CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation; it is the last of the three original national U.S. radio networks (CBS, NBC Radio Network and Mutual Broadcasting System) still owned by its parent company, even as CBS has sold off its own CBS radio company in 2017.
CBS News Radio is one of the two national news services distributed by Skyview Networks, which distributes national news, talk, music and special event programs, in addition to local news, weather, video news and other information to radio and television stations, as well as traffic reporting services.
The network is the oldest unit of the CBS Corporation and traces its roots to CBS's predecessor, United Independent Broadcasters, founded in 1927 with 47 affiliates. The next year, Columbia Records invested in the radio network, which was named the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System. Eventually, the record company pulled its backing from the struggling web. William S. Paley bought a half-interest in what became the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1928, and became its president. (In 1938, CBS bought its former parent, Columbia Records.)
For more about the network's history, see CBS.
Today, CBS News Radio is best known for its news and public affairs programming distributed to more than 500 affiliates, including Flagship radio station WCBS (AM) in New York, and several other all-news and news-talk stations including KYW (AM) in Philadelphia, KNX (AM) in Los Angeles, KCBS (AM) in San Francisco, WBBM (AM) in Chicago, WBZ (AM) in Boston, WWJ (AM) in Detroit, KMOX in St. Louis, KRLD (AM) in Dallas and WCCO (AM) in Minneapolis.
CBS News Radio primarily offers hourly three- or six-minute News-on-the-Hour newscasts and a one-minute newscast half-hourly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to the over-the-air product, reports and actualities are made available to affiliates via the network's Newsfeed service. Many of the aforementioned outlets make heavy use of the CBS network feed material throughout their broadcast day.
Among the on-air programs are the daily Osgood File features with veteran CBS newsman Charles Osgood.
The network is home to the morning and evening editions of the CBS World News Roundup, U.S. broadcasting's oldest news series. The Roundup dates back to a special network broadcast on March 13, 1938, featuring live reports from Europe on Germany's annexation of Austria. Each Friday afternoon, the network also distributes the CBS News Weekend Roundup, an hour-long look at the top stories of the week, hosted by correspondent Steve Dorsey. CBS World News Roundup celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2018. The World News Roundup airs twice every weekday: a morning edition is anchored by Steve Kathan and produced by Paul Farry, while a "late edition" was anchored by Bill Whitney for 32 years. After Bill Whitney left CBS in December 2016, the late edition was hosted by Dave Barrett until his death in September 2018. Jim Chenevey is now the host of the program. The evening Roundup, previously known as The World Tonight, has aired in its current form since 1956 and has been anchored by Blair Clark, Douglas Edwards, Dallas Townsend and Christopher Glenn (Glenn also anchored the morning Roundup before his death in 2006).
CBS News Radio has a lengthy list of reporters around the world including Pam Coulter, Steven Portnoy, Cami McCormick, Sabina Castelfranco and Robert Berger, and Mark Knoller, the network's long-time White House correspondent. Knoller often makes additional appearances on CBS Television, especially if he is the day's Press pool reporter for the White House Press Corps.
In 2009, CBS launched a long-form late night talk program hosted by Jon Grayson and the existing morning talk show hosted by Michael Smerconish on some of its owned-and-operated stations. CBS themselves handle the syndication of Grayson's show, while syndication for Smerconish's show to non-CBS stations has been outsourced to Dial Global (which at that time was not involved with the CBS Radio Network itself). Grayson's show, Overnight America, also entered national syndication via Dial Global on January 30, 2012;[1] meanwhile, Smerconish discontinued the morning show in 2011.
Three of CBS's television programs are currently simulcast over CBS News Radio affiliates; those are Face the Nation, 60 Minutes, and the CBS Evening News (some stations, including WCBS in New York and WBZ in Boston, air the entire Evening News). In addition, the Late Show with David Letterman Top Ten list was also broadcast by the network in a short-form-feature format until the show's conclusion in 2015.
Other public-affairs features include CBS Healthwatch with Dr. Emily Senay, Raising Our Kids (formerly suffixed with in the 90s during that decade) with WCBS morning anchor Pat Carroll, What's in the News, and "Eye on Washington," a daily look at goings on in the nation's capital.
