Westwood One
Encyclopedia
Westwood One was an American
radio network
and was based in New York City
. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio
, the radio
arm of CBS Corporation
, and Viacom (1971–2005)
and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group
. Due to purchases, mergers and other forms of consolidation in the 1980s and 1990s, at one time or another, it had ownership stakes in or syndication rights to some of the most famous brands in network radio, including CBS
, ABC
, NBC
, Mutual, CNN
, Fox and Unistar
. The company was one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcasted entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the United States
. The company was the U.S.'s top provider of local traffic reports through its subsidiaries, Metro Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services, SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com. Westwood One also offers weather services; originally using Accuweather, Westwood switched to The Weather Channel in 2009.
Oaktree Capital Management
, through its Triton Media Group
division, merged with Westwood One in October 2011 and retired the name. Former Westwood One programming is now distributed under the Dial Global
banner.
in 1976. At the time, he was a former advertising sales executive with KCOP-TV
, a Los Angeles TV station. He was listening to a local radio station doing a Motown weekend, and decided to syndicate The Sound of Motown to radio. The show was a success. He added several more shows during the 1970s, including Dr. Demento
and Mary Turner's "Off The Record.". In 1981 Norm Pattiz started recording live concerts for broadcast with a Chuck Berry recording in January of that year, the company was a leader in live broadcasts and concert recordings for radio, until May of 2011 when Westwood stopped recording live concerts. By 1982, Pattiz was distributing his radio shows via satellite through an arrangement with idb Communications in Culver City. Pattiz took Westwood One public in 1984, and with the money raised by the IPO, he purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1985, and the NBC Radio Network in 1987. Other highlights in the late 1980s include the purchase of three radio stations, the trade paper Radio & Records
, and the hiring of Casey Kasem
from ABC. Although Pattiz long remained a major shareholder and board chairman, control and management shifted to others in the early 1990s. First, in 1993, it was to radio station group owner Infinity Broadcasting, headed by Mel Karmazin
, who also took over direct management of Westwood. With Infinity already owning and managing competing Unistar Radio Networks (formerly known as the RKO Radio Networks and later as United Stations Radio Networks, which merged with Transtar in the late 1980s), the two companies were combined under the Westwood name in 1994 (later spinning off Transtar in 2006). After the sale of his Infinity Broadcasting to Westinghouse
, then parent of CBS, Karmazin went on to become COO of CBS and under his control, CBS took over management of Westwood. CBS also had a significant ownership stake in Westwood, which then purchased Metro Networks in 1999 in a three-way merger involving Metro Networks, Copter Acquisition Corp. and Westwood. On August 30, 2010, Pattiz stepped down from the board and was succeeded as chairman by Mark Stone, Senior Managing Director of the Gores Group, which by then was majority owner and controlled Westwood. A Westwood press release said Pattiz signed a new contract as a company consultant.
, one of the "Big Four" of the 1940s in American radio, and continued to operate it as a separate network program service into the 1990s. However, by the early 1990s, Mutual ended up simply being a brand name for programming provided by Westwood One. CBS-run Westwood One discontinued using the Mutual name in 1999 in favor of CNN Radio, to which it had syndication rights from its 1994 merger with Unistar and the Mutual name passed permanently from use on the air.
Two years after the Mutual purchase, in 1987, Westwood One acquired the NBC Radio Network
and licensed the use of the name "NBC Radio Network News" (later shortened to "NBC Radio News") from General Electric, which was divesting all of the NBC radio properties created or purchased by former NBC owner RCA
. Until the Dial Global merger, the "NBC Radio" brand was still occasionally used, including twice daily at the halfway point and conclusion of the early morning news magazine First Light
. In 2003, NBC News began contracting with Westwood One to produce a new radio news service, "NBC News Radio," consisting of one-minute updates written by Westwood staffers and read by NBC News talent. Westwood One also distributes the audio of Meet the Press and the monologues of NBC's late night
programming, which effectively unites all of NBC's programming under one network.
Westwood One provided operational, sales and marketing support for the CBS Radio Network
, whose properties are owned by the CBS Corporation. The CBS Radio news and sports broadcasts are distributed from the CBS/Westwood One Master Control at the CBS Broadcast Center
in New York City.
Westwood One also provided alternate feeds of NFL football games to Sirius Satellite Radio
.
