Friday, April 7, 2017

NBC News Radio

Main article: NBC News § NBC News Radio
On March 2, 2012, Dial Global announced they would discontinue distributing newscasts from CNN Radio and instead make NBC News Radio a full-time operation. As NBC owns the content but not the distribution system, this marks the first time since 2004 that full-length radio news would be presented under the "NBC" banner. On-the-hour newscasts will be up to 6 minutes long and reports on the half hour will be 3 minutes in length.[52] In a reversal of the original NBC Radio Network's dismantlement, the majority of CNN Radio affiliates were switched to NBC on April 1, 2012.[53]
Prior to this announcement, on the November 28, 2011 program, First Light began being identified once again as coming "on NBC Radio from Dial Global/the Dial Global Radio Network," this time throughout the program. While the conclusion airs the Dial Global network sounder (an audible chime not identifiable with NBC) this marks a re-emphasis of the "NBC" brand and likely combination with NBC News Radio.
Dial Global also distributes the audio simulcast of Meet The Press, the monologues of NBC's late night television programming, CNBC radio reports, and distribution of localized forecasts for The Weather Channel, which effectively unites all of NBC's programming under one syndicator.
Dial Global also announced it would be affiliating its sports department with NBC Sports to launch NBC Sports Radio, a 24-hour programming service, beginning in fall 2012.
Dial Global reverted to the name Westwood One in September 2013 when Cumulus Media (which itself controls the former ABC Radio Network and station group, as well as distribution rights to ABC News Radio) acquired a share of the network.
Westwood One would retire the NBC News Radio brand on December 15, 2014, concurrent with the soft launch of a news service provided by the syndicator and its parent company, Cumulus Media, following a news content/actuality sharing deal between Westwood One and CNN. While the NBC name is still being used on NBC Sports Radio, there is no longer any hourly newscast produced with the "NBC Radio" name. In addition, on December 18, 2014, First Light, the lone remaining program from the original "NBC Radio Network", discontinued use of the "NBC Radio" name on-air, being branded exclusively as a Westwood One program since that day. The long 88-year history of the original NBC Red/Radio Network - including the then-current NBC News Radio era - came to an end.
Also as a result of this shutdown and dissolution, this left only ABC and CBS as the lone-remaining radio networks to still have an association with Cumulus/Westwood One from December 18, 2014 to January 1, 2015. However, ABC (through its parent company, The Walt Disney Company) severed all ties from Cumulus/Westwood One starting January 1, 2015 and once again is an in-house radio network under the helm of Disney. As a result of this, Cumulus/Westwood One is CBS-exclusive for the foreseeable future as rival network Fox Broadcasting Company has an exclusive deal with its chief competitor, Premiere Networks owned by chief rival iHeartMedia.
NBC News Radio has been distributed by iHeartMedia and its TTWN Networks since July 2016. It is provided to the network's 24/7 News Source affiliates and includes a top of the hour newscast along with other audio content which is heard on over 1000 radio stations,[54] so for the foreseeable future NBC's presence on radio will remain on the air.
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Rebranding