Historically, the sports coverage now produced by Westwood One was branded as CBS Radio Sports and, like the news features, associated with the CBS Radio Network; however, after CBS began managing Westwood One (1976–2011) in the mid-1990s, the sports broadcasts would come under the Westwood One banner (with both identities used in the late 1990s), a practice that would continue even after CBS stopped managing Westwood One in 2007. CBS announced plans to launch CBS Sports Radio in fall 2012 through Cumulus Media Networks, owned by Cumulus Media (Cumulus Media Networks was merged into Westwood One in 2013, following Cumulus' acquisition of Westwood One).
During the overnight hours, CBS' streaming video service CBSN carries a simulcast of CBS News Radio's top-of-the-hour reports.
While the network's World News Roundup is the longest-running news show on radio or TV in the U.S., the title of longest-running network radio show of any kind goes to another CBS Radio program Music and the Spoken Word, a half-hour of music and inspirational thought featuring the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square Choir is composed of volunteer singers ages 25–60 who are musicians, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It began on July 15, 1929 and currently airs each Sunday morning at 11:30 Eastern Time. (The longest running radio show of any kind is the Grand Ole Opry, featuring contemporary Christian music broadcast on WSM (AM) in Nashville, Tennessee since November 28, 1925.)
Bard, Adrienne CBS News Radio Reporter, Mexico City
Barker, Vicki CBS News Radio Reporter, London
Berger, Robert CBS News Radio Correspondent, Jerusalem
Castelfranco, Sabina CBS News Radio Correspondent, Rome
Chenevey, Jim CBS News Radio Correspondent
Cohen, Andrew CBS News Radio Legal Analyst and Commentator
Coulter, Pam CBS News Radio Correspondent
Dorsey, Steve CBS News Radio Executive Editor/Correspondent, Washington
Falk, Pamela CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst
Foty, Tom CBS News Radio Correspondent
Futterman, Steve CBS News Radio Correspondent (based in Los Angeles)
Kathan, Steve CBS News Radio Correspondent; anchor of CBS World News Roundup (8 a.m. ET Monday-Friday)
Kaufman, Stephan CBS News Radio Correspondent
King, Peter CBS News Radio Correspondent (based in Orlando)
Krasula, Jim CBS News Radio Correspondent (based in Raleigh, North Carolina)
Litzinger, Sam CBS News Radio Correspondent
Lyons, Mike CBS News Military Consultant
Magid, Larry CBS News Technology Analyst
McCausland, Jeff CBS News Military Consultant
McCormick, Cami CBS News Radio Correspondent, The Pentagon
Nunn, Gary CBS News Radio Reporter
Portnoy, Steven CBS News Radio White House Correspondent
Rehkopf, Bill CBS News Radio Correspondent
Schlesinger, Jill Editor-at-Large, CBS's Moneywatch.com
Swagler, Craig, CBS News Radio General Manager
Taylor, Jim CBS News Radio Correspondent
(** Formerly owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting, which merged with CBS in 1995)
CBS News Radio provides overnight live news updates at the top of the hour to CBSN, CBS News’ 24-hour streaming news channel.
In December 2016 CBS Radio News announced on it's Twitter account it's news network would depart with executive producer Charlie Kaye, a 34-year CBS vet; Washington correspondent Barry Bagnato, a 30-year fixture at the network; afternoon anchor and 24-year CBS mainstay Harley Carnes; and “CBS World News” anchor Bill Whitney, who logged 32 years with CBS Radio News. The news network confirmed all apart from Whitney, who accepted a buyout, while adding a fifth name to the list: Washington Bureau manager Howard Arenstein. After Bill Whitney left CBS in December 2016, the late edition was hosted by Dave Barrett until his sudden death on September 19, 2018
On February 2, 2017, CBS Corporation announced that its shareholders had acquired a majority stake in Entercom, whose corporate management will continue to oversee the company along with CBS's radio assets.[3][4][5] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.[6][7] The CBS News
Radio network service will continue to be managed by CBS News.
On August 2, 2017, CBS announced that it had signed a contract with Skyview Networks for distribution of CBS News Radio, to go into effect on January 1, 2018. [8]