Nielsen Says Cumulus Ratings Access Won’t Be Extended.

Cumulus Media’s access to Nielsen’s national radio ratings is on course to end Sept. 10, with Nielsen telling a federal judge that extending the current arrangement is not commercially workable even as the companies remain locked in a court fight over a new deal.

“Nielsen considered in good faith whether it could extend Cumulus access to Nielsen’s current Nationwide report beyond September 10, 2026,” the ratings company tells a federal court. “Unfortunately, it is not commercially practicable for Nielsen to do so.”

District Judge Jeannette Vargas is now demanding an explanation. She ordered Nielsen to submit a sealed declaration detailing why it would not be “commercially practicable” to extend access to Nationwide ratings to Cumulus through the end of September. Vargas has also ordered both sides back to court scheduling an evidentiary hearing for Tuesday (Sept. 1), on Cumulus’ motion to enforce the preliminary injunction it won against Nielsen.

At issue is whether the price and terms Nielsen has offered Cumulus for standalone access to Nationwide comply with Vargas’ injunction. The order bars Nielsen from enforcing a policy tying access to its complete Nationwide product to purchases of Nielsen local ratings and prohibits the company from charging a commercially unreasonable rate for Nationwide as a standalone product.

Cumulus has previously told the court that continued access is critical Westwood One, which uses Nielsen’s national ratings in selling advertising and that continued access is critical as it negotiates with national advertisers.

Tuesday’s hearing will also put Nielsen’s pricing under scrutiny. Following a court conference Friday, Nielsen agreed to provide Cumulus with the prices it has charged all customers of its Nationwide report in 2026. The information is being provided on a “Highly Confidential Outside Counsel Eyes Only” basis under the court’s protective order. But Nielsen said it couldn’t provide comparable information going back to 2021 within the court’s accelerated timetable.

Those numbers could be central to Vargas’ decision. Her preliminary injunction establishes a benchmark under which a standalone Nationwide rate equal to or below the highest annual 2026 rate Nielsen charges another broadcaster for Nationwide is presumptively reasonable.

The two companies have been negotiating on an agreement in recent weeks and Nielsen made Cumulus an offer for standalone Nationwide access last month. But Cumulus argues the proposed price and contract terms do not comply with the injunction. Cumulus subsequently made a counteroffer as negotiations continued alongside the court fight. The specific prices have remained confidential.

Nielsen is also preparing to defend how it calculated its price. It plans testimony from Nielsen Audio Managing Director Rich Tunkel, whose declaration will include a memorandum from Mark Zmijewski, an economist retained by Nielsen for its pricing analysis.

Vargas is putting the dispute on an unusually fast track as the Sept. 10 date approaches. She designated Tuesday’s proceeding an “evidentiary hearing” and ordered the companies to submit affidavits containing the direct testimony of their witnesses in advance. Those affidavits generally will substitute for live direct testimony and are subject to the same evidentiary rules.

The parties must also identify which witnesses they intend to cross-examine and provide Vargas with their exhibits before the hearing.

The rapid return to the courtroom follows months of appellate maneuvering. The Second Circuit affirmed Vargas’ preliminary injunction July 13, but the enforcement dispute remained stalled while Nielsen sought rehearing and the appeals court had yet to issue its mandate. After rejecting Nielsen’s rehearing bid, the Second Circuit issued the mandate Aug. 25, returning the case to Vargas.

That leaves the judge with two increasingly intertwined questions: whether Nielsen’s proposed standalone Nationwide deal complies with her injunction and what happens to Cumulus’ access to the ratings if the companies do not have a new agreement when the current arrangement ends Sept. 10.