In 1989, the NBC Radio Network as an independent programming service ceased to exist, becoming a brand-name for content produced by Westwood One. The Sunday morning religious program The Eternal Light, for years the only non-news program on the networks' lineup, also ended its long run at the same time. NBC Radio's news and engineering operations in New York were moved to Arlington and combined with the Mutual Broadcasting System, which Westwood One had acquired in 1985 and essentially merged with NBC Radio. However, both networks' newscasts remained separate and distinct; while field reporters were shared, each network had different formats and anchors.[citation needed]
NBC Radio's logo from NBC's May 12, 1986 corporate-wide re-branding until its 2004 dissolution. Following the sale to Westwood One, a byline would be affixed in most cases. The current NBC News Radio logo is styled in the same manner.
By 1992, however, both NBC Radio and Mutual's newscasts were streamlined further and took on similar formats. The two networks aired their own newscasts between 6 am and 10 pm eastern time weekdays, but one newscast would be produced each hour for use on both networks on overnights and weekends. The only differences between those newscasts were the recorded introductions, commercials and concluding network identifications. NBC Radio's and Mutual's distinct weekend sportscasts were canceled in favor of "The Scoreboard," a generic, one-minute hourly sportscast, airing seven times each on Saturdays and Sundays.[47] As a result, most major-market NBC Radio affiliates eventually switched over to either CBS, ABC or CNN Radio throughout the 1990s, leaving only small-market and rural stations or stations that aired only the network-fed commercials.[48]
Only one new program was ever introduced by NBC following the sale: an early morning news magazine and talk show by the name of First Light, hosted by Dirk Van, which was intended as a complement to Mutual's like-formatted "America In The Morning." "The Source" and "Talknet" services would continue on for several years under the "NBC" brand. Throughout the late 1990s, the latter consisted solely of Bruce Williams' talk show until his departure from the network on June 15, 2001, thereby ending the "Talknet" service for good.[citation needed]
Westwood One entered into an operations agreement with Infinity Broadcasting in 1994, agreeing to handle syndication for both Don Imus and Howard Stern, while Infinity would take over Westwood One's management, sales and operations,[49] and by December 1996, CBS's new parent company, Westinghouse, acquired Infinity for just shy of $5 billion.[50] The direct descendants of the three original U.S. network companies – NBC, CBS and Mutual – had merged. On August 31, 1998, Mutual/NBC's Arlington operation closed, leaving CBS Radio staff directly responsible for the production of "Mutual" and "NBC"-branded newscasts from CBS' New York facilities.[citation needed]
Westwood One decided to retire the Mutual brand name as a programming service on May 17, 1999. On that same day, the production of "NBC"-branded newscasts also were limited to weekday mornings (5 a.m. – 10 a.m. EST), while CNN Radio newscasts were fed to affiliates during the rest of the day and weekends. These "NBC" newscasts, still produced by CBS Radio staff, were now just generic newscasts which had a terse "This is the NBC Radio Network" identification at the newscasts' conclusion. Otherwise, no mention of NBC was given beyond the introductory sounder at the beginning. Westwood One still promoted the NBC Radio Network on their corporate website, mentioning that "The NBC Network delivers a large audience of adult female listeners ... comprised of Adult Contemporary, Country, Oldies, Nostalgia and Jazz music stations."[48]
Meanwhile, Westwood One also began to distribute Fox News Radio in 2001 in an arrangement with the cable network of the same name, with "First Light" host Dirk Van as their first morning-drive anchor. After that arrangement ended, Westwood One launched NBC News Radio in its place on March 31, 2003, consisting of news updates read by CNBC anchors and reporters, but with the content written by Westwood One staff. (Eventually, the newscasts would come to be written and anchored by staff from NBC News and MSNBC.) In addition, these are brief one-minute news updates fed only on weekdays from 6 am – 10 p.m. EST, as opposed to the original five-minute-long newscasts. Those original "NBC"-branded newscasts, overlapped with NBC News Radio's newscasts until finally ceasing production at or around May 2004.[citation needed]
Dial Global acquired the majority of Westwood One's assets on October 21, 2011, including the distribution rights to NBC News Radio. Only one program from the original NBC Radio Network remains on the air: First Light, and had the NBC peacock embedded into the show logo well into the late 1990s. After the "NBC"-branded newscasts were generally phased out, the show was then branded as a Westwood One product, but host Dirk Van would still make the brief announcement, "From Westwood One, this is NBC Radio" at the halfway point and conclusion of every show.[citation needed]
This practice officially ended in the middle of the October 27, 2011 program, as Dial Global's purchase of Westwood One resulted in a wholesale re-branding of all Westwood One programming.[51] First Light became entirely identified as a "Dial Global Radio Network" program the next day, thereby removing (at least temporarily) the very last trace of the original network from active use.[citation needed]

