Cumulus Media plans to introduce geographic advertising targeting on one of its Boston-area radio stations next year, allowing advertisers to deliver different commercials to listeners based on their location within the market.
On Friday, the company said it will deploy a proprietary system called ZoneCasting on WXLO (104.5 FM), a hot adult contemporary station in Boston, during the first quarter of 2027, becoming one of the first radio broadcasters in the United States to adopt the system.
Developed by GeoBroadcast Solutions, ZoneCasting allows radio stations to transmit different advertisements to listeners within designated geographic areas while maintaining their primary broadcast signal across the wider market. The system uses conventional over-the-air broadcast technology, with hyper-local messages inserted via booster transmitters across a market — meaning it doesn’t require a radio to be connected to broadband.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the use of ZoneCasting two years ago, limiting radio stations to 25 boosters in each designated market.
At WXLO, the technology will initially target listeners east of Route 128, allowing businesses to purchase advertising directed at audiences in that area without broadcasting the same commercial throughout Greater Boston. The arrangement could allow retailers and other businesses to advertise individual locations, promotions or services to nearby listeners while different advertisements air elsewhere on the station’s signal.
Cumulus is working with Aktira on the deployment, which will also incorporate audience information collected through Xperi’s DTS AutoStage connected vehicle platform. According to Cumulus, the platform collects daily radio listening data from more than 90,000 connected vehicles in the Boston area, providing information about where motorists are listening to individual stations.
Bob Goodell, the Vice President and Market Manager for Cumulus Media in Boston, said the company intends to use that information alongside ZoneCasting to help advertisers identify geographic areas where their commercials could reach potential customers.
“Together, they allow our customers to better take advantage of where people are listening, not just where they live,” Goodell said in a statement on Friday.
The planned deployment gives Cumulus another way to sell traditional radio advertising as broadcasters compete with digital platforms that already offer location-based targeting. Unlike internet-delivered advertising, ZoneCasting operates through terrestrial FM broadcasts, allowing stations to deliver different commercials within a single market without requiring listeners to use a streaming service.
Cumulus did not disclose the cost of the deployment or how advertising rates would differ between geographically targeted commercials and conventional spots carried throughout the Boston market.
