The Department of Justice is saying that the acquisition of Citadel by Cumulus would be damaging to competition in the Flint MI and Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle PA Arbitron markets. However, if also said this problem can be cured by the divestiture of a total of three radio stations.
“The divestitures required by the consent decree will enable radio advertisers to continue to receive the benefits of competition in Harrisburg and Flint,” said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Two of the stations must come out of Harrisburg and one out of Flint.
According to DOJ, the combination of the two radio groups would eliminate competition, which in turn would lead to increased prices and reductions in service to users of the stations in the market.
DOJ says the divestitures would reduce the advertising revenue share of Cumulus to 40%, which it says would preserve choice for advertisers and ensure competition going forward.
