 | |
| Formerly | Infinity Broadcasting (1997–2005) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Radio broadcasting |
| Predecessor | Infinity Broadcasting Westinghouse Broadcasting |
| Founded | 1928; 97 years ago (1928)(foundation of CBS) 1997; 28 years ago (1997)(relaunched asInfinity Broadcasting) 2005; 20 years ago (2005)(relaunched as CBS Radio) |
| Defunct | November 17, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-11-17) |
| Fate | Acquired by Entercom (nowAudacy, Inc.)[1] |
| Successor | Entercom (now Audacy, Inc.)[1] |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served | Nationwide |
Key people | Andre Fernandez, president and chief executive officer |
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned byCBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS andWestinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, andInfinity Broadcasting since the 1970s. The broadcasting company was sold to Entercom (now known asAudacy, Inc.) on November 17, 2017.[1]
Although CBS's involvement in radio dates back to the establishment of the originalCBS Radio Network in 1927, the most recent radio division was formed by the 1997 acquisition ofInfinity Broadcasting by CBS ownerWestinghouse. In 1999, Infinity became a division of the originalViacom; in 2005, Viacom spun CBS and Infinity Broadcasting back into a separate company, and the division was renamed CBS Radio. It was the last radio group left to be tied to a major broadcast television network, asNBC divested its radio interests in the 1980s, andABC sold off its division toCitadel Broadcasting (now part ofCumulus Media) in 2007.
CBS Radio is one of the oldest units within CBS Corporation, and has been around since 1928.[2] However, the actual CBS Radio Network (nowCBS News Radio) was launched in 1927, when CBS itself was known as United Independent Broadcasters.[3]Columbia Records later joined in and that company was renamed the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System. In September 1927, Columbia Records sold the company toWilliam S. Paley and in 1928, Paley streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System.
In 1940, Paley also joined forces with the journalistEdmund Chester at CBS Radio andNelson Rockefeller at the Department of State'sOffice of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs to launch the imaginative Network of the Americas (La Cadena de las Americas) in 1942.[4][5] This innovative radio network beamed both news and cultural programming live to North and South America in support ofcultural diplomacy andPan Americanism in accordance with PresidentFranklin Roosevelt'sGood Neighbor policy during World War II.[6][7][8][5][4]
The company that would become CBS Radio was founded in 1972 asInfinity Broadcasting Corporation byMichael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus, with the acquisition ofKOME, an FM radio station that served theSan Francisco Bay Area. It became a publicly traded company twice, in 1986, and again in 1992.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired CBS, Inc. in 1995 and then acquired Infinity Broadcasting in 1997.[9] Westinghouse, which produced the first radio broadcast on November 2, 1920, withKDKA inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[10] would later change its name to the original CBS Corporation,[11] and reorganize all of its radio properties (including its ownGroup W stations), as well as its outdoor advertising business, under the Infinity Broadcasting Corporation name. Westinghouse acquired American Radio Systems in September 1997.[12] In 2000, CBS Corporation was merged intoViacom.[13] On December 31, 2005, Viacomspun out its motion picture and cable television assets, with the remainder maintained asthe second CBS Corporation. In anticipation of this, Infinity Broadcasting was reorganized as CBS Radio.
In August 2006, CBS Radio announced the sale of its 15 radio stations inCincinnati, Ohio;Memphis, Tennessee;Austin, Texas; andRochester, New York toEntercom Communications. This group deal was grantedFCC approval in mid-November 2007 after it faced regulatory review and numerous challenges for over a year, and officially closed on November 30. Several other stations, most in smaller markets, were also sold to companies likeBorder Media Partners and Peak Media Corporation.
