 2010, under CBS Radio. It was originally launched as a central website to stream all of CBS's then 130 radio stations, Last.fm and other CBS properties. The original features were currently-playing information, song history, station and genre search, presets, blogs, newsfeeds, and social media tools.[5] Later that year the service launched its first app for iOS. In addition the service added custom channels and music from AOL Radio and Yahoo Music.[6] In 2015, the service added a music video streaming option.[7] These deals eventually ended quietly, especially after AOL and Yahoo's mergers into Oath.[citation needed]
Entercom acquired CBS Radio, including Radio.com, on November 17, 2017.[8]
Throughout early and mid-2018, disparate individual mobile apps and sites for Entercom's legacy stations (sometimes developed outside Entercom by local third parties for individual stations and often not being hosted universally by one provider) were withdrawn from the iTunes Store and Google Play, uniting all of Entercom's web and mobile efforts for their properties solely under the Radio.com app and website. The CBS Radio stations, which were part of "CBS Local" sites with their former sister television stations, also saw their main web presences moved to sub-domains of Radio.com.[9] Some of the former CBS Local domains in markets where CBS only had radio stations remained online until late 2021 despite no longer hosting local radio content, instead carrying content from the nearest CBS-owned television station.[citation needed]
Final logo as Radio.com
On June 25, 2018, Entercom announced that Radio.com would become the exclusive streaming provider for all of its stations, ending its relationship with the third-party service TuneIn. Stations previously owned by Entercom pre-merger were removed on July 6, and former CBS Radio stations were removed on August 1. At that time, Entercom's stations would also begin promoting the service, in particular, suffixing "a Radio.com station" after their legal station identifications at the top of each hour.[10]Smart speaker integration of the service was launched within the same period.[citation needed]
In October 2019, the app debuted a feature called "Rewind", where several of Entercom's spoken word content stations maintain a 24-hour on-demand buffer of programming that can be accessed through rewind, fast-forward, and skip back/forward controls.[11]
On March 30, 2021, Entercom rebranded the company and Radio.com as Audacy. The end tag of Audacy's station identifications was then changed to identify them as "an Audacy station", along with a seven-note sounder whose tone varies with a station's format (such as a guitar playing it for a rock station, or a softer sound for a 'Mix'-like station).[12] The end tag for all Audacy's stations was changed once again in July 2022 to "Always live on the free Audacy app." Audacy, Inc. put the Radio.com domain up for auction on December 29, 2022, with a minimum required bid of $2.5 million (USD);[13] by June 1, 2023, the auction had closed without a winner.[14]
On July 19, 2022, Audacy announced a redesign of their player on their website and their app to include enhanced features such as "Enhanced Rewind" allowing listeners to rewind spoken-word programming, curated discovery of content, seamless cross-device functionality, and enriched podcast listening.[15]
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 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.[16]
Investment firm Soros Fund Management has emerged as the largest creditor in Audacy's prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, holding over $400 million of its highest-ranking debt. This debt is planned to be converted into equity in the restructured company, making Soros a significant shareholder.[17]
This investment aligns with Soros' recent media interests, including involvement in the acquisitions of Vice Media and a minority stake in Crooked Media. Under its proposed plan, existing shareholders will be wiped out, while high-ranking creditors will receive equity in the reorganized company. The plan requires court approval.[17]
On November 25, 2019, Disney Channels Worldwide agreed to terms to feature Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country's streams on the service; they were removed in January 2021 as Disney wound down their American radio operations, excluding ESPN Radio.[22] Disney-branded music stations returned to the Audacy app in a new deal in August 2022. [23]
On August 17, 2021, Audacy announced a content distribution partnership with Urban One to add its stations to Audacy.[24] On September 15, 2021, Audacy announced that Cumulus Media-owned radio stations and podcasts would be added.[25]
On May 23, 2023, Audacy signed a deal with Allen Media Group's The Weather Channel to carry the audio of the cable network, along with the streams of the Pattrn and Weather Channel en Español FAST channels.[26]
After a five-year absence, Audacy's stations returned to TuneIn at the end of June 2023 as part of a new content partnership with the latter.[27]
Streaming of Audacy content is geo-restricted to the United States. In addition, local advertising from the advertisers of the nearest Audacy cluster of stations to a listener is substituted over a station's advertising, along with traditional national advertising, public service announcements and Audacy features such as music news, trivia, and other minutia. Professional sports play-by-play are also geo-restricted to within the station's broadcast area, with either alternate/regular programming or a disclaimer airing instead online outside its market area.
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadcasting since the 1970s. The broadcasting company was sold to Entercom on November 17, 2017.
KCBS is an all-news AM radio station located in San Francisco, California. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., which took over after its merger with CBS Radio.
Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California.
