CBS News said Friday it is shutting down its storied radio news service after nearly 100 years of operation as part of a round of layoffs, blaming a shift in radio station programming strategies and challenging economic times.
The network, which provides top-of-the hour newscasts and other services to WBBM-AM 780 in Chicago and an estimated 700 stations across the country, will pull the plug for good on May 22, CBS said Friday.
“While this was a necessary decision, it was not an easy one,” CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski said in a memo to staff on Friday.
In Chicago, the end of CBS News Radio will hit home at WBBM Newsradio, a former CBS-owned station and a longtime affiliate that airs the network’s programming as an integral part of its all-news format. WBBM, which is simulcast on 105.9 FM, was the top-rated radio station in Chicago during January with a 5.9 share, according to Nielsen.
WBBM is now owned by Audacy, one of the largest radio chains in the U.S., which acquired it as part of a large cluster of Chicago stations through a 2017 megamerger with CBS Radio. The acquisition precipitated a nine-month stay in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization for Philadelphia-based Audacy in 2024 amid mounting debt.
An Audacy spokesperson declined to comment Friday on the end of the CBS News Radio network, or its impact on WBBM-AM.
Weiss, founder of the Free Press website and without broadcast news experience before being hired by CBS parent Paramount’s new management in October, has quickly become a headline-maker and polarizing figure in journalism. She held a “60 Minutes” story critical of President Donald Trump’s deportation policy from being broadcast for a month and has critics watching to see if she’s moving the network in a Trump-friendly direction.
CBS News cut some of its radio programming late last year, including its “Weekend Roundup” and “World News Roundup Late Edition,” in an attempt to keep the service going.
It was unclear how many people will lose their jobs because of the radio shutdown. CBS News was cutting about 6% of its workforce, or more than 60 people, on Friday. It’s not the end of turmoil at the network, as parent company Paramount Global is likely to absorb CNN as part of its announced purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.
When it went on the air in September 1927, CBS News Radio was the precursor to the entire network, giving a youthful William S. Paley a start in the business. Famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow delivered reports from London during World War II as part of the service.
Over the years, broadcasters like Douglas Edwards, Dallas Townsend and Christopher Glenn were familiar voices on CBS News Radio. But radio, like other legacy media, has struggled in the digital age, as consumers shift online for 24/7 news and entertainment.
“This is another part of the landscape that has fallen off into the sea,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, a trade publication for radio talk shows. “It’s a shame. It’s a loss for the country and for the industry.”
CBS News Radio was a major force for generations of Americans. “Its heyday spanned decades,” Harrison said. “It was quality on every level. It sounded good. Its coverage was as objective as possible within the realm of human nature. Its resources were extensive. It had a very high trust factor that was considered the standard of the day.”
For WBBM-AM and hundreds of other affiliates nationwide, the long influential voice of CBS News Radio will be silenced in May, ending a national news source that has built a century of credibility for millions of listeners.
As for what those radio stations do to fill the imminent national news programming void at the top of each hour – stay tuned.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
