“Dick and I had a pretty successful run at the national radio business, and we don’t want to leave it. The way I see it, there’s a five-lane radio information highway out there, and we want to hop on it.” That’s what Nick Verbitsky told Radio & Records about United Stations Radio Networks in 1994. On Wednesday, that highway reached its final exit for the longtime broadcast executive.
Verbitsky has sold the syndication company he founded with Dick Clark to content creation aggregate Gemini XIII and its CEO Spencer Brown. The terms of the transaction, including the price, have not been disclosed. While at the helm of USRN, Verbitsky spent a dozen years on Radio Ink‘s 40 Most Powerful People In Radio list, appearing at number 38 in 2022.
The USRN acquisition is the latest in an audio growth string for Gemini XIII. It purchased The Infinite Agency and Phantom Producer in March 2022. Brown, the former Dial Global CEO, has already put his own touches on the company, with a rebrand to United Stations Media Networks and a redone website.
Radio Ink’s sister publication RBR+TVBR discovered that USRN’s EVP Andy Denemark will remain in a yet-to-be-determined role, while Charlie Colombo, who held an equity stake in USRN, has cashed out and left the company. The location for USRN employees is currently unclear, as USRN had closed its offices earlier this year after fulfilling a lease during the COVID-19 pandemic.