Eventful is an online calendar and events discovery service owned by Audacy, Inc. The service allows users to search for and track upcoming entertainment events in their area involving specific performers, indicate and share their intent to attend certain events, and indicate their "demand" for certain acts to appear in their region. As of February 2021, the site has been replaced by a link to Entercom's radio.com site, which includes a limited music-event-listing functionality.
WHSQ is a radio station in New York City. Owned by Audacy, Inc. and operated by Good Karma Brands (GKB) under a local marketing agreement (LMA), it broadcasts a sports radio format as the co-flagship of the ESPN Radio network. The station's transmitter is located on High Island in the Bronx; its 50,000-watt clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the eastern United States and Eastern Canada.
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media markets.
KMXB is a commercial radio station licensed to Henderson, Nevada, and serving the Las Vegas radio market. KMXB airs a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios and offices are located in the unincorporated Clark County community of Spring Valley, while its transmitter is atop Black Mountain in Henderson.
WJFK is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a sports gambling radio format. Licensed to Morningside, Maryland, and serving the Washington metropolitan area, the station is owned by Audacy, Inc. The radio studios are in Southeast DC in the Navy Yard neighborhood. Programming is supplied by the co-owned BetQL Network and Infinity Sports Network.
WDSY-FM is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a country radio format. The studios and offices are in Foster Plaza on Holiday Drive in Green Tree, Pennsylvania, but using a Pittsburgh address.
WJHM is a radio station licensed to Daytona Beach serving the Orlando and Space Coast areas of Central Florida. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts a classic hip hop format branded as "102 JAMZ". Its studios are located in Maitland and the transmitter is in Orange City.
WMYX-FM is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US. Calling itself "99-1 The Mix", it was the first station in the U.S. to use the "Mix" moniker. WMYX-FM has been airing roughly the same hot adult contemporary radio format since late 1981. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., along with sister stations WXSS-FM and WSSP. WMYX's studios and transmitter are co-located in Hales Corners. The playlist consists of current hits and recent hits from the 2000s and 2010s. WMYX is responsible for the activation of the Milwaukee metropolitan area Emergency Alert System.
KMEE is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Palm Desert, California, United States, and serves the Palm Springs—Coachella Valley radio market. The station is owned by Brad Fuhr, through licensee KGAY PSP, with studios on South Belardo Road in Palm Springs. KMEE broadcasts a soft oldies format, provided by MeTV's radio network.
WOMX-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Orlando, Florida. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a hot adult contemporary radio format known as Mix 105.1. WOMX-FM's studios and offices are located on Pembrook Drive in Maitland and its transmitter tower is off Fort Christmas Road in Bithlo.
WHLL – branded as Nueva 98.1 – is a commercial radio station broadcasting a Spanish-language latin pop format licensed to Springfield, Massachusetts. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the Springfield metropolitan area; and the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. The WHLL studios are located at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, alongside sister stations WMAS-FM and WWEI, while the station transmitter, shared with WMAS-FM, resides in Springfield's Brightwood neighborhood. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WHLL simulcasts over low-power analog Springfield translator W251CT (98.1 FM) and on the second HD Radio channel of WMAS-FM, and streams online via Audacy.
TuneIn is a global audio streaming service providing news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users.
iHeartRadio is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008 and iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeartMedia's radio network, the largest radio broadcaster in the United States with 128 million registered users as of 2019 and its other consumer-facing brands. Its main radio competitors are Audacy, TuneIn and Sirius XM.
Infinity Sports Network is an American sports radio network. It debuted as CBS Sports Radio with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013.
Pineapple Street Studios is a podcast studio based in Brooklyn, New York. In August 2019, it was acquired by Entercom. Pineapple's work includes multi-episode narratives, investigative journalism, branded podcasts, and talk shows. They have created series for companies like Nike, Hulu, Netflix, HBO, and The New York Times. In 2020, they led all podcast companies with two Peabody Award nominations, for The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow and Running From Cops. Twelve of their shows have reached #1 on Apple Podcasts.
Channel Q is an LGBT lifestyle talk and EDM top 40 radio network created, owned, and operated by Audacy, Inc. The network airs on the Audacy internet radio service, as well as on Audacy-owned terrestrial radio stations throughout the United States. Channel Q's programming schedule consists of LGBT-centered talk shows, most notably a rebooted version of Loveline, along with Dance/Top 40 music on afternoons, late nights, and weekends.
Cadence13 was a media company based in New York City that created, distributed, and monetized audio content, primarily podcasts. The company was founded in 2015 and was a division of Audacy, Inc. The company was helmed by chief executive officer Spencer Brown, Chief Content Officer Chris Corcoran and President John Murphy. It was a major podcasting network and has produced podcasts for actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, reality star Lauren Conrad, journalist Neil Strauss, and author Rachel Hollis. Cadence13 had partnerships with several other companies, including Goop, Crooked Media, and Tenderfoot TV.
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