On April 30, 2008, CBS Radio andAOL entered a partnership (following the dissolution of partnership between AOL andXM Satellite Radio due to the change in Internet royalty rates). The AOL Radio player powered by CBS Radio featured over 200 CBS Radio stations, along with over 200 AOL Radio stations, combining two of the largest online radio networks and giving millions of listeners unlimited and free access to a diverse array of music and programming including news, sports and talk. These stations were folded into theAOL Radio mobile app.[14][15]
In 2008, CBS started the process of paring down its station holdings, with a particular focus on ridding itself of stations in mid-sized markets, and markets where there are no television stations for synergistic advantages.[16] On July 31, 2008, CBS Radio announced that it would sell 50 more radio stations in 12 mid-size markets.[17] however some companies likeRBC Capital Markets said CBS Radio is a "melting icecube" and that CBS Corporation would be better off selling the entire radio unit rather than "waiting a couple of years and selling the rest for less."[18]
On December 15, 2008, CBS Radio and Clear Channel Communications reached an agreement to swap seven stations. In this deal, Clear Channel acquiredWQSR inBaltimore, Maryland,KBKS inSeattle, Washington,KLTH andKXJM inPortland, Oregon, andKQJK inSacramento, California; and CBS Radio would getKHMX andKLOL inHouston, Texas.[19] The deal closed on April 1, 2009. On December 20, 2008, CBS Radio announced that it would sell the entireDenver cluster (this includes three radio stations) toWilks Broadcasting for $19.5 million, includingKIMN,KWOF, andKXKL-FM.[20]
On August 10, 2009, CBS Radio announced that it would sell the entirePortland cluster (this includes four radio stations) toAlpha Broadcasting for $40 million. The stations included in the sale areKCMD,KINK,KUFO, andKUPL.[21]
On February 4, 2010, all CBS Radio stations, as well as AOL Radio and Yahoo! Music Radio restricted all non U.S. listeners from streaming online content. CBS Radio redirected to sister propertyLast.fm.[22] In July 2010, CBS Radio launchedRadio.com.
2011 saw the biggest AC format removal of the company dropping AC forhot adult contemporary onWashington, D.C.'sWIAD in March, followed byNew York City'sWWFS on October 12 (both in theEastern Time Zone). On August 1,WCFS-FMChicago removed its AC format for all-news to simulcastWBBM (AM). By November 2011, WLTE inMinneapolis/St. Paul removed the AC format forChristmas music, only to transition tocountry music asKMNB on December 26.
On April 9, 2012, CBS Radio announced that it was selling its West Palm Beach cluster of stations to Palm Beach Broadcasting for $50 million.[23]
On December 1, 2014, CBS Radio traded 14 stations—itsCharlotte, North Carolina andTampa Bay clusters as well as WIP (nowWTEL (AM)) inPhiladelphia—toBeasley Broadcast Group in exchange for WRDW-FM (nowWTDY-FM) andWXTU in Philadelphia andWKIS,WPOW, andWQAM inMiami.[24]
In May 2016,Judge Percy Anderson ruled in favor of CBS Radio in a lawsuit filed by ABS Entertainment over the use of pre-1972 sound recordings, which are subject tocommon law state copyright and not federal law, on CBS Radio's oldies stations. ABS argued that because pre-1972 works are not subject to federal copyright, they are not subject to the federal laws providingcompulsory licenses for performing the recordings on terrestrial radio and via non-interactive digital streams, and require permission. CBS, however, argued that it did not play pre-1972 sound recordings, but remastered versions of recordings published from compilations with copyrights registered after 1972, making them separate works subject to federal copyright and eligible for compulsory licenses. The court ruled that the remastered recordings contained "multiple kinds of creative authorship, such as adjustments of equalization, sound editing and channel assignment", witha level of creativity suitable enough to generate a new copyright.[25][26]
On March 15, 2016, CBS Corporation CEOLeslie Moonves stated that the company was exploring strategic alternatives that could result in the sale or spin-off of CBS Radio. Cumulus Media had been named as one of the potential buyers.[16] In July 2016, CBS Radio filed for a planned IPO, which would have spun off the subsidiary as a separate, publicly traded company.[27] On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced that it had agreed to merge withEntercom, at the time the fourth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States; the sale was to be conducted using aReverse Morris Trust so that it would be tax-free. To comply with federal ownership limits Entercom had plans to divest 14 stations.[28][29]
The transaction closed on November 17, 2017,[30] ending the era of network-owned radio stations in America involving the originalBig Three (ABC,NBC, andCBS). ABC, however, still owned a few stations outside its original network at the time, primarily under theESPN Radio umbrella. Following the purchase, Entercom became the second-largest owner of radio stations in the United States in terms of revenue, with a total of 244 stations, and operations in 23 of the top 25 markets.[31][32]
The CBS News Radio andCBS Sports Radio networks were not included in the sale. However, CBS Sports Radio was continued to be broadcast by Entercom stations that carried its national programming.[33] Hosts and employees of CBS Sports Radio (which has since rebranded asInfinity Sports Network) are now employees ofAudacy, Inc. (formerly Entercom).
From 1985 to 2005, Infinity/CBS Radio was the home of controversial and top-rated talk show hostHoward Stern, who left for subscription-based satellite radio due to increasingFCC and station censorship. In January 2006, rock starDavid Lee Roth,Rover's Morning Glory, and talk show hostAdam Carolla replacedStern in most major radio markets, and CBS Radio launched its new "Free FM"hot talk format in many of these markets.Roth's show was cancelled four months later and CBS Radio announced thatOpie and Anthony ofXM Radio would replace Roth on the stations that carried him, despite the irony that the two were fired after the sex act controversy inside ofSt. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Adam Carolla's show was also later canceled.