Westwood One expanded into digital media with the hiring of radio veteran Gary Krantz in 2006; Krantz remained with the company until March 2008.
reported that Westwood One had retained investment bank UBS to seek potential buyers for the network.
In October 2007, Westwood and CBS Radio signed a new contractual agreement by which Westwood would hire its own officers and directors, and CBS would benefit from Westwood One programming and trademark licenses. Westwood will also enjoy the benefit of CBS trademarks, under the agreement, which was filed as part of the companies' public disclosures with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The new agreement took effect on March 3, 2008, the same day that Gores Radio Group invested $12,500,000 dollars as part of a multi-stage investment takeover of Westwood One. The second stage of the Gores investment happened only two weeks later, with an identical investment of $12,500,000, which gave Gores Radio direct ownership of more than 14,000,000 shares of stock in Westwood One. Gores Radio Group companies states it has been investing in media since the late 1980s.
Westwood One stock was formerly traded on the New York Stock Exchange
, but was delisted as of November 21, 2008 for failing to maintain market capitalization requirements. As of November 2008, shares of the company trade publicly on the Pink Sheets
under the stock symbol WWON.PK. After further stock losses, the Gores Group bought the company outright in March 2009. They relisted the company on NASDAQ
later that year. It is now listed "dial."
Westwood One announced its merger with Dial Global
in August 2011. The merger closed on October 21, 2011, and outside of CBS Radio Sports programming produced by the network (including, and most notably, the NFL on Westwood One
), the name Westwood One is no longer in active use.
, Shadow Broadcast Services, SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com. Westwood One also offers weather services; originally using Accuweather
, Westwood switched to The Weather Channel
in 2009.
, Dennis Miller
, Jim Bohannon
, Billy Bush, Douglas Urbanski
, Robert Wuhl
, Drew Pinsky
(Loveline
), and Kevin and Bean
. Hot talkers Tom Leykis
, Opie and Anthony
, Mike O'Meara
and Adam Carolla
were also carried on the network, but with format changes at those shows' flagship stations and the end of the Free FM
network that was the backbone of these syndication efforts, those shows were all canceled.
The company syndicated these shows across AM and FM affiliates, and does not sell the programs to satellite radio. Westwood One distributes the radio news operations of CNN
and NBC
as well as its former corporate cousin, the CBS Radio Network
.
In the early 2000s, Westwood One handled the distribution of Fox News Radio
; that has since moved to Premiere Radio Networks
. (One Fox program, The Radio Factor
, hosted by Bill O'Reilly
, continued to be distributed by Westwood One until O'Reilly's departure from the show in January 2009. After two years Fred Thompson hosting in the slot, Urbanski took over the slot in 2011.)
Imus in the Morning
was carried on Westwood One from 1993 to 2007. It is now heard on Citadel Media.
In 2009, the network added several short-form features based on television series syndicated by CBS Television Distribution
: The Doctors' Orders
, Ask Dr. Phil
, Rach on the Radio
, and The Insider Radio Minute
.
Westwood One is attempting to secure the rights to The Savage Nation
, but current syndicator Talk Radio Network
is refusing to let host Michael Savage
out of his contract. Rick Dees
moved from Citadel Media to Westwood One in 2011.
), Adult Standards
(formerly AM Only
), Bright AC
(hot adult contemporary), CNN Headline News
, Hot Country, Mainstream Country, SAM - Simply About Music
(variety hits), Soft AC
, The Oldies Channel and Westwood One 70s. The 24 hour formats, originally acquired through Westwood One's purchase of Unistar in 1993, were spun off in 2006 and are currently distributed under the Dial Global
brand (now owned by Triton Media Group
). (Westwood One 70s was abandoned prior to 2000.)
The lone exception is the audio feed of CNN Headline News
, which remains part of the CNN Radio branding under Westwood One.
