Press Release - 061112

CUMULUS MEDIA NETWORKS ANNOUNCES
NEW GERALDO RIVERA NATIONAL RADIO SHOW

New York (June 11, 2012) – Cumulus Media Networks, with more than 4,000 affiliate radio stations reaching 121 million listeners, will offer stations nationwide a live 9 am-noon radio show hosted by award-winning journalist and commentator Geraldo Rivera beginning August 13.
 
Rivera began hosting live and local radio shows titled “GERALDO” in the New York City and Los Angeles markets earlier this year. Following the success of those shows, GERALDO will become a single live national show launching in advance of this summer’s political conventions. The tagline of GERALDO is, "Not Red. Not Blue. But Red, White & Blue."
 
“Despite the nation’s partisan divide, the success of the show on WABC and KABC is a clear indication that there is room in radio for someone who is not associated with a particular ideology. I’m a patriot and a pragmatic idealist, who believes both the political left and the right have contributions to make. I’ve also developed a comfortable enough relationship with the audience over the last four plus decades in television news for listeners in a spirited way to tell me when they think I’m full of beans. Like I say, ‘I’m not always right.’ I’m grateful to Cumulus for giving me the shot at the national show, and look forward to broadcasting live from the presidential nominating conventions.”
 
“When Geraldo agreed to host shows for Cumulus stations in New York and L.A. we had a hunch there’d be national substantial listener interest in his incisive and insightful style, and now we’re thrilled that with GERALDO such a success in those two markets the show will now be available across the country,” said John Dickey, co-chief operating officer of Cumulus.
 
As an iconic personality best known by his first name, GERALDO focuses on the day's biggest and most talked-about topics -- ranging from national politics to shocking crimes to social issues. His WABC/KABC shows led the coverage during the early stages of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman murder case. And his comments of the role apparently played by the young victim’s clothing, his ‘hoodie’, became the basis for an international debate. He has broadcast live from Afghanistan during an enemy attack, and from Quantico, Virginia, “The Crossroads of the United States Marines.” Further his campaign to put a father’s name on every birth certificate is an example of how talk radio can lead a substantive conversation aimed at resolving a national problem. The show includes listener calls, with emphasis on the kind of intelligent, energetic and controversial talk that he is known for worldwide.
 
Rivera will continue hosting his Sunday prime time show on Fox News, where he is a frequent contributor to weekday programming throughout the day and during prime time.
 
Born in New York City, Rivera started his broadcast career on WABC-TV's Eyewitness News in 1970. He also contributed a radio commentary on WPLJ and the ABC-FM radio network from 1973 to 1976. As the Big Apple’s most visible street reporter of the era, Rivera broke numerous award-winning investigations, including the historic expose of the wretched conditions at the Willowbrook State School on Staten Island that resulted in the institution closing and the start of more humane care of the developmentally disabled nationwide. A member of the original casts of ‘Good Morning America’ and ABC’s ‘20/20’, Rivera is a veteran correspondent who also worked on NBC News ‘Dateline’, hosted the syndicated ‘Geraldo Rivera Show’ for eleven years, and hosted CNBC’s top-rated program ‘Rivera Live’, which led the nation’s coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trials and the Clinton Impeachment.
 
The winner of the prestigious Peabody, DuPont-Columbia, Scripps-Howard, several Robert F. Kennedy journalism awards, ten local and national Emmys, and many others, Rivera has raised and donated millions for charity. An unfailing supporter of the military, he is the Fox News Channel’s senior war correspondent, and has reported from all the world’s battlefields including Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Lebanon, the civil wars in South and Central America, the Philippines, the entire Middle-East and the Persian Gulf. He is also senior columnist for Fox News Latino. Married to the former Erica Levy, Rivera is the father of five he is an attorney and the author of seven books.
 
 
ABOUT CUMULUS MEDIA NETWORKS
Cumulus Media Networks has more than 4,000 affiliate radio stations reaching 121 million listeners in the 12+ demographic each week. Programs and services include ABC News Radio, The Mark Levin Show, The Michael Baisden Show, The Mike Huckabee Show, The Huckabee Report, Geraldo, Imus in the Morning, The John Batchelor Show, Red Eye Radio, MoneyTalk with Bob Brinker, The Larry Kudlow Show, Radio Perez with Perez Hilton, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning, Cannon’s Countdown with Nick Cannon and American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks. Other Cumulus Media Networks services include advanced digital media platforms with online interactive advertising; streaming audio and podcasts; ABC Sports Radio; format-specific ePrep; production libraries; and nine 24-hour formats including Scott Shannon’s True Oldies Channel and ESPN Radio. Cumulus Media Networks en Español includes leading Spanish-language programming such as Conexión Thalia and ESPN Deportes Radio.