Cumulus & Townsquare Station Shutdown
• UPDATED with Townsquare statement: In what is sadly becoming a growing trend in the financially fraught condition of the radio industry, circa 2025, which recently underwent another largescale round of human downsizing, we have learned that Cumulus and Townsquare are in the process of signing off underperforming radio stations rather than having them limp along, hemorrhaging money. In most of these cases, these stations, mainly AM Talk or Sports-Talk outlets, some with companion FM translators, were low rated and were being used primarily to simulcast and extend the coverage of existing programming from sister stations.
As we previously reported, Cumulus began its shutdown procedure on Feb. 28, pulling the plug on KZAC-AM 560/San Francisco and WLXX/Richmond-Lexington, KY.
The following weekend, six more Cumulus stations went dark: KIKR-AM 1450/Beaumont, TX • KBED-AM 1510/Nederland TX • WAPI-AM 1070/Birmingham, AL • WSSO-AM 1230/Starkville, MS • WYMB-AM 920/Manning, SC • WAYS-AM 1050/Conway (Myrtle Beach), SC & W270BZ (100.3).
This past weekend, Cumulus signed off 11 more stations: WLWI-AM 1440/Montgomery, AL • WLZR-AM 1560 & W300DL (107.9)/Melbourne, FL • WJBC-FM/Pontiac-Bloomington, IL • 1340 KRMD-AM 1340/Shreveport, LA • 1240 KLIK-AM & K278CT (103.5)/Jefferson City, MO • 97.5 KJMO/Linn, MO • WLAW-AM 1490/W256DM (99.1)/Whitehall, MI • 97.5 WLAW-FM/Whitehall-Muskegon MI • WRIE-AM 1260/Erie, PA • KPUR-AM 1440/Amarillo, TX • 94.9 KOLI-FM/Electra, TX.
• Townsquare Media shutdowns so far: WOBM-AM 1310 & W244EE (96.7)/Asbury Park, NJ • WJLK-AM 1160 & W281CK (104.1)/Lakewood Township, NJ • KBOB-AM 1170 & K281DB (104.1)/Davenport, IA • 1280 KSLI-AM 1280/Abilene, TX • WJZN-AM 1400 & W240DH (95.9)/Augusta ME.
> On Monday we heard from Erik Hellum, Townsquare COO, who commented on the shuttering of several of their AM stations, noting that, in general, “Over the past few years these stations were losing money, with significant tower lease and utilities expenses. As a result, we would rather invest money in other areas of our business rather than losing it on these stations. That said, we remain very committed to AM radio, and are proud of many of our top performing AM stations that make a big difference in their community, including KEEL/Shreveport, WJON/St. Cloud, KMON/Great Falls, and many others.”
[Ed. note: Full credit to RadioInsight, which initially reported this comprehensive list — and notes there are more shutdowns coming. If you are aware of any other stations going dark, please contact me at Kevin@RAMP247.com]
