CBS News announced in March that CBS News Radio will be shutting down this spring after nearly 100 years of broadcasting. The company cited "challenging economic realities" and a shift in radio programming strategies as reasons behind the decision. That day is now on us, as CBS will sign off the radio airwaves for good later on Friday night.
It began with 16 stations in 1927. It ended with around 700 affiliated stations nationwide carry CBS News Radio programming.
All jobs on the radio team will be eliminated, the company said. That includes on stations like WCCO Radio, which has been affiliated with CBS since the earliest days of radio. WCCO became an ABC affiliate this past Thursday afternoon after 98 years with CBS.
"We understand how difficult this news is for our staff and their colleagues, who have worked side by side with us to cover some of the most significant stories of our time," CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss said in a statement.
They also paid tribute to the historic role of CBS News Radio.
"For nearly 100 years, CBS News Radio has delivered original reporting to the nation — from Edward R. Murrow's World War II reports in London to today's daily White House updates," they said. "Our signature broadcast, 'World News Roundup,' remains the longest-running newscast in the country. CBS News Radio served as the foundation for everything we have built since 1927."
Dan Raviv was a CBS Radio News anchor and reporter for decades, and left the network in 2017. He told WCCO's Adam and Jordana it is a sign of the times - but a troubling sign for journalism.
"People who read the headlines know Paramount-Skydance took over the old CBS and looked at the whole situation, and wants to make a ton of money on streaming channels and in movies," Raviv explains. "And audio, radio, that's nothing. And that's so wrong, right? Over 130 million Americans listen to news on the radio every day."
As Raviv notes, radio still makes money. Radio continues to create revenue, and that included CBS Radio News. But, says Raviv, it wasn't enough anymore.
"Radio doesn't make enough billions of dollars," he says. "Well, it makes money and it's a public service. So I had the best time, 40 years with CBS News doing radio, going to stories all around the world. I'm so sorry that brand name, that team is going to be gone. I know WCCO will still be able to cover the world and America, but boy, we're going to miss CBS News Radio."
Matthew Jordan is a professor of Media Studies at Penn State, and he says as goes CBS Radio News, so goes the idea that news media should serve the public interest.
"When CBS Radio News goes silent on May 22, 2026, Americans will lose access to news programming they’ve tuned into from their living rooms, kitchens and cars for nearly a century," Jordan says. "The once-bipartisan idea that the nation’s media should exist to serve democracy continues to fade with it, too. As a media historian, I think the story of CBS Radio News’ rise and fall cannot be told without telling another parallel story: the story of how the U.S. stopped demanding that media serve the public interest."
Though Paramount Skydance is using its enormous debt load to justify taking CBS Radio News off the air, the conglomerate is trying to purchase CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, in a move that would only further the monopolization of the news media.
Americans can’t say CBS great Edward R. Murrow didn’t warn them.
“The tube is flickering,” he said in 1958. And unless Americans reclaim their right to information not colored by profit motive and special interests, “we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.”
LISTEN: A CBS Retrospective - "Good Night and Good Luck"
CBS News Radio looks back on its 99-year history. In segment 2, Good Night and Good Luck, we focus on the life and legacy of Edward R. Murrow and our coverage of World War II.
- In segment one and two of Good Night and Good Luck, we look back at the earliest days of the Network.
- Segment three examines the consistent coverage CBS News Radio provided of the major stories of the 60s and 70s and the business of radio.
- Segment four looks back at the history of the CBS News Sounder and our coverage of 9/11 and the War on Terror.
- And finally, in segment 5, we look back at COVID and Steve Kathan has a talk with Marvin Kalb, the last of the "Murrow Boys."
