Story perspectives

CBS News Radio Ends 100-Year Run, 700 Affiliates Lose

5/23/2026

Summary

CBS Radio Closes

CBS News Radio ceased operations on May 22, 2026, ending its 100-year service after a newscast that ended with Edward R. Murrow’s sign-off.
The March announcement by CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss cited shifting programming strategies, economic challenges, and the Paramount-Skydance ownership change.
The closure eliminates all staff, impacts 700 affiliate stations, and was condemned by the Writers Guild of America, East as reckless for eroding a vital news source.

Summary

Weiss Cuts CBS

Bari Weiss’s March decision to cut CBS radio programming ended the network’s historic news service.
His grandfather built CBS News Radio and CBS Television, barred family from CBS jobs, and approved his enrollment in Friendly’s Columbia seminars because Friendly quit after CBS aired I Love Lucy instead of Vietnam War hearings.
He calls CBS’s news division the ‘crown jewel’ of the Tiffany Network and notes Tom Cibrowski’s involvement in the radio-service shutdown.

Summary

CBS Radio Cuts

The March cuts at CBS followed an October round of layoffs that had already reduced staff.
SiriusXM’s Potus channel airs CBS News Radio updates, which many listeners trust as their most reliable source.
National advertisers fund the broadcasts.
Recent ratings show the CBS Evening News has fallen to third place among network newscasts.
The author argues that radio can remain vital only if it receives adequate resources.

History

Historical Context

In October 1938 Orson Welles’s Mercury Theatre on the Air aired “The War of the Worlds,” reaching about six million listeners; roughly 1.7 million mistook it for news and 1.2 million were frightened, prompting the FCC to tighten broadcast standards. That regulatory legacy frames today’s CBS News Radio shutdown under Tom Cibrowski, a reminder of radio’s enduring power.

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CBS Radio Closes

CBS News Radio ceased operations on May 22, 2026, ending its 100-year service after a newscast that ended with Edward R. Murrow’s sign-off.
The March announcement by CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss cited shifting programming strategies, economic challenges, and the Paramount-Skydance ownership change.
The closure eliminates all staff, impacts 700 affiliate stations, and was condemned by the Writers Guild of America, East as reckless for eroding a vital news source.

1 / 4