NEW YORK — The forthcoming global national radio news service from the owner of WABC Radio has revealed when it will debut. And, its timing is designed to coincide with the conclusion of the CBS News Radio service.
The John Catsimatidis-owned Red Apple Audio Networks will formally shift into the national news arena with the debut of the Worldwide News Network at Midnight Eastern on Saturday, May 23.
It will be a 24-hour radio news service “built to deliver hard news, breaking headlines, and fact-driven reporting to affiliates across the country.” As previously reported, the operation will be led by the recently arrived Lee Harris, now Vice President of News for the fledgling Worldwide News Network and for WABC Radio in New York.
The service plans to immediately feed affiliate stations top and bottom of the hour newscasts every hour, seven days a week. To accomplish this, Red Apple has hired CBS Radio broadcast journalists Michael Wallace, Cooper Lawrence, Bill Rehkopf, and Matt Pieper as part of what the Catsimatidis-led operation says will be “a rapid buildout of the network’s team of elite news anchors, correspondents, writers, and producers.”
“We are assembling top-tier journalists and building a modern radio news operation rooted in speed, authority, and facts — one that stations can rely on and listeners can trust,” Harris said.
For Red Apple Media President Chad Lopez, “There is a huge opening right now for credible, immediate, no-nonsense reporting. Listeners want to know what happened, why it matters, and what’s happening next. That’s the lane Worldwide News Network is taking.”
For Catsimatidis, who made his fortune with venerable New York supermarket chain Gristedes, “Our mission is to be the most trusted news gathering organization in media. We are creating a powerful, around-the-clock newsroom designed to compete at the highest level of broadcast audio news. Facts are what will drive the Worldwide News Network. We’re looking forward to our expansion in the European markets.”
Stations interested in learning more about the Worldwide News Network may contact Sue Falco at [email protected].