, Superstar Concert Series, "Absolutely Live"Country Gold (in most markets, also known as Country Gold Saturday Night, but also available on Sunday), Randy Jackson's Hit List with Randy Jackson and Kesha Monk, 106 and Park Weekend Countdown with Terrence and Rocsi, MTV
TRL
Weekend Countdown, Off the Record
with Mary Turner and later Joe Benson
, VH1
Concerts and Specials, Out of Order with Jed the Fish, and the Country Six Pack of holiday music specials. The Dr. Demento
Show was carried by Westwood One from 1978 to 1992, and rights to those shows are still held by Westwood One.
and college football
games, the Olympic Games
, the NCAA Basketball Tournament
(this and NFL coverage are co-produced with corporate sibling CBS TV), the Masters and U.S. Open
golf, Wimbledon
tennis tournament, the Frozen Four of college hockey
, and the GRAMMY Award
s. For many years the network also aired Notre Dame
football and National Hockey League
games.
Westwood One also handles sales and advertising for the Sports USA Radio Network
, beginning in 2009.
, sent several existing officers and directors of Westwood to Canada and Australia to unify a number of helicopter aviation companies that were already providing reports to Westwood One and Metro Networks' affiliates. The result was the incorporation of a company called Global Traffic Network
, which began taking deliveries of Robinson R44 news helicopters in 2005. The companies signed a three-way content and data sharing agreement in November 2005, which is part of documents on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C.
Radio in the United States
Radio is one of the major mass media of the United States.-History:The beginning of regular commercially licensed sound broadcasting in the United States in 1920 ended the print monopoly over the media and opened the doors to the more immediate and pervasive electronic media...
radio network
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
and was based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
, the radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
arm of CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
, and Viacom (1971–2005)
Viacom (1971–2005)
Viacom , stylized as VIACOM in its current logo, was an American media conglomerate. It was the owner of CBS, Nickelodeon & MTV, among others. Effective December 31, 2005, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation...
and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group
The Gores Group
The Gores Group, founded by Alec E. Gores, is a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses....
. Due to purchases, mergers and other forms of consolidation in the 1980s and 1990s, at one time or another, it had ownership stakes in or syndication rights to some of the most famous brands in network radio, including CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Mutual, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox and Unistar
Unistar
Unistar, founded in 2005 and formally organized in august 2007, is a joint venture by Constellation Energy and EDF. Unistar is developing four nuclear plants in the United States: Calvert Cliffs 3 in Maryland, Callaway 2 near Fulton , Bell Bend near Berwick and Nine Mile Point 2 near Scriba ....
. The company was one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcasted entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The company was the U.S.'s top provider of local traffic reports through its subsidiaries, Metro Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services, SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com. Westwood One also offers weather services; originally using Accuweather, Westwood switched to The Weather Channel in 2009.
Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. is a global investment management corporation with about US$82.4 billion of assets under management. Oaktree's mission is to provide management with a primary emphasis on risk control in a limited number of sophisticated investment specialties...
, through its Triton Media Group
Triton Media Group
Triton Media Group, LLC, is a portfolio company of a fund managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., a global investment management firm. It is based in Los Angeles.-Triton Radio Networks:...
division, merged with Westwood One in October 2011 and retired the name. Former Westwood One programming is now distributed under the Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
banner.
History
The company was founded by Norman J. PattizNorman J. Pattiz
Norman J. Pattiz is an American broadcasting executive. He is a founder and former chairman of radio industry giant Westwood One.He is also a member of the University of California Board of Regents and used to sit on the board of the Broadcasting Board of Governors...
in 1976. At the time, he was a former advertising sales executive with KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV, channel 13, is a television station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, KCOP is a sister station to Fox network outlet KTTV , and is affiliated with the MyNetworkTV programming service...
, a Los Angeles TV station. He was listening to a local radio station doing a Motown weekend, and decided to syndicate The Sound of Motown to radio. The show was a success. He added several more shows during the 1970s, including Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
and Mary Turner's "Off The Record.". In 1981 Norm Pattiz started recording live concerts for broadcast with a Chuck Berry recording in January of that year, the company was a leader in live broadcasts and concert recordings for radio, until May of 2011 when Westwood stopped recording live concerts. By 1982, Pattiz was distributing his radio shows via satellite through an arrangement with idb Communications in Culver City. Pattiz took Westwood One public in 1984, and with the money raised by the IPO, he purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1985, and the NBC Radio Network in 1987. Other highlights in the late 1980s include the purchase of three radio stations, the trade paper Radio & Records
Radio & Records
Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...
