Good night and good luck and goodbye — CBS News Radio signs off after nearly 100 years

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Steve Kathan, a veteran radio journalist and lifelong fan of CBS News Radio, felt the significance of his words as he delivered the final broadcast of “World News Roundup” on Friday.

“After many years, America’s longest-running newscast is ending,” Kathan announced from the small, dimly lit studio at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan. He explained that the program first aired on March 13, 1938.

Kathan played a recording of Edward R. Murrow, the famous CBS News journalist, announcing the start of his program with the words, “the best in radio reporting is yet to be — good night and good luck.”

“And goodbye,” said Kathan, marking the end of nearly 23,000 broadcasts of the ten-minute CBS radio program. A last news report was planned for later that Friday night.

CBS News Radio and its 26 staff members were affected by recent budget cuts at Paramount’s news division, which were announced in March. The company stated that changes in radio programming, combined with financial difficulties, led to the decision to discontinue the service.

Sources within CBS News say the radio division has been losing money for years, and revenue recently dropped to around $67,000 per month. Despite these financial struggles, CBS continued to operate the service because it was still a valuable way to promote CBS News and reach a large audience of about 20 million listeners weekly.

For years, company leaders have avoided shutting down the radio division because of its long-standing reputation. Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief of CBS News, also hesitated to make cuts, according to insiders. However, with Paramount now carrying significant debt from acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, preserving the division’s history is becoming less of a priority as the company focuses on reducing expenses.

For decades, rumors have circulated about CBS potentially leaving the radio business, starting with Larry Tisch’s purchase of the company in the 1980s. As Kathan, a 39-year employee, put it, ‘It always felt like someone would eventually make that decision.’

Even as television became the most popular source of news, CBS News Radio continued to be a constant presence, providing a running account of American life, as described by Kathan.

Growing up in Connecticut, Kathan remembers watching Douglas Edwards deliver news updates between his mother’s favorite CBS soap operas. Edwards was a trusted evening news anchor for twenty years. Later, when Kathan joined CBS News in 1987 as a writer and producer, he often saw Edwards and other well-known figures from the news division around the building before they went on air for the afternoon news.

Kathan explained that simply collaborating with these experts pushed you to improve your own work. You felt motivated to earn the same level of trust from the audience that they already had.

I remember discovering “World News Roundup” while researching the history of broadcast journalism, and it’s amazing to think about its origins. It really hit its stride during World War II. Edward R. Murrow, along with the other brave reporters at CBS News, were delivering live, on-the-ground reports straight from Europe – a truly groundbreaking feat for the time. It wasn’t just news; it was being there, and that made all the difference.

After television became the main source of shows and entertainment, CBS focused its radio division—which started in 1927—on news and information. In 1967, they changed their AM radio stations, including KNX in Los Angeles, to broadcast news around the clock.

The stations covered local happenings like news, traffic, weather, and sports, but they also regularly included reports from CBS News Radio at the beginning of each hour and sprinkled in other features throughout the day.

Listeners grew accustomed to the voices of experienced CBS News reporters like Edwards, Dallas Townsend, Reid Collins, Richard C. Hottelet, and Christopher Glenn, who delivered news from around the nation and the world. A distinctive five-note chime, meant to sound like a telegraph, always announced the broadcasts. Daily, audiences also heard insightful analysis from Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite.

Charles Osgood became a popular personality for the radio network, starting as an anchor at WCBS in New York. He gained national recognition in 1971 with his twice-a-day feature, “The Osgood File.”

Osgood was known for his brief, clearly written reports, delivered in a smooth and pleasant voice. He sometimes added poetic commentary, leading CBS News to jokingly name him their poet-in-residence.

Hollywood Inc.

John Catsimatidis, a successful businessman known for his supermarkets and oil company, purchased radio station WABC and dramatically improved its performance, turning it from a struggling station into a leading one.

Charles Osgood was incredibly popular, with only Paul Harvey of ABC Radio achieving similar recognition. Advertisers loved his reassuring voice so much that CBS News let him deliver commercials. Even after becoming a TV host on “CBS News Sunday Morning” in the 1990s, he continued to sign off as if he were still on the radio, saying, “I’ll see you on the radio.” He delivered his last “Osgood File” report in 2017.

In 2017, CBS sold its radio stations, but it kept creating and sharing its TV and radio shows, even as it dealt with increasing competition from online platforms.

According to Dustin Gervais, CBS News Radio has faced challenges as advertisers increasingly favor digital audio platforms, which allow for more precise targeting of audiences. This trend is visible in radio advertising revenue, which decreased slightly by around 2% to $14.37 billion, as reported by Kagan. However, digital advertising revenue continues to rise, reaching over $1.75 billion.

As a big fan of how news is evolving, I found it really interesting to hear from Charles Forelle at CBS News. He basically said they’re shifting away from traditional newscasts and focusing on audio journalism through podcasts. It sounds like they’re experimenting with a lot of different formats – less straight news reading and more creative audio experiences. It’s cool to see them embracing a new approach!

I think a lot of people assume radio’s struggles are just about competing with digital platforms, but it actually goes back further than that. Professor Michael Socolow points out that things started to really change in 1996 when the rules around ownership were relaxed. Companies started buying up tons of stations, and that led to a situation where owners were heavily in debt and couldn’t afford to invest in good content. That really hurt places like CBS News Radio and other content providers.

According to Socolow, large corporations weakened radio long before people stopped finding it useful. He believes this decline began with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

After being laid off from CBS News Radio, several of the 26 affected employees have joined Worldwide News Network, a new service created by John Catsimatidis, who also owns the popular New York talk radio station WABC. The service launches this Saturday and will provide news affiliates nationwide with straightforward, factual reporting and breaking news.

CBS News Radio’s largest client, the 24/7 news stations operated by Audacy—like KNX—have moved to ABC News Audio for their news content.

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2026-05-23 00:31