Adds comment from Nielsen in paragraph 5

By Mike Scarcella

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

In a statement, Nielsen said Cumulus's lawsuit is "entirely without merit" and "we will respond accordingly."

Cumulus in a statement 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

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(Reporting by Mike Scarcella)