ABC News Radio

Last updated

ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio 2014.png
TypeRadio network
Country
United States
Headquarters
  • ABC News World Headquarters
  • New York City
  • United States
BrandingABC News
Ownership
Owner
History
Launch dateJanuary 1, 1968;56 years ago (1968-01-01)
Former names
ABC Radio News New York Jeff Michaels
Coverage
AvailabilityNational, through regional affiliates.
Links
Website www.abcnewsradioonline.com

ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-past the hour, to its network affiliates. ABC News Radio is the largest commercial radio news organization in the US.

Contents

ABC Radio aired the first broadcast report of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas, at 18:30 UTC and Don Gardiner anchored the initial bulletin at 18:36:50 UTC, minutes before any other radio or television network.

History

Beginning in the late 1950s, ABC fed hourly newscasts to affiliates at 5 minutes before the hour, to contrast it with CBS Radio News and NBC Radio News, which sent its newscasts to affiliates at the top of each hour. On January 1, 1968, the singular ABC radio network was split into four separate and distinct programming services. The American Contemporary Network, on major-market contemporary music stations like WABC New York, aired news at 5 minutes before the hour. American Information Network news ran at the top of the hour on major-market talk and information stations like KGO San Francisco. The American FM Network, carried on major-market FM stations such as WPLJ New York, aired news geared toward young adult listeners at 15 minutes past the hour, while the American Entertainment Network had news at the bottom of the hour, often carried by AM country music stations, such as WBAP in Dallas-Fort Worth.

ABC News Radio logo used from 2007 to 2013. ABC News Radio 2007.png
ABC News Radio logo used from 2007 to 2013.

Before the split, ABC reached an understanding with the FCC concerning the "Chain Broadcasting" rule, which forced the sale of the NBC Blue Network and enabled ABC's creation in 1943. Each of the four networks could be cleared only when no other ABC network was on the air in a particular market. Though each of the four new "networks" were distributed to all member radio stations nationally over the same broadcast-quality telephone line, the move allowed ABC to have as many as four affiliates in one city – a major competitive advantage and a dramatic turning point in the history of network radio. Two additional news networks, ABC Rock and ABC Direction, were added on January 4, 1982, after the network became a satellite-delivered service. The network was strict in its insistence that there be no simultaneous broadcast of more than a single network in a market, except during crisis or special event coverage.

After the sale of most of ABC's radio assets to Citadel Broadcasting in 2007, the ABC Radio Network was operated by the broadcaster as part of the Citadel Media Networks division, and still distributed ABC News content. Citadel Broadcasting was later acquired by Cumulus Media. In July 2014, Cumulus announced that it would end its partnership with ABC News, and begin a new partnership with CNN to syndicate news content via the new Westwood One News network for its stations, beginning on January 1, 2015. In turn, ABC announced that it would take the syndication of its radio content in-house under a revived ABC Radio, with distribution handled by Skyview Networks. [1] [2]

Despite many of ABC's former heritage radio properties no longer carrying any ABC programming, ABC affiliated with some other heritage radio stations, including WTOP-FM Washington, WLW Cincinnati, KOA Denver, KOMO Seattle, KTRS St. Louis, KSL Salt Lake City and KMBZ Kansas City. Before being acquired by Westwood One, ABC News Radio programming was available in podcast form on iHeartRadio due to Cumulus radio stations streaming on iHeart. When Cumulus started using Westwood One/CNN for their national news, ABC News Radio's digital presence was moved exclusively to Slacker (now LiveOne) until 2020 when it was replaced with news from Associated Press.

On July 9, 2020, Westwood One made the decision to fold its news network on August 30, and shortly thereafter, Cumulus reaffiliated most of its news/talk stations with ABC with a handful of others affiliating with other networks. While those ABC's heritage radio stations used Westwood One News as their national news provider, a few Cumulus stations formerly affiliated with ABC (example KARN-FM Little Rock) carry CBS.

