Farewell, CBS Radio

Back again for another go is our old friend Bill Griffiths, with another of his wonderful guest essays. This time out, he's looking back on the end of an era: the demise of CBS Radio News. Here's Bill! 

by Bill Griffiths

This guest essay will divert a bit from the usual discussions of classic television and TV Guide.  

The National Broadcasting Company began radio operations on November 15, 1926.  A secondary NBC service known as the Blue Network was launched January 1, 1927.  In the early 1940’s, the Federal Communications Commission forced NBC to divest itself of one of its networks.  This ultimately resulted in the 1943 sale of Blue to Edward J. Noble, chairman of the Live Savers Candy Company.  Noble renamed the Blue Network to the American Broadcasting Company in 1945. On October 29, 1934 the Mutual Broadcasting System was incorporated. This was a cooperative service with affiliated stations producing and sharing programming. 

However, the network that would become NBC’s most significant rival in operations and programming began on January 27, 1927. First known as United Independent Broadcasters, this financially struggling network soon received a significant investment from the Columbia Phonograph Company and would change its name to the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System on September 18th of that same year.  In 1928, the name was again modified to the Columbia Broadcasting System. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, CBS—or “Columbia” as it was commonly referred to on-air—would continue to increase its number of affiliates. The quality of entertainment programming would improve. But where CBS would especially distinguish itself from the competition was in News, having launched its own division in 1934. 

Soon broadcast history will once again be made and will be one of regret. On May 22, 2026, CBS News Radio, better known as the CBS Radio Network, will cease to exist on about 700 stations. Given the continually evolving nature of media and resulting news consumption, this decision was inevitable. How many younger people listen to traditional radio, let alone watch traditional television? I admit that, on occasion, if I am in my car and the top of the hour comes around, I’ll tune in the local CBS affiliate mainly for the nostalgic reason of hearing the classic top-of-the-hour CBS Bong and familiar five-note sounder. 

The time tone dates back decades and has been a huge, if underappreciated, part of CBS history. Even while strongly identified with radio, it was heard at the start of the hour on television before being dropped sometime in the 1980’s due to advanced automation. From 1962 to 2009, CBS Radio also utilized a series of “chirp” cues as part of the Net ALERT system. For example, one chirp preceded the start of programs and as a signal if stations wanted to cut away from the network for a commercial break. Three “chirps” (later seven) signaled a closed-circuit feed only for the benefit of affiliates, nine “chirps” indicated an incoming bulletin, and ultimately, fifteen “chirps” were to be used in the event of a national emergency.  

The main news sounder itself was introduced in 1968 and by my count has been updated only four times. Other variations of the sounder were created for Sports, Public Affairs and Lifestyle reports, all since retired.  There was even a vocalization of the sounder: “C-B-S- RA-DIO”. For their part, the other major radio networks—NBC, ABC and Mutual—all used distinctive cues and themes. Who else remembers Mutual’s prominent “BEE-DOOP”? Or ABC’s different sounders when its audio offerings were restructured on January 1, 1968 into four specialized services: Information, Contemporary, Entertainment and FM? Many mornings during the 1980’s I listened to Howard Cosell’s Speaking of Sports commentary that opened and closed with the unique ABC Contemporary music. 

The ABC and CBS Radio themes have something in common: they were composed by Eric Siday and his company, Identitones. Siday pioneered the use of “electroacoustic music” in television and radio IDs. He also collaborated with Robert Moog in developing the Moog Synthesizer. Among Siday’s recognized works are the Maxwell House percolating coffee pot commercials, the 1965 CBS “In Color” bumper, the 1965-74 Screen Gems closing logo (affectionally known to aficionados as the “S from Hell”), late 1960s identifications for National Educational Television, a brief five-note jingle used in ABC television promos and IDs from the mid 1960’s through the early 1970’s and many more. Such treasured audio cues have been preserved on YouTube, Internet Archive, and other websites.

The demise of CBS Radio is a sad occasion. Ninety-nine years is a good run, yet I doubt its passing will be widely missed. Sure, some in the media community are in mourning; quite a few have expressed their anger at CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. Yet some reports have indicated she wanted the radio division to continue, but was overruled by upper management. Regardless, the newscasts themselves are little more than headlines with any accompanying reports lasting mere seconds. It’s a considerable decline from when news radio served as the primary source for keeping people “up to the minute” on breaking news events. When journalists and pundits criticize the state of CBS News and how it isn’t up to the stature of the days of Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite, it rings hollow. That era faded away a long time ago.  

An argument could be made that the beginning of the end occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, with the transition from offering a full schedule of programming to primarily delivering newscasts and informative features; a major exception was The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, which enjoyed a successful run from January 1974 to December 1982.  Perhaps it was the decision to begin selling off individual stations in the early 2000’s, mirroring what happened with NBC Radio O&O’s in the late 1980’s. 

We can also point to the November 2017 merger of CBS Radio with Intercom Communications Corporation, which rebranded on March 30, 2021 as Audacy Inc.  Then, New York’s WCBS 880AM ended its 57-year all-news format on August 26, 2024, becoming WHSQ and programming ESPN sports talk. Most recently, the CBS World News Roundup Late Edition (formally The World Tonight) and the CBS News Weekend Roundup were quietly discontinued at the end of 2025. One more indication would be the lack of actual commercial sponsorships being replaced by promos for CBS-related podcasts and television shows.  

The end of CBS Radio effectively brings the cancellation of the longest-running audio newscast: The CBS World News Roundup. Aired as a one-time special on Sunday, March 13, 1938, listeners were updated on deteriorating conditions in Europe as the continent headed towards war. Anchored by Robert Trout, a segment live from Vienna, Austria (which had been annexed by Nazi Germany the day before) marked the first time Murrow was heard on-air. The program was deemed a major success and soon other Roundup specials were being scheduled. Eventually, it would evolve into the daily The World Today and, ultimately, World News Roundup. 

Other names associated with morning and evening Roundup broadcasts through the years include John Charles Daly (who first announced the attack on Pearl Harbor at the beginning of the December 7, 1941 edition), Douglas Edwards (in my view one of the GREAT anchors of any news program), Dallas Townsend, Reid Collins, Bill Lynch, Christopher Glenn (whose distinctive voice contributed memorably to In The News segments on Saturday morning TV during the 1970’s and 1980’s), Nick Young, Bill Whitney, Dave Barrett, Pam Coulter, Peter King, Jennifer Keiper, and Steve Kathan. Whereas the Roundup was once as long as a half-hour, in its final iteration only runs for ten minutes. Many CBS affiliates carry only a portion of it.  Most do not air it at all. 

Now this essay is by no means an exhaustive tribute to the entire history of the CBS Radio Network and its countless classic shows and personalities. Other books and websites can serve that purpose.  But it is important to acknowledge its final sign-off and offer some reflection.  Over time all of us certainly listened to CBS Radio either on a regular basis or in passing.  Hopefully there will be a special broadcast similar to what was done in 1977 and again in 2017.  But more likely not much will be said. But here is an idea. When that last newscast concludes on May 22nd, these words should be the last spoken:

This WAS the CBS Radio Network.  

l  l  l

Many thanks as always, Bill. This one really strikes a chord with me; not only do I have many of those same memories of the CBS radio tones, I get great pleasure out of listening to those hours of YouTube airchecks from CBS News coverage of major events. I've made the point that radio, in some ways, is even more intimate than television, and the coverage of a breaking news story can be one of those ways. So thanks to Bill, and thanks to CBS for the memories! TV

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