, and the hiring of Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
from ABC. Although Pattiz long remained a major shareholder and board chairman, control and management shifted to others in the early 1990s. First, in 1993, it was to radio station group owner Infinity Broadcasting, headed by Mel Karmazin
Mel Karmazin
Melvin Alan "Mel" Karmazin is an American executive. He co-founded and was the president of Infinity Broadcasting and eventually became the president and chief executive officer of CBS. As of 2008, he is the CEO of Sirius XM Radio....
, who also took over direct management of Westwood. With Infinity already owning and managing competing Unistar Radio Networks (formerly known as the RKO Radio Networks and later as United Stations Radio Networks, which merged with Transtar in the late 1980s), the two companies were combined under the Westwood name in 1994 (later spinning off Transtar in 2006). After the sale of his Infinity Broadcasting to Westinghouse
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
, then parent of CBS, Karmazin went on to become COO of CBS and under his control, CBS took over management of Westwood. CBS also had a significant ownership stake in Westwood, which then purchased Metro Networks in 1999 in a three-way merger involving Metro Networks, Copter Acquisition Corp. and Westwood. On August 30, 2010, Pattiz stepped down from the board and was succeeded as chairman by Mark Stone, Senior Managing Director of the Gores Group, which by then was majority owner and controlled Westwood. A Westwood press release said Pattiz signed a new contract as a company consultant.
Purchase of Mutual and NBC
In 1985, Westwood One purchased the Mutual Broadcasting SystemMutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
, one of the "Big Four" of the 1940s in American radio, and continued to operate it as a separate network program service into the 1990s. However, by the early 1990s, Mutual ended up simply being a brand name for programming provided by Westwood One. CBS-run Westwood One discontinued using the Mutual name in 1999 in favor of CNN Radio, to which it had syndication rights from its 1994 merger with Unistar and the Mutual name passed permanently from use on the air.
Two years after the Mutual purchase, in 1987, Westwood One acquired the NBC Radio Network
NBC Red Network
The NBC Red Network was one of the two original radio networks of the National Broadcasting Company. After NBC was required to divest itself of its Blue Network , the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.It, along with the Blue Network, were the first two commercial radio networks in the...
and licensed the use of the name "NBC Radio Network News" (later shortened to "NBC Radio News") from General Electric, which was divesting all of the NBC radio properties created or purchased by former NBC owner RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
. Until the Dial Global merger, the "NBC Radio" brand was still occasionally used, including twice daily at the halfway point and conclusion of the early morning news magazine First Light
First Light (radio)
First Light is a syndicated talk radio program hosted by Dirk Van. The one-hour live program airs weekdays at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is one of a small number of programs airing live in that time slot...
. In 2003, NBC News began contracting with Westwood One to produce a new radio news service, "NBC News Radio," consisting of one-minute updates written by Westwood staffers and read by NBC News talent. Westwood One also distributes the audio of Meet the Press and the monologues of NBC's late night
Late night television
Late night television in the United States is the block of television programming airing after 11:00 pm and usually through 2:00 am. Traditionally, this type of programming airs after the late local news and is most notable for being the daypart used for a particular genre of programming that falls...
programming, which effectively unites all of NBC's programming under one network.
Westwood One provided operational, sales and marketing support for the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
, whose properties are owned by the CBS Corporation. The CBS Radio news and sports broadcasts are distributed from the CBS/Westwood One Master Control at the CBS Broadcast Center
CBS Broadcast Center
The CBS Broadcast Center is a television and radio production facility located in New York City, New York. It is CBS's main East Coast production center, much as Television City in Los Angeles is the West Coast hub.-Overview:...
in New York City.
Westwood One also provided alternate feeds of NFL football games to Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
.
Westwood One expanded into digital media with the hiring of radio veteran Gary Krantz in 2006; Krantz remained with the company until March 2008.
Sale
On May 4, 2007, the New York PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
reported that Westwood One had retained investment bank UBS to seek potential buyers for the network.
In October 2007, Westwood and CBS Radio signed a new contractual agreement by which Westwood would hire its own officers and directors, and CBS would benefit from Westwood One programming and trademark licenses. Westwood will also enjoy the benefit of CBS trademarks, under the agreement, which was filed as part of the companies' public disclosures with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The new agreement took effect on March 3, 2008, the same day that Gores Radio Group invested $12,500,000 dollars as part of a multi-stage investment takeover of Westwood One. The second stage of the Gores investment happened only two weeks later, with an identical investment of $12,500,000, which gave Gores Radio direct ownership of more than 14,000,000 shares of stock in Westwood One. Gores Radio Group companies states it has been investing in media since the late 1980s.
