CBS News Radio will end its broadcast after the 11:31 p.m. newscast on Friday, May 22, with the network saying “challenging economic realities” made it impossible to continue. The shutdown follows an internal memo from CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and C
By the evening of May 22, CBS News Radio will be gone from the airwaves.
Its final broadcast comes after the 11:31 p.m. newscast on Friday. May 22—an abrupt end to a service that has been heard across the U.S. feeding news programming to about 700 stations. The network records in New York City at the CBS Broadcast Center and. for decades. built its identity around timely newscasts and features.
CBS News Radio’s shutdown follows a decision announced two months earlier through an internal memo sent to employees. In that memo. CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski told staff the end would come as part of a shift in how CBS News would approach radio programming—an adjustment they linked directly to economics.
“While this was a necessary decision, it was not an easy one,” Weiss and Cibrowski wrote in the memo. “A shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities, has made it impossible to continue the service.”
Programming on the network has included multiple newscast formats. CBS News Radio offered options ranging from three to six minutes for its newscasts. a faster style of headline newscasts lasting just a minute. bottom-of-the-hour updates. and minute-long features. Those features have covered news, finance, entertainment, health, lifestyle and technology.
The network’s affiliates include major U.S. cities such as WCBS in New York, WBBM in Chicago and KCBS in San Francisco.
As CBS prepares for its last night of radio news coverage, the memo also signaled what happens to the team. Reporting by Deadline said Weiss and Cibrowski told employees that all positions within the CBS News Radio team would be eliminated.
Before the shutdown, CBS News Radio’s own website described its longevity and scope. On the afternoon of May 22. the site said CBS News Radio has been “trail blazing for over 70 years” and “holds the title of the original national radio news network.” It added that the network has “the most extensive team of reporters around the country and the world. ” delivering coverage described as “you can trust.”.
The memo’s discussion of the radio service’s work traced a near-century arc—highlighting that the network’s reporting includes Edward R. Murrow’s World War II reports in London and White House updates.
For some longtime listeners, the end is not just the loss of an overnight broadcast schedule. It also closes a chapter that goes back to the earliest days of national radio news.
CBS News Radio’s history dates to 1927, when talent agent Arthur Judson started the United Independent Broadcasters. That network later merged with the Columbia Phonograph and Records Co. and changed its name to the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting Company. Britannica says financial issues led William Paley to buy the network for $400,000.
CBS News says Paley then found himself competing in 1930 with networks such as NBC. which had a strong hold on entertainment programming and sponsors. Instead of trying to match that model, Paley focused on news and information. In 1930. he hired print journalism editors Ed Klauber and Paul White. and CBS News says they applied print media standards to radio newscasters.
The network aired its first “World News Roundup” on March 13, 1938, hosted by CBS news anchor Robert Trout, and the broadcast also marked the radio debut of Edward R. Murrow.
What closes now, after nearly 100 years, is the network’s broadcast itself—scheduled to stop after the 11:31 p.m. newscast on Friday, May 22—along with the radio team behind it. The final sign-off lands after CBS leadership pointed to a need to change course amid “challenging economic realities. ” leaving many affiliated stations with a sudden gap in the news programming they have long relied on.
CBS News Radio CBS radio shutdown May 22 Bari Weiss Tom Cibrowski WCBS WBBM KCBS media economics news programming
So they’re just like… off the air? That’s wild.
“Challenging economic realities” lol. That usually means they didn’t wanna pay people anymore. I barely listen to radio but I always assumed it was cheaper than podcasts.
Wait, is this because Bari Weiss is taking over everything? I saw something about her name and now radio is shutting down?? Idk I could be mixing stuff up, but seems connected.
700 stations tho… that’s like a lot of places. Wouldn’t they just shrink it instead of full stop? Sounds like they were doing those 3-6 minute newscasts and bottom of the hour updates forever, and now they just kill it at 11:31 pm like it’s a sports game. Also CBS records in NYC so it’s kinda sad, like a whole format is disappearing.