Format

Of the six networks, only Information, Entertainment and ABC FM News remain as separate newscast services today, with their programming delivered via satellite. The "Information" network newscasts clear on major-market stations. "Entertainment" network news airs mainly on small and medium-market stations. ABC FM News newscasts air on a small number of FM music stations. These ABC News Radio newscasts originate from the news division's bureaus in New York, Washington and Los Angeles and air exactly at the top of the hour. The standard format is the same for all three, with the Entertainment and FM networks having shorter stories and the Information network having slightly longer stories and more global coverage.

Individual soundbites and reporter packages are fed to stations via satellite and an affiliate website. In addition to the top-of-the-hour newscasts, ABC News also provides its radio affiliates with headlines, briefs and "status reports" that air every ten minutes, as well as special reports, special event coverage and longform programming.

News and Comment

ABC News Radio produced News and Comment, a twice-daily long-form program hosted by broadcaster Paul Harvey, who also would read the program's commercial messages in a seamless transition. This program originated from Chicago and began its run in 1951.

On January 1, 1968, News and Comment became a part of ABC's "American Entertainment Network", although the program was also heard on stations affiliated with the other ABC Networks, if the "Entertainment" affiliate was not as powerful as another ABC affiliate in a given market. A five-minute long spin-off voiced by Harvey, The Rest of the Story , began in May 1976 and was offered to affiliates in the late afternoons, as well as on Saturday mornings.

After Paul Harvey's death on February 28, 2009, San Francisco-based broadcaster Gil Gross was appointed as the new host of News and Comment, while the Rest of the Story time slot was held by Doug Limerick. Shortly after their appointments, however, Mike Huckabee was hired to host his own thrice-daily commentary program, The Huckabee Report , offered to stations that had been carrying both programs in the same time slots. This program, however, was produced by the former ABC Radio Network, at that point rebranded as Citadel Media, eventually becoming Cumulus Media and finally Westwood One. Huckabee took over distribution of the program himself as a digital-only feature in 2015.

ABC News and Talk

ABC News & Talk
Broadcast areaOff-air
BrandingABC News & Talk
Programming
Format Talk radio, News Radio
Ownership
Owner ABC Radio Networks
(through Citadel Broadcasting)
History
First air date
2002

ABC News & Talk was a news/talk and entertainment radio channel programmed and distributed by ABC Radio Networks for satellite radio services. It aired on XM Satellite Radio channel 124, and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 143 both in the United States until September 24, 2007.

The channel also existed on Sirius Canada until February 2007. Each morning, the channel featured a six-hour news wheel, produced by ABC News Radio. In the afternoon, hourly newscasts preceded some of ABC Radio's top talk show talent, like Sean Hannity, KABC's Larry Elder and WBAP's Mark Davis.

ABC News & Talk used to host a mid-day talk show exclusively for satellite radio titled Live from 125. The show's host was rotated on a weekly basis so there were several different program personalities. This show was discontinued in 2006.

In September 2006, John Batchelor took a leave of absence from the ABC Radio network. Mark Levin took his place on the ABC News & Talk lineup. Levin's show was broadcast on a 2-hour tape-delay basis, which was assumed to be twofold: to protect Elder's spot in the lineup, since Elder had the slot prior to Levin's arrival, and so Levin can continue to grow his terrestrial affiliate base.

The channel was programmed by ABC Radio until June 12, 2007, when it was turned over to Citadel Broadcasting as part of the divestiture by ABC parent Disney of nearly all of its radio assets. The network was shut down September 24, 2007.

Former on-air staff

News-talk affiliate stations

ABC News Radio being streamed on Slacker Radio (now LiveXLive) app. Slacker ABC News Radio Screenshot.png
ABC News Radio being streamed on Slacker Radio (now LiveXLive) app.