NBC News Radio

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Divestiture

NBC Radio's logo from 1979 until 1986, utilizing the "Proud N" NBC-TV logo.
In February 1984, NBC sold WRC in Washington to Greater Media for $3.6 million.[34] WRC was later rechristened WWRC, and this sale ultimately would be the start of NBC's exit from the radio business altogether.[citation needed]
General Electric would reacquire NBC's parent company, RCA, in early 1986.[35] Shortly thereafter, GE announced intentions to sell off the entire radio division. The reasons for this were threefold: first, the radio network and station group had struggled to make a profit for the past several years (compounded by flagship station WNBC having been in a severe ratings crisis due to a dayparted patchwork format). Secondly, FCC ownership rules at the time did not allow a new owner outside of broadcasting – as General Electric was a manufacturer – to own both radio and television stations in the same market. Thirdly, GE had already divested their existing radio properties (including the aforementioned WJIB), deciding that the radio business, as well as RCA's, did not fit their strategic objectives. The remainder of RCA was divided and spun off to Bertelsmann and Thomson SA.[36] Prior to 1986, operating NBC Radio was done almost out of tradition by RCA and was considered to be in the "public good," an attitude that started to change with the advent of deregulation (including the repeal of the "Fairness Doctrine").[citation needed]
On July 20, 1987, Westwood One acquired the programming assets of the NBC Radio Network, The Source and Talknet in a $50 million deal.[37] The NBC-owned stations were sold to various buyers over the next two years, in the following manner:
  • Chicago: WMAQ was acquired by Westinghouse Broadcasting in November 1987.[38] The new owners were allowed to retain both WMAQ's call sign and plans to move into new studios at the NBC Tower in Chicago, which opened in 1989. WMAQ's talk programming was replaced by an all-news format patterned after Westinghouse's all-news outlets in New York City, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. WKQX was packaged along with four other stations to Emmis Communications of Indianapolis in February 1988[39] and notably held a modern rock format from 1992 until 2011.[citation needed]
  • Washington, D.C.: In April 1988, WKYS was sold to minority-controlled Albimar Communications, who would keep the station's urban contemporary format intact.[40] Albimar would go on to encounter many financial troubles while owning WKYS, resulting in the station's sale to a local firm, the nascent Radio One in late 1994.[41] WKYS would end up becoming one of the flagship stations in the minority-owned broadcast chain.[citation needed]
  • New York City: Emmis Communications purchased both WNBC and WYNY, but as Emmis already owned an AM/FM combination in New York (WFAN and WQHT) the company was required to sell off two frequencies.[42] Emmis chose to move its existing stations to the former NBC frequencies, sparking a somewhat complicated frequency switch that occurred in two parts during the fall of 1988. On September 22, WQHT moved to WYNY's former home at 97.1 FM, and Westwood One acquired WYNY's intellectual property (call letters and format) and WQHT's former dial position (103.5 FM) from Emmis.[43] Then, on October 7, WNBC was shut down and WFAN's intellectual property took over the 660 kHz frequency.[44] (WFAN's previous 1050 kHz frequency was eventually sold to the publishers of The Jewish Daily Forward). WFAN hired WNBC's Don Imus and grafted his morning show onto their station, and also inherited WNBC's play-by-play rights to the New York Rangers and the New York Knicks. In addition to WFAN's existing contract with the New York Mets, the switch to 660 AM helped to boost that station's fledgling sports radio format.[45]
  • Boston: WJIB went to Emmis in the same deal, and its beautiful music format was replaced with smooth jazz in 1990, along with a call letter change.[citation needed]
  • San Francisco: Upon Emmis' takeover of KYUU, the new owners changed the station's format to contemporary hit radio from adult contemporary, and changed the call sign to KXXX. Emmis sold the station within two years after it failed to make ratings headway. KNBR was the final radio property owned by NBC when it was unloaded in March 1989 to Susquehanna Radio Corporation.[46] A year later KNBR adopted an all-sports format built around The Rush Limbaugh Show and the San Francisco Giants and modeled after WFAN, the successor of KNBR's former sister station WNBC.[citation needed]
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1956 trade with Westinghouse

1956 trade with Westinghouse

In 1956, NBC sought to get an owned-and-operated television station in the Philadelphia market, so it forced a station ownership/call sign swap with Westinghouse Broadcasting. NBC acquired Westinghouse's KYW radio and WPTZ television in Philadelphia (which became WRCV-AM-TV, for the "RCA Victor" record label) while Westinghouse received NBC's WTAM-AM-FM and WNBK television in Cleveland (all of which took the KYW call signs).[22] Westinghouse also received $3 million in cash compensation.[23]
After Westinghouse expressed its unhappiness with the arrangement, the United States Department of Justice took NBC to court in late 1956. In a civil antitrust lawsuit filed against NBC and RCA, Westinghouse claimed the network threatened to pull their TV affiliation from Westinghouse's Philadelphia and Boston stations, and withhold an affiliation from their Pittsburgh TV property if Westinghouse did not agree to the trade.[24] In August 1964 NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC—but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed.[25] Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, the Supreme Court declared the trade null and void in June 1965; the KYW call letters were moved back to Philadelphia with Westinghouse while NBC rechristened the Cleveland stations as WKYC-AM-FM-TV, a derivative of KYW.[26] NBC kept ownership of the Cleveland radio stations until 1972 before selling them off to Ohio Communications;[27] the AM station reverted to its original WTAM call sign in July 1996.

