It was an expected move at the nation’s top-billing radio station and one of North America’s most-consumed commercially licensed all-News outlets: Hubbard’s WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C., shifted its top-of-the-hour newscasts to ABC News Radio ahead of the pending demise last week of CBS News Radio.
Now, notable all-News stations once owned by CBS Radio have followed suit.
In an announcement shared late Friday on its LinkedIn platform, Audacy Inc. confirmed that it is “expanding” its relationship with ABC News Audio across many of its spoken word stations across the U.S.
These include all-News stations once under the ownership of CBS Radio, which was acquired by Audacy predecessor Entercom in a now ill-fated tax-free merger directed by former company head David Field.
“The addition of ABC News Audio ensures listeners across the country continue to receive trusted national and international news coverage, while our stations continue to deliver best-in-class local journalism in every market we serve,” Audacy said.
While CBS News Radio was the top-of-the-hour content supplier on such stations as KCBS Radio in San Francisco, KNX in Los Angeles and WBBM Radio in Chicago, ABC News Audio was already in play at one-time Westinghouse/Group W stations that historically offered a 22-minute news clock hyperfocused on traffic, weather, and local headlines. These stations include WINS Radio in New York and KYW Radio in Philadelphia.
With ABC News Radio now the top-of-the-hour news source across Audacy stations, the company shared, “Our focus remains on serving audiences with the live, local and trusted news coverage they rely on every day, and we’re excited to continue building on our partnership with ABC to deliver premium audio journalism nationwide.”
