On The Dial: The End for CBS News Radio

There has been a lot happening at CBS since Skydance’s purchase of its Paramount parent. Mostly, the changes inside the News division. Those changes have extended to the radio side, since the announcement of the complete shutdown of CBS News Radio. 

This is not just a major blow to the radio business, but of journalism on the airwaves. 

CBS Radio and its News division has been around for almost 100 years. They crafted a network of stations dedicated to presenting both national/international news and localized programming. You counted on these stations to provide you with headlines, in depth stories, sports coverage, traffic and weather reports. A majority of the 700 stations affiliated with the network dedicated themselves to 24-hour programming every day without fail. And, devoid of bias throughout its history. 

The recent announcement of the closure of the CBS News Radio network prompted a lot of thought here. Not just on the legacy of the network, but of the state of radio programming. That also includes streaming and satellite services, as the network’s closure will affect those parts of the broadcasting business. CBS News Radio is one of the flagship offerings of the Audacy app. 

The genesis of CBS News Radio came from the acquisition by William S. Paley of a few radio entities, including United Independent Broadcasters. By 1928, the network was formally established. 

It’s impact was not only long lasting; it also set the tone for how a broadcast news organization is run. They also broke the news unlike any network before, starting with the 1932 kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh, Jr. and its coverage of the 1932 Presidential Election. 

CBS News Radio introduced us to the great Edward R. Murrow and his successor Walter Cronkite. It gave voice to Paul W. White when it needed it. It set the standard set down by Paley’s mission which translated onto the television side. 

Aside from White, Murrow and Cronkite, the list of voices heard on CBS News Radio were unmatched considering their legacy they left behind. Charles Osgood was one of them. Remember the “Osgood Files?” 

I grew up with KNX Radio in Los Angeles. Along with KFWB, they set the tone of how the news was reported across the Southern California region, alongside its television competitors. The Bay Area had KCBS, providing local angles for their all-day news coverage. 

On November 27, 1978, KCBS reported the murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk from San Francisco City Hall. That faint signal coming into my clock radio in Reseda was how I learned of their assassination by then-former Supervisor Dan White. 

As an ironic aside, KFWB and the Group W networks were eventually merged into CBS Radio and its subsequent entities. 

Every time I would go to another city, I would look up the local news radio station and program it into the car radio. A practice that continued before discovering Sirius and XM Radio (before their own merger). You probably guessed that I was completely interested in radio broadcasting – which led me to my only semester at California State University Northridge’s Radio-Television-Film program. 

These days, I would find those CBS News Radio stations through the Audacy and TuneIn Radio apps. Not just our local affiliate, WCCO, but practically every station on the network. That’s the true beauty of streaming services – you can listen to any station from anyplace across the country and get the feel of that community. 

That is also the beauty of CBS News Radio. It offered a level of continuity for listeners no matter where they are located. You get the same national and international headlines, the same of attention to their local news coverage, as well as their sports, traffic, and weather reports. You may be in Chicago, Washington, DC, or Seattle, and the CBS News Radio broadcast may sound and feel the same in those places and elsewhere. 

Where will you get your news on the radio after the CBS News Radio network goes off the air. For SiriusXM subscribers, they do have some choice with simulcasts of CNN and FOX News, along with global feeds from CBC Radio One and the BBC World Service – among several channels. 

There may be a bit of relief. NBCUniversal's NBC News Radio unit has made some news that it might fill the voids left behind by CBS News Radio. Although some details have not been made public, we suspect that they will utilize parts of NBC News NOW as the basis for bulletin feeds or complete news coverage. There may be some local stations and affiliates that will create local content, such as traffic, weather, local reporting, and sports. This is also something NBC has done prior to their television days dating back 100 years.

In the media business, you become friends with a few people across the many corners of it. I feel for Jennifer Keiper at WBBM in Chicago. She is a national anchor for news bulletins during weekday afternoons and the weekends. The late John Hultman was also a longtime anchor at WBBM, as well. He set the tone of the all-news format at the CBS News Radio station in Chicago. Both are/were fellow members of the Midwest Automotive Media Association. 

Without going into the whole drama about what’s going on at CBS, Paramount, and its individual units, cutting programming and services at the scale being witnessed in the radio business alone is concerning. How will listeners get their news without any bias or slant in this country by our own broadcast journalists? 

That was what made CBS News Radio for the 98 years – straightforward broadcast journalism. And, we will miss it. 

All photos by Randy Stern