R&R backtracks on Cumulus reporting status

R&R Reinstates Cumulus Stations Feb. 02, 2006 By Paul Heine
Two days after temporarily suspending all monitored Cumulus Media stations from all of its chart panels, Radio & Records announced Wednesday (Feb. 1) that the stations will be reinstated beginning with next week’s charts. The announcement came on the same day that Cox Radio said it would cease reporting music adds to trade publications – the second large radio chain to do so in less than two weeks.

A January 23 announcement from Cumulus that it would no longer supply lists of music adds precipitated the short-lived removal of Cumulus airplay data from R&R’s charts. Cumulus executive VP John Dickey said the decision was “designed to give our program directors and our music directors more discretion and, ultimately, more creativity and leeway to add music and play music that they have strong convictions in for reasons above and beyond charts and callout research.”Cox CEO Bob Neil said the move was born out of the company’s annual review of its payola and plugola policies. “We want bright lines between relationships,” Neil told Billboard Radio Monitor. “We want to make sure that we’re completely above board, that there aren’t hazy issues and the best way for us to do that was just to not report adds.”

The decisions by Cumulus and Cox will not affect any Billboard Radio Monitor charts or features, which are based entirely on electronic monitoring of actual station broadcasts provided by Nielsen BDS, rather than reported play provided by individual stations.