Major League Baseball (1957-1975)

In 1957, NBC Radio won the rights to broadcast the Major League Baseball All Star Game and World Series from Mutual Radio, who had held exclusive rights since 1942 and 1939 respectively for both events. It gave NBC sole control of the big events in baseball as they had been exclusively airing both the All Star Game and World Series on television since 1947. NBC ended its radio association with baseball after the 1975 season in order to clear space for its 24 hour "News And Information" service programming, though it would continue broadcasting on the television side until 1989 (while splitting coverage with ABC in all but the first year of that period). [28]

Monitor

Main article: Monitor (NBC Radio)
NBC Radio's last major programming push, in 1955, was Monitor, a continuous, all-weekend mixture of music, news, interviews and features with a variety of hosts, including such well-known television personalities as Dave Garroway, Hugh Downs, Ed McMahon, Joe Garagiola and Gene Rayburn. The potpourri also tried to keep vintage radio alive in featuring segments from Jim and Marian Jordan (in character as Fibber McGee and Molly), Ethel and Albert and iconoclastic satirist Henry Morgan.
Monitor was a success for a number of years, but after the mid-1960s, local stations, especially in larger markets, became increasingly reluctant to break from their established formats to run non-conforming network programming. After Monitor went off the air in early 1975, there was little left of NBC Radio beyond hourly newscasts, news-related features and the half-hour-long Sunday morning religious program The Eternal Light. This, combined with ABC Radio's split into four separate radio services in 1968, left NBC outnumbered with their affiliate count in comparison to ABC, CBS Radio and Mutual.

Other programming attempts

NBC "News and Information Service" logo
Later in 1975, NBC launched the NBC News and Information Service (also referred to as "NIS"), which provided up to 55 minutes of news per hour around the clock to local stations that wanted to adopt an all-news format.[29] Not surprisingly, NIS achieved clearances on NBC's FM stations in New York (WNBC-FM, which became WNWS), Chicago (WJOI, the former WMAQ-FM which was renamed WNIS) and San Francisco (KNAI, the former KNBR-FM). WRC in Washington also picked it up, migrating their Top 40 format onto FM sister station WKYS (which would be blown up weeks later in favor of disco music). Other major affiliates for the NIS service included WBAL-FM in Baltimore, KHVH in Honolulu, and KQV in Pittsburgh.[30][31]
The NIS service attracted several dozen subscribers, but not enough to allow NBC to project that it would ever become profitable, and it was discontinued after two years.[32] (KQV, however, has successfully retained their all-news formats with local production to the present day.) After the demise of NIS, NBC installed a talk radio format at WRC and went with music on the FMs in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, respectively renaming them as WYNY, WKQX, and KYUU.
Near the end of the 1970s, NBC started "The Source", a modestly successful secondary network that provided news and short features to FM rock stations. In 1981, NBC created NBC Talknet, an advice-oriented talk radio network designated for the late night hours. It was one of NBC's most successful ventures in years and lasted well into the 1990s, led by advice host Sally Jessy Raphael (until her 1987 departure) and personal finance talker Bruce Williams.
NBC made its final radio station acquisition around this time: it bought Boston beautiful music outlet WJIB in 1983 from General Electric, which was divesting itself of its radio properties.[33]
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After the Golden Age of Radio

Development of FM and television

NBC and RCA were one of the key forces in the development of television in the 1930s and 1940s, dating back to New York City experimental station WX2BS in 1928. Before the American entry into World War II in 1941, WX2BS was officially licensed as WNBT. By the late 1940s, NBC would complement most of their owned-and-operated stations with an adjunct FM signal and a television counterpart.[citation needed]
By the end of 1950, NBC's owned-and-operated stations were located in New York City (WNBC-AM-FM, changed from WEAF in 1946, and WNBT); Chicago (WMAQ-AM-FM and WNBQ); Cleveland (WTAM-AM-FM and WNBK); Washington, D.C. (WRC-AM-FM and WNBW); Los Angeles (KNBH television); Denver (KOA, purchased in 1941 and KOA-FM); and San Francisco (KNBC-AM-FM). NBC had also sought a TV sister for KNBC in San Francisco, but lost in a comparative bidding war to the San Francisco Chronicle, whose KRON-TV signed on as an NBC affiliate in 1949; that station maintained its association with the network until 2001. NBC sold the Denver outlets to a group that included one of its radio stars, Bob Hope, in 1952.[12][13]
Many NBC radio stars gravitated to television as it became more popular in the 1950s. Toscanini made his ten television appearances on NBC between 1948 and 1952. In 1950, the network sanctioned The Big Show, a 90-minute radio variety show that harked back to radio's earliest musical variety style but with sophisticated comedy and drama and featuring stage legend Tallulah Bankhead as its host. It aimed to keep classic radio alive as television matured and to challenge CBS's Sunday night lineup—much of which had jumped there from NBC in the late 1940s, including (and especially) Jack Benny. But The Big Show's initial success didn't last despite critics' praises; the show endured only two years, with NBC said to lose a million dollars on the project.[citation needed]
To reflect RCA's ownership of NBC, some of their radio and television stations call letters were changed to "RCA"-derived callsigns in October 1954. WNBC/WNBT in New York became WRCA-AM-FM-TV, WNBW television in Washington became WRC-TV, and KNBH television in Los Angeles became KRCA.[14] By 1960, the New York flagship radio outlets reverted to WNBC-AM-FM and the television station became WNBC-TV.[15] In 1962 KRCA in Los Angeles became KNBC (TV), while the former KNBC-AM-FM in San Francisco became KNBR-AM-FM.[16] WNBQ television in Chicago would become WMAQ-TV in 1964.[17]
During this period NBC Radio purchased three additional stations: WKNB in New Britain, Connecticut in late 1956; and WJAS and WJAS-FM in Pittsburgh, in 1957.[18][19] The acquisition of WJAS was made to offset the defection of KDKA from the network several years earlier, while WKNB was a throw-in along with its sister television station. NBC had no interest in owning WKNB, a daytime-only station in the shadow of WTIC, its powerful Hartford affiliate. The network finally sold WKNB in 1960; the Pittsburgh outlets were sold in 1972.[20][21]
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Affiliates