Westwood One stock was formerly traded on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
, but was delisted as of November 21, 2008 for failing to maintain market capitalization requirements. As of November 2008, shares of the company trade publicly on the Pink Sheets
Pink Sheets
OTC Markets Group, Inc., informally known as "Pink Sheets", is a private company that provides services to the U.S. over-the-counter securities market including electronic quotations, trading, messaging, and information platforms. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, OTC...
under the stock symbol WWON.PK. After further stock losses, the Gores Group bought the company outright in March 2009. They relisted the company on NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
later that year. It is now listed "dial."
Westwood One announced its merger with Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
in August 2011. The merger closed on October 21, 2011, and outside of CBS Radio Sports programming produced by the network (including, and most notably, the NFL on Westwood One
NFL on Westwood One
The NFL on Westwood One is the brand name given to weekly National Football League games carried on the radio over the Dial Global Radio Network...
), the name Westwood One is no longer in active use.
Overview
The company was one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcasted entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the USA. The company is America's top provider of local traffic reports through its subsidiaries, Metro NetworksMetro Networks
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/files/2011/04/Metro_Logo_bigger.jpgMetro Networks is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Houston, Texas. It was a subsidiary of Westwood One until its sale to Clear Channel Communications in 2011...
, Shadow Broadcast Services, SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com. Westwood One also offers weather services; originally using Accuweather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
, Westwood switched to The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...
in 2009.
Notable personalities
Talk radio personalities distributed by Westwood One included Phil ValentinePhil Valentine
Phil Valentine is a conservative talk radio show host in Nashville, Tennessee. He broadcasts daily on , a Cumulus Media Station, from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Central Time. His producer and sidekick, Johnny B. Valentine, is probably best known in Tennessee for leading protests against a state...
, Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
, Jim Bohannon
Jim Bohannon
James E. "Jim" Bohannon is an American broadcaster who has worked in both television and radio.During the 1980s he was a fill-in for Larry King when King had his popular nighttime national radio program. He also does much work with the Smithsonian Associates...
, Billy Bush, Douglas Urbanski
Douglas Urbanski
Douglas Urbanski is an American theater impresario, raconteur and film producer.Urbanski is a business partner with actor Gary Oldman and he also runs a talent management firm, DMG...
, Robert Wuhl
Robert Wuhl
-Early life:Wuhl was born in Union, New Jersey to a Jewish family, including a father who worked as a produce distributor. After attending Union High School, Wuhl headed to the University of Houston, where he was active in the drama department and the Epsilon-Omicron Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon...
, Drew Pinsky
Drew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
(Loveline
Loveline
Loveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles....
), and Kevin and Bean
Kevin and Bean
Kevin and Bean is the morning show on KROQ-FM, an alternative rock-format radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is hosted by Kevin Ryder and Gene "Bean" Baxter. The show has been on the air since 1990 and intersperses music and news with comedy bits, celebrity interviews, listener call-ins,...
. Hot talkers Tom Leykis
Tom Leykis
Thomas Joseph Leykis is an American radio personality. He currently hosts The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis, a weekly lifestyle program dealing with fine food and drink, airing weekends mainly in West Coast markets...
, Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
, Mike O'Meara
Mike O'Meara
Michael Sean Patrick "Mike" O'Meara is the host of The Mike O'Meara Show, previously a nationally syndicated radio show which returned as a podcast. Previously he was the co-host of the nationally syndicated The Don and Mike Show...
and Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
were also carried on the network, but with format changes at those shows' flagship stations and the end of the Free FM
Free FM
Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven FM CBS Radio stations in the United States, and was created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name to highlight that its stations broadcast free-to-air,...
network that was the backbone of these syndication efforts, those shows were all canceled.
The company syndicated these shows across AM and FM affiliates, and does not sell the programs to satellite radio. Westwood One distributes the radio news operations of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
as well as its former corporate cousin, the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
.
