Cumulus Invests in Six FM Stations in Three Markets Including Two From Capstar.

MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 1998--Cumulus Media, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS), the Milwaukee-based radio broadcasting group, today announced that it completed the acquisition of six FM stations in three new markets for a total purchase price of $19.75 million. Today's announcement included two FM radio stations in Salisbury-Ocean City, MD purchased from an affiliate of Capstar Broadcasting Corporation (NYSE:CRB). This is the first transaction between Cumulus and Capstar. The Company also announced the completion of the first of five FM station acquisitions from four sellers in Savannah, GA and the acquisition of three FM stations in Grand Junction, CO, where a four-FM cluster is anticipated pending the closing of one additional transaction.

"We are right on our target timing for entering and completing clusters with the leading stations in these important new markets," said Richard Weening, Executive Chairman of Cumulus. "The Salisbury-Ocean City acquisition from Capstar completes our six FM cluster in a very important mid-Atlantic coastal market," Weening continued. "Savannah has long been an important target for us and we are now entering with the first of five FM's we have slated there. Grand Junction is our first step into the mountain states, a step which we have taken carefully by acquiring a well-established three FM cluster in a fast growing market," he concluded.

Cumulus acquired WOSC(FM) and WWFG(FM) from Benchmark Radio Acquisition Fund IV L.P., an affiliate of Capstar, for $7.5 million. The stations complement the Company's 1997 acquisitions of six other stations in the Salisbury-Ocean City, MD market, creating a regional cluster of six FM and two AM stations. Salisbury is a rapidly growing industrial and agricultural community, the commercial center of the region, and home to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. Importantly for radio listening, the Salisbury area also includes frequently congested highway access routes between the major population centers of the region and the ocean resorts on the Delmarva Peninsula, including Ocean City, a three-season Atlantic beach resort serving the affluent Washington-Baltimore region. Combined, Salisbury-Ocean City is ranked 153rd of 267 Arbitron-rated U.S. radio markets and his home to more than 277,000 year-round residents and over eight million visitors annually.

In Savannah, Cumulus acquired WJCL(FM) for $7.25 million from Lewis Broadcasting Corp. Upon completion of three other pending acquisitions in the Savannah market, Cumulus will own five FM and two AM stations in the market. In addition to a robust industrial sector, Savannah is a regional transportation center with the second busiest airport in Georgia, after Atlanta, and the longest continuous port on the South Atlantic Coast, with major expansion underway. Ranked 154th in the U.S., the Savannah market is part of Cumulus' rapidly growing Southeast region, which currently includes 11 markets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

In the Company's Southwest and Mountain States region, which now includes six markets in Texas and Colorado, Cumulus acquired three FM stations in Grand Junction, Colorado for $5.0 million from Jan-Di Broadcasting. The acquisition includes radio stations KBKL(FM) and KMXY(FM), both licensed to operate as full Class C FM stations at a maximum of 100 kW of power, and KEKB(FM) which at 79 kW is also a full Class C FM station. Subject to completion of one more pending acquisition in Grand Junction, Cumulus will own a four FM station cluster in the market. Grand Junction is the largest radio market in Western Colorado, with population of approximately 110,000, and is ranked 247th in the U.S. The market is home to a number of light manufacturing and service industries, five area hospitals, a regional airport, world famous recreational opportunities, and Mesa State College.

Cumulus Media Inc. is a radio broadcasting company focused on the acquisition, operation and developments of radio stations in mid-sized and smaller radio markets in the U.S. The Company currently owns or operates 114 radio stations in 23 U.S. radio markets. Including all stations owned and pending, Cumulus controls 176 stations in 34 markets making it the nation's 4th largest radio broadcaster in terms of stations. Cumulus recently completed an initial public offering and the sale of public preferred stock and bonds for total gross proceeds of $391 million. Lew Dickey is Executive Vice Chairman of Cumulus. William Bungeroth is President of Cumulus' operating subsidiary, Cumulus Broadcasting Inc.

    CONTACT:  Goff & Associates
               Mark Goff, 414/277-0606
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