On February 28, 2006, CBS Radio announced it had filed a lawsuit against Stern, his agent Don Buchwald, and Sirius, arguing that Stern promoted Sirius "to enrich himself unfairly".[34] It also claimed that Stern "repeatedly and willfully" breached his contract with CBS, "misappropriated millions of dollars worth [of airtime]" for his own benefit and "fraudulently concealed" his performance-related interests in Sirius stock. The suit, filed in New York State Court, soughtcompensatory andpunitive damages. Stern anticipated the suit, and earlier that day, prior to CBS' announcement, held a press conference, discussing how CBS added to the media attention, even booking him for appearances onLate Show with David Letterman and60 Minutes. "I made them millions of dollars," Stern argued. "If I was hurting them, why did they keep me on the air for fourteen months? How can you have it both ways?"[35] When a settlement was announced on May 26, 2006, Sirius gained exclusive rights to Stern's back catalogue of radio broadcasts atWXRK from November 1985 to December 2005, totalling almost 23,000 hours.[36] The rights, costing Sirius approximately $2 million, equates to approximately $87 per-hour of tape.[34]
As of 2009[update], the Free FM branding has been discontinued in all markets, and no former Free FM station continues to have a hot talk format. The only remaining show still on air is The Sports Junkies on WJFK 106.7 FM DC. All other shows broke up or were canceled. Some, including The Big O & Dukes Show and The Mike O'Meara Show, have been reborn as podcasts.
CBS Radio owned the majority of stations in theUnited States that broadcast theJack FM format, a radio format that incorporates all types ofpopular music from the mid-50s to the present. These included stations in Los Angeles,Dallas,Seattle,Minneapolis and many other cities. New York City, Chicago andHouston had Jack FM stations, too; the New York City station,WCBS-FM has reverted to its traditional oldies format, and Jack (which had been renamed ToNY) was carried on its HD2 subchannel.
CBS Radio owned "AMP Radio", a branding created by KROQ-FM program director Kevin Weatherly and APD John Michael on the HD2 channel ofKCBS-FM. Much like its competitorKiss FM, AMP broadcastscontemporary hit radio/top 40 music. In February 2009, the first AMP station was launched in Los Angeles under the callsign KAMP-FM. Over the years, CBS Radio expanded the AMP brand and the CHR/Top 40 format to its stations in Detroit, Boston, Orlando, New York City, Philadelphia, and lastly Dallas. Since the Entercom acquisition in November 2017, all the stations in the aforementioned markets, except for the Los Angeles flagship station, gradually flipped formats. By 2021, the AMP Radio branding was discontinued.
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CBS Radio was the largest broadcaster of localMajor League Baseball broadcasts. In 2005 and 2007 respectively, CBS dropped theSt. Louis Cardinals from KMOX and thePittsburgh Pirates from KDKA, ending two long relationships between the teams and their flagship stations. However, KMOX reacquired the Cardinals' broadcast rights in 2011, and KDKA'sFM sister all-sports station acquired the Pirates' broadcast rights in 2012, in addition toNew York Yankees games being renewed on WCBS after the conclusion of the 2011 season, they would have the rights until the end of the 2013 season.
CBS'sWFAN is the flagship station of theNew York Yankees (they had broadcast theMets until 2014) andWSCR is the flagship station of theChicago Cubs. In Philadelphia,WPHT, a frequency that had been the longtime home of thePhiladelphia Phillies before parting ways after the 2001 season, reacquired the team's broadcast rights in 2005. As of 2012, those games are now simulcast on sister stationWIP-FM.KRLD-FM in Dallas was the flagship station for theTexas Rangers before the 2011 season.
In 2015, theChicago Cubs moved its radio broadcasts to CBS propertyWBBM (AM) from its longtime home ofWGN (AM).[37] That same year, theBaltimore Orioles began its second stint on all-sportsWJZ-FM, four years after it was moved back to its traditional home ofWBAL (AM).[38] In 2016, the Cubs rights moved to sister station WSCR as part of a pre-arrangement in the 2015 agreement where WSCR would take over airing games after letting the rights to theChicago White Sox go after the 2015 season (which now broadcast onWGN (AM)).
Prior to the merger with Entercom, CBS Radio operated nearly all of theall-news radio stations in the United States.
They included:
As part of the merger and in order to comply with FCC Regulations, CBS Radio divested WBZ and ownership of that station was transferred toiHeartMedia.