In the early 2000s, Westwood One handled the distribution of Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio is an American radio network programmed by Fox News Channel.- History :In 2003, Fox News began syndicating one minute radio updates to radio stations via syndication service Westwood One. On June 1, 2005, Fox News Radio employed 60 people and provided five minute newscasts at the top...
; that has since moved to Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Networks is an American radio network. It is the largest syndication company in the United States based on popularity of programming...
. (One Fox program, The Radio Factor
The Radio Factor
The Radio Factor was a nationally syndicated talk radio program, which aired from 2002–2009 and was hosted mainly by Bill O'Reilly. The program, which featured host commentary with a mix of listener call-in and guest segments was broadcast live every weekday from the Fox News Channel studios in...
, hosted by Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
, continued to be distributed by Westwood One until O'Reilly's departure from the show in January 2009. After two years Fred Thompson hosting in the slot, Urbanski took over the slot in 2011.)
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
was carried on Westwood One from 1993 to 2007. It is now heard on Citadel Media.
In 2009, the network added several short-form features based on television series syndicated by CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
: The Doctors' Orders
The Doctors (2008 TV series)
The Doctors is an American syndicated talk show airing daily in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. It debuted on September 8, 2008. The hour-long daytime program is produced by Phil McGraw and his son Jay McGraw and is distributed domestically and globally by CBS Television...
, Ask Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
, Rach on the Radio
Rachael Ray (TV series)
Rachael Ray, also known as The Rachael Ray Show, is a talk show starring Rachael Ray that debuted in syndication in the United States and Canada on September 18, 2006....
, and The Insider Radio Minute
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
.
Westwood One is attempting to secure the rights to The Savage Nation
The Savage Nation
The Savage Nation is an American radio show hosted by conservative commentator Michael Savage on Talk Radio Network. His show is heard by 8-10 million listeners a week and syndicated across the U.S. in over 300 markets, making it the 3rd most listened to radio show in the country...
, but current syndicator Talk Radio Network
Talk Radio Network
Talk Radio Network is an American radio network providing talk radio programming, with an emphasis on conservative talk on weekdays and variety/general interest talk radio on weekends. Some of the most recognizable personalities in American radio, such as Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage, are...
is refusing to let host Michael Savage
Michael Savage (commentator)
Michael Savage is a conservative American radio host, author, and political commentator. He is the host of The Savage Nation, a nationally syndicated talk show that airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
out of his contract. Rick Dees
Rick Dees
Rigdon Osmond "Rick" Dees III is an American comedic performer, entertainer, and radio personality, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the novelty song "Disco Duck." He is a People's Choice Award recipient, a Grammy-nominated...
moved from Citadel Media to Westwood One in 2011.
24-hour radio formats via satellite to affiliate stations
Until 2006, Westwood One distributed a number of 24-hour radio formats via satellite to affiliate stations. These formats included: Adult Rock & Roll (classic rockClassic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
), Adult Standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
(formerly AM Only
America's Best Music
America's Best Music is the on-air branding of an adult standards 24-hour radio network, known internally as Adult Standards and formerly known as AM Only, currently owned by Dial Global. It was one of the original Westwood One's Transtar networks...
), Bright AC
Hot AC (radio network)
Hot AC is an industry leading 24-hour music network produced by Dial Global Networks. It targets a primarily female radio audience between ages 25-49 with hot adult contemporary and Adult Top 40 music of the 1990s through today, with artists such as Maroon 5, Train, Pink, Black Eyed Peas,...
(hot adult contemporary), CNN Headline News
CNN Headline News
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...
, Hot Country, Mainstream Country, SAM - Simply About Music
S.A.M.: Simply About Music
S.A.M.: Simply About Music is a 24-hour satellite-driven format produced by Dial Global. It's playlist consists of adult hits from the 1970s to right now from adult contemporary/adult alternative artists of those eras such as Fleetwood Mac, John Mayer, Pat Benatar, ABBA, etc that mainly attracts...
(variety hits), Soft AC
Adult Contemporary (radio network)
Adult Contemporary is a 24-hour music format produced by Dial Global. It targets a general radio audience between the ages of 35-49 with soft rock music from the 1970s to right now...
, The Oldies Channel and Westwood One 70s. The 24 hour formats, originally acquired through Westwood One's purchase of Unistar in 1993, were spun off in 2006 and are currently distributed under the Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
brand (now owned by Triton Media Group
Triton Media Group
Triton Media Group, LLC, is a portfolio company of a fund managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., a global investment management firm. It is based in Los Angeles.-Triton Radio Networks:...
