Cumulus Media Inc. told the Securities and Exchange Commission that its Chapter 11 reorganization plan became effective October 16, 2026 and that it and certain subsidiaries had emerged from a bankruptcy case begun March 4, 2026. The filing says all of the company's old common stock was canceled without any distribution and has no value.
What this filing is
An 8-K is the form a public company must file within four business days of certain events. This one reports under twelve items, among them Item 1.03, headed "Bankruptcy or Receivership," which records that the plan has taken effect. Its filing date, October 16, 2026, is also the plan's effective date — not the date the case began, not the date the court confirmed the plan, and not a closing of the case, which the filing does not report.
The bankruptcy case
The filing says Cumulus Media Inc. and "certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries" commenced filing voluntary Chapter 11 petitions on March 4, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, jointly administered as In re Cumulus Media Inc., et al. (Case No. 26-90346 (ARP)). The company and those subsidiaries filed their modified joint prepackaged plan on April 13, 2026, and the court entered an order confirming it on April 15, 2026. The plan's "Effective Date" — October 16, 2026 — is the day the conditions to its effectiveness were satisfied or waived and the company and those subsidiaries emerged.
What changed
On the Effective Date, the filing says, all existing Class A and Class B common stock was "deemed canceled, released and extinguished," has "no value," and former holders "will not receive any recovery or distribution on account of such interests under the Plan." The company issued new common stock — 352,025 Class A shares and 285,975 Class B shares — under the plan, with holders of allowed 2029 secured claims receiving approximately 95 percent of it and holders of other funded debt claims approximately 5 percent, in each case subject to dilution by a management incentive plan and, where applicable, any conversion of the new notes. Holders of the 2029 secured claims also received $50 million in aggregate principal amount of new convertible notes due 2031. Subsidiaries of the company, as borrowers, entered a four-year asset-based revolving credit agreement of up to $100.0 million, with an initial maturity date of October 16, 2030. The filing says the new stock and the notes "will not be listed on any national or foreign securities exchange." Six directors ceased serving on the board; the company's president and chief executive, Mary G. Berner, and four others were appointed to the new board, among them Heath B. Freeman, described as managing member of Next Gen Radio Enterprises LLC and president of Alden Global Capital LLC.
The two debt figures
The press release says Cumulus "has canceled 100% of its existing funded indebtedness — approximately $600 million — in exchange for 100% of the Company's reorganized equity and $50 million of new convertible notes issued to former lenders." Its subheadline instead reads "Eliminates $550 Million of Debt". Neither document states a relationship between the two figures; the gap between them is the $50 million of new notes, by this desk's arithmetic.
Who it covers, and what came next
The press release describes Cumulus as an audio-first media company with 377 owned-and-operated radio stations across 84 markets, the Westwood One national audio network and the Cumulus Podcast Network. It says the company emerged "following receipt of all required approvals, including from the Federal Communications Commission," and emerged "as a privately owned company," has appointed a new board and "will remain under the leadership of its existing management team." Separately, the 8-K says the company "intends" to file a Form 15 notifying the SEC of the suspension of its duty to file reports and deregistering its common stock, after which its obligations to file certain reports and forms, including annual, quarterly and current reports, "will be immediately suspended." The company filed that Form 15 the same day, minutes after the 8-K. It covers the pre-emergence Class A common stock and reports 134 holders of record.