Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. radio network Cumulus Media ( CMLS ) has

sued ratings giant Nielsen in federal court, accusing it of

illegally leveraging its dominance over national and local radio

audience data to stifle rivals and charge inflated prices.

Cumulus, which runs one of the largest radio station networks in

the United States, said in the lawsuit in Manhattan that Nielsen

was violating federal and state antitrust laws by conditioning

access to its national broadcast radio analytics on the purchase

of separate, costly local ratings data.

Nielsen sells national and local ratings data to networks,

which rely on that information to sell advertising. Cumulus buys

local ratings data, and its subsidiary Westwood One, which

produces national programming and services, purchases national

radio ratings data. Westwood One is the official network audio

broadcast partner of the National Football League.

Atlanta-based Cumulus alleges that Nielsen's sales policy

forces it to buy local ratings in markets where it doesn't need

them, or risk losing access to comprehensive national data that

Westwood One needs.

Nielsen did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

In a statement, Cumulus said it was suing over

"anticompetitive conduct that we believe is unlawful and

damaging."

Cumulus owns and operates nearly 400 radio stations in more

than 80 markets across the country. Its lawsuit alleges that

Nielsen's sales scheme has affected hundreds of millions of

dollars of commerce.

The complaint accuses New York-based Nielsen of degrading

product quality, raising prices without justification and

blocking competitors from gaining footholds in the industry.

Cumulus warned that advertisers and radio stations will

suffer from reduced choice, inflated costs and diminished

innovation if Nielsen's conduct is allowed to flourish.

The lawsuit asked a federal judge to award unspecified

monetary damages and to issue a court order stopping Nielsen

from continuing allegedly unfair business practices.

The case is Cumulus Media New Holdings Inc v. The Nielsen

Company LLC, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York,

No. 1:25-cv-08581.

For plaintiff: Jennifer Fleury and Charles Loughlin of Hogan

Lovells

For defendant: No appearance yet

Read more:

Newsmax denies 'forum shopping' in antitrust lawsuit against

rival Fox

US judge tosses Rumble lawsuit claiming advertising boycott