By 1939, NBC's Red and Blue Networks, and the Columbia and Mutual Broadcasting Systems, offered nationwide coverage.[10] NBC advertising rate cards of the period listed "basic" and "supplemental" affiliated stations. Advertisers were encouraged to buy time for their programs on the full "basic" line-up (plus any "supplemental" stations they wished) but this was open to negotiation. It was not unusual for Red Network advertisers to place shows on Blue Network stations in certain markets (and the other way around). Supplemental stations were generally located in smaller cities away from the network trunk lines. Such stations were usually offered to advertisers as "supplemental stations" on both the Red and Blue Network line-ups.[11]

East affiliates

Basic

Supplemental

Midwest affliliates

Basic

  • KSD (St. Louis)
  • KGIR (Cape Girardeau MO)
  • KSTP (St. Paul)
  • WDAF (Kansas City)
  • WHO (Des Moines)
  • WIRE (Indianapolis)
  • WMAQ (Chicago)
  • WOC (Davenport, IA)
  • WOW (Omaha)

Supplemental

  • KANS (Wichita, KS)
  • KFYR (Bismarck)
  • KGBX (Springfield, MO)
  • KOAM (Pittsburg, KS)
  • KSOO (Sioux Falls)
  • WBOW (Terre Haute)
  • WCFL (Chicago)
  • WCKY (Cincinnati)
  • WDAY (Fargo)
  • WEBC (Duluth)
  • WGBF (Evansville)
  • WGL (Fort Wayne)
  • WLBA
  • WOOD (Grand Rapids)
  • WTMJ (Milwaukee)

South affiliates

Basic

Supplemental

Mountain affiliates

Basic

  • KOA (Denver)
  • KDYL (Salt Lake City)

Supplemental

Pacific affliliates

Basic

  • KFI (Los Angeles)
  • KCW
  • KOMO (Seattle)
  • KHQ (Spokane)
  • KPO (San Francisco)

Supplemental

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Notable programs

These notable programs were broadcast on the NBC Red Network and its successor, the NBC Radio Network.
The network provided a rich variety of classical concert broadcasts including performances by the Metropolitan Opera (1931–40)[9]:455 and the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–54) conducted by Arturo Toscanini.[9]:174–180 Notable series include the General Motors Concerts (1929–37) and The Eastman School of Music Symphony (1932–42).[9]:176–177
From 1935 to 1950 the network also presented numerous live remote broadcasts of popular music from ballrooms, hotels, supper clubs and Army camps. Among the band leaders with regular time slots on NBC were Carmen Cavallaro, Nat King Cole, Xavier Cugat, Tommy Dorsey, Eddy Duchin, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Guy Lombardo, Glenn Miller, Leo Reisman and Paul Whiteman.[9]:60–74
NBC radio news included regular broadcasts by journalists and commentators including Morgan Beatty, Alex Dreier, Pauline Frederick, Floyd Gibbons, John Gunther, Richard Harkness, George Hicks, H. V. Kaltenborn, John MacVane, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Dorothy Thompson, Edward Tomlinson and Hendrik Willem van Loon.[9]:489–506
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