Suzanne Grimes, EVP, Marketing at Cumulus Media and President of Westwood One, is a dynamic executive who delivers strong transformational results growing media brands across outdoor, mobile, social, digital, print, audio, and experiential platforms through highly effective sales strategies and operational discipline in the public and private sectors.
At Cumulus Media, Grimes serves as EVP of Marketing, overseeing marketing strategy, branding, national events, integrated solutions, as well as data and insights for the company which broadcasts across 441 owned radio stations in 90 US media markets and 8,000 broadcast affiliates through its Westwood One network, as well as numerous digital channels including Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
Grimes also has operating responsibility for Westwood One, the largest audio broadcast network in the U.S., home to premium content including the NFL, the NCAA, the Masters, the Olympics, Westwood One Backstage, The GRAMMYs, the Academy of Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and the American Music Awards. At the helm of the network, Grimes has made bold moves, including the launch of the first industry-wide ROI Guarantee in the audio space, and has consistently delivered topline growth and expanded margin.
Grimes recently launched Westwood One Podcast Network, which is rapidly becoming a leader in the podcasting space, growing exponentially due to its unrivaled promotional reach and portfolio of wildly popular podcasts that resonate with audiences, such as The Ben Shapiro Show, Opie Radio, The Jim Rome Podcast, and Talk is Jericho.
Prior to Cumulus, Grimes was President and COO of Clear Channel Outdoor at iHeartMedia Inc., where she led a $1.3 million top line business and embraced new mobile, wireless, and digital out of home technologies to offer creative and innovative ways to interact with consumers.
Earlier, she was President of the U.S. Lifestyle division at Reader’s Digest Association, overseeing the rapidly growing food focused on line social network Allrecipes.com, Every Day with Rachel Ray and the Reiman family of brands. During a long tenure at Condé Nast, she served as Senior VP of the Conde Nast Media Group, VP and Publisher of Glamour magazine, Publisher of Allure, and Publisher of Women’s Sports & Fitness. Earlier in her career, Grimes was the Senior VP and Publisher for TV Guide, then the largest selling weekly magazine in the country.
During her earliest stint in media, Grimes sold geographic database management systems to marketers for National Planning Data Corporation, fortuitous given the starring role that data attribution has come to play in contemporary media.
Grimes currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Radio Advertising Bureau, and is actively engaged with the Georgetown University Entertainment and Media Alliance. She lives in Westchester with her husband Dave, and enjoys a full life with their five children and their lovable Burnese Mountain Dog, Lulu.
