Cumulus Stations Land New Manager

The seven stations that make up Cumulus Broadcasting’s Northwest Arkansas division have a new manager. Mike DeMarco started as the general manager on Nov. 27. He previously held the GM position for Cumulus in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. He worked in the radio industry in Tulsa for 20 years before joining Cumulus about five years ago, he said.

DeMarco replaced Joe Conway who left the company when he purchased Arkansas Sign and Banner in Bentonville late last year.

For the last several years the seven Cumulus stations have ranked in the middle tier of Northwest Arkansas stations, below rival Clear Channel Communications Inc., according to Arbitron Inc. ratings.

DeMarco said his goal will be to elevate the group’s ratings and his ideal will be to hold what Cumulus held in his last market – five of the top six stations.

“The way that you build ratings is by paying attention to the tiny little details,” he said. “If you just listen to your listeners it just works out … but it’s not an overnight project.”

The Cumulus stations are KMCK-FM, KKEG-FM, KAMO-FM, KQSM-FM, KFAY-AM, KYNF-FM, KYNG-AM and include talk- and a Spanish language-formats stations along with its typical rock-, country- and contemporary-formatted stations.