). (Westwood One 70s was abandoned prior to 2000.)
The lone exception is the audio feed of CNN Headline News
CNN Headline News
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...
, which remains part of the CNN Radio branding under Westwood One.
Music programs syndicated
Westwood One syndicated several popular programs for a variety of music formats. Shows include The Beatle Years with Bob Malik, Beatle Brunch with Joe Johnson, Country Countdown USACountry Countdown USA
CMT Country Countdown USA is a nationally syndicated weekly country music top-30 chart countdown program hosted by Lon Helton.-Debut:The show premiered in April 1992. The program began as the brainchild of Westwood One Chairman Norman J. Pattiz who assigned the project to his programming VP, Gary...
, Superstar Concert Series, "Absolutely Live"Country Gold (in most markets, also known as Country Gold Saturday Night, but also available on Sunday), Randy Jackson's Hit List with Randy Jackson and Kesha Monk, 106 and Park Weekend Countdown with Terrence and Rocsi, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
TRL
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
Weekend Countdown, Off the Record
Off the Record
"Off the record" is a term related to journalism sourcing; see Journalism sourcing#Using confidential information.Off the record may also refer to:- Music :* Off the Record , a 1977 album by Sweet...
with Mary Turner and later Joe Benson
Joe Benson
William Joseph Benson is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins.-Career:Benson was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft....
, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
Concerts and Specials, Out of Order with Jed the Fish, and the Country Six Pack of holiday music specials. The Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
Show was carried by Westwood One from 1978 to 1992, and rights to those shows are still held by Westwood One.
Live concerts and sports broadcasts
Westwood One was most notable for its coverage of live events, and the location recording of live concerts. However with the merger with Dial Global, the company no longer records live music and has shut down the award winning mobile recording department. It still holds exclusive national radio rights for many sporting events including National Football LeagueNFL on Westwood One
The NFL on Westwood One is the brand name given to weekly National Football League games carried on the radio over the Dial Global Radio Network...
and college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
games, the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, the NCAA Basketball Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
(this and NFL coverage are co-produced with corporate sibling CBS TV), the Masters and U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
golf, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
tennis tournament, the Frozen Four of college hockey
College hockey
College hockey refers to ice hockey played between colleges with their teams composed of enrolled students. College hockey is played in Canada and the United States, though leagues outside of North America exist....
, and the GRAMMY Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s. For many years the network also aired Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
football and National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
games.
Westwood One also handles sales and advertising for the Sports USA Radio Network
Sports USA Radio Network
The Sports USA Radio Network is the largest independent nationwide sports broadcasting radio network, specializing in live broadcasts of American football, specifically of the NCAA football Division I-A and National Football League...
, beginning in 2009.
Syndicated news and traffic programming
In 2005, Westwood One, Inc. and its traffic subsidiary, Metro NetworksMetro Networks
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/files/2011/04/Metro_Logo_bigger.jpgMetro Networks is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Houston, Texas. It was a subsidiary of Westwood One until its sale to Clear Channel Communications in 2011...
, sent several existing officers and directors of Westwood to Canada and Australia to unify a number of helicopter aviation companies that were already providing reports to Westwood One and Metro Networks' affiliates. The result was the incorporation of a company called Global Traffic Network
Global Traffic Network
Global Traffic Network is a helicopter traffic reporting service that provides reports to radio and television stations across the United States and Canada...
, which began taking deliveries of Robinson R44 news helicopters in 2005. The companies signed a three-way content and data sharing agreement in November 2005, which is part of documents on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C.
External links
- Westwood One website
- Sigalert.com, Westwood One's public traffic information website
- SmartRoute Systems website
- Official Dennis Miller website
- Official LoveLine website
- Official Charles Osgood File website
- CBS Radio - Managing partner of Westwood One
- CBS News - Official website of CBS News
- The Lars Larson Show Official website of Lars Larson who does a Northwest (Oregon/Southwest Washington) show and a nationally syndcated show via Westwood One
- The Don & Mike Show Official website of the Don & Mike Show
- Country Countdown USA Official website of Country Countdown USA, syndicated by Westwood One.