Cumulus Media Becomes First Commercial Licensee and Flagship Broadcast Partner of Xperi's AutoStage Radio Audience Measurement Service
AutoStage's Premium Radio Audience Measurement Service Delivers Connected Car Listening Insights Across 300 Local Markets
Cumulus Media and Xperi Inc. (NYSE:XPER) today announced that Cumulus has signed on as the first commercial licensee for the AutoStage Broadcaster Portal Premium, Xperi’s next-generation radio audience intelligence platform. The platform delivers near–census-level insights into in-car radio consumption, where the majority of radio listening occurs, providing unprecedented visibility into actual, nearly-real-time listener behavior.
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The agreement positions Cumulus as the flagship launch partner and underscores the audio industry's growing interest in new approaches to audience measurement beyond traditional survey-based methodologies.
One of the largest radio broadcasters in the United States, Cumulus operates 393 stations in 84 markets, reaching millions of listeners nationwide. Cumulus will deploy Broadcaster Portal Premium across all its local markets, reinforcing its commitment to advancing the quality of audience measurement and increasing visibility into radio listening behavior.
For advertisers, the platform supports more informed media planning through observed audience behavior, large next-day samples, and market-level consumption trends, enabling more precise audience- and market-level planning and better alignment between campaigns and listening trends.
"This agreement with Cumulus marks a major step toward deterministic measurement in broadcast radio," said Joe D’Angelo, senior vice president of commercial strategy and partnerships at Xperi. "By leveraging large-scale, aggregated in-car listening data, broadcasters can move beyond traditional sample-based measurement toward large-scale data-driven audience insights — enabling better programming decisions, stronger advertiser accountability, and more competitive positioning in a data-driven media landscape."
"We're proud to be the first broadcaster to deploy AutoStage Broadcaster Portal Premium as part of our broader effort to bring new sources of audience insight to radio," said Bob Walker, president of operations, Cumulus Media. "The platform gives us access to a level of audience intelligence that hasn't previously been available, creating new opportunities for content creators, sales teams, and advertisers alike. The AutoStage heat maps are a particularly compelling example, visually illustrating where listening is concentrated, on an aggregated basis, relative to advertiser locations. By giving advertisers a richer understanding of audience distribution and listening trends, the platform helps them plan more effective campaigns, optimize audience-level planning, and maximize the impact of their radio investments."
The AutoStage connected car platform is now integrated into more than 16 million vehicles globally and measures tens of millions of monthly AM/FM listening hours, providing near census-level visibility into in-car listening across 300 U.S. markets. The platform delivers analytics, including share-of-listening, audience flow, geographic patterns, market-level reach, and near-real-time station rankings by daypart, helping broadcasters better understand when, where, and how audiences engage with radio.
The Cumulus and Xperi partnership addresses a longstanding industry challenge: access to timely, high-resolution, directly observed, aggregated audience data, particularly in-car, where a majority of radio listening occurs. By leveraging AutoStage Broadcaster Portal Premium data, broadcasters can more directly quantify engagement, optimize programming, and strengthen advertiser ROI.
As the industry transitions toward data-driven decision-making, the partnership demonstrates how connected-car technology can modernize audience measurement — bringing digital-like accountability to broadcast at scale. By combining one of the nation’s largest station portfolios with one of the industry’s largest sources of in-car listening data, the companies are helping define the future of radio analytics.
To see AutoStage insights and heat maps in your market, click here to connect with a local Cumulus representative.
About Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media is an audio-first media company delivering premium content to a quarter billion people every month — wherever and whenever they want it. Cumulus Media engages listeners with high-quality local programming through 393 owned-and-operated radio stations across 84 markets; delivers nationally-syndicated sports, news, talk, and entertainment programming from iconic brands including the NFL, the NCAA, the Masters, US Soccer, AP News, and the Academy of Country Music Awards, across more than 7,800 affiliated stations through Westwood One, a leading national audio network; and inspires listeners through the Cumulus Podcast Network, an established and influential platform for original podcasts that are smart, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Cumulus Media provides advertisers with personal connections, local impact and national reach through broadcast and on-demand digital, mobile, social, and voice-activated platforms, as well as integrated digital marketing services, powerful influencers, full-service audio solutions, industry-leading research and insights, and live event experiences. For more information visit www.cumulusmedia.com.
About Xperi Inc.
Xperi invents, develops and delivers technologies that create extraordinary experiences. Through its consumer brands, including DTS®, HD Radio™ and TiVo®, Xperi technologies are integrated into consumer devices, connected vehicles and media platforms around the world. Xperi's innovations help consumers discover, enjoy and engage with entertainment experiences at home and on the go.
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Media Contacts
For Cumulus Media:
Lisa Dollinger, Dollinger Strategic Communication
512.633.4084
lisa@dollcomm.com
For Xperi Inc.:
Tom Huntington
619.743.9057
thomas.huntington@xperi.com