The following news-talk radio stations broadcast ABC News Radio [3] (listed by market rank, AM unless noted)

Correspondents

Notable former on-air staff

Related Research Articles

Westwood One was an American radio network that was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, 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, NBC, Mutual, CNN, Fox, and Unistar. The company was one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcast entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the United States. The company was the top provider of local traffic reports in the U.S. 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.

KABC is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serving the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a conservative talk radio format. The studios are located in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. The transmitter is off West Martin Luther King Boulevard in the Crenshaw District, shared with KWKW and KFOX. KABC’s power is 6,600 watts daytime and 7,900 watts nighttime, using a directional antenna. The station is the Los Angeles affiliate of Armstrong & Getty, The Ben Shapiro Show, The Dan Bongino Show, The Michael Knowles Show, America in the Morning and Red Eye Radio. Local shows are hosted by John Phillips, Frank Mottek and Randy Wang. National news from NBC News Radio and local news updates begin each hour's broadcast. Former sister station KABC-TV simulcasts the 4-6:00 part of the morning newscast weekdays on KABC (AM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESPN Radio</span> Sports radio network

ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The network is based at the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut, with multiple studio facilities nationwide, along with home studios. The network airs a regular schedule of daily and weekly programming as well as live radio play-by-play of sporting events.

Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which was broken up in 2007; Cumulus owned the portion of the network that was purchased by Citadel Broadcasting that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBAP (AM)</span> Radio station in Texas, United States

WBAP is an AM news/talk radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. WBAP is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts with 50,000 watts from a transmitter site in the northwest corner of Mansfield. Its programming is also simulcast on WBAP-FM (93.3) in Haltom City.

KCMO is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Kansas City, Missouri. Owned by Cumulus Media, the station airs a talk radio format. The studios and offices are on Indian Creek Parkway in Overland Park, Kansas. KCMO is also heard on KCHZ in Ottawa, Kansas, FM translator K279BI (103.7) in Kansas City, Missouri, and on the second HD Radio channel of co-owned KCFX (101.1) in Harrisonville, Missouri.

All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news.

CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It is the last of the three original national U.S. radio networks still operating and still owned by its original parent company, even though CBS sold its owned and operated radio stations in 2017. The current NBC Radio Network is owned by iHeartMedia, and licenses use of the NBC name and audio from NBC News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox News Radio</span> American radio network

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">KLIF (AM)</span> Radio station in Dallas, Texas

KLIF is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a news/talk format to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The studios are in the Victory Park district in Dallas, just north of downtown.

WISW is a sports radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina. It serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with 5,000 watts daytime and 2,500 watts nighttime, directional. The station goes by the name ESPN Radio 1320.

KBOI is a commercial AM radio station in Boise, Idaho. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it simulcasts a news/talk radio format with co-owned 93.1 KBOI-FM. Studios and offices are on Bannock Street in Downtown Boise, while the AM transmitter site with its six-tower array is on Cloverdale Road in Kuna.

KTUC is a commercial radio station in Tucson, Arizona. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a conservative talk radio format, known as "Freedom 1400". KTUC's studios and transmitter are on Nixon Low Way, off Roger Road. KTUC is Class C AM station, powered at 1,000 watts, using a non-directional antenna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTMA</span> Radio station in Charleston, South Carolina

WTMA, “News Talk 1250 WTMA”, is a commercial radio station licensed to Charleston, South Carolina. It has a news/talk format and is owned by Cumulus Media. WTMA's studios and offices are on Faber Place Drive in North Charleston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFRU</span> Radio station in Columbia, Missouri

KFRU is a radio station located in Columbia, Missouri. Its programming format consists primarily of news, talk and sports. The station is licensed to Cumulus Media. The station is also audible on translator K255DJ 98.9 FM in Columbia.

Red Eye Radio is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history through several predecessors, beginning with Bill Mack's overnight truck show in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KLIK</span> Radio station in Jefferson City, Missouri

KLIK, branded as Newstalk 1240, is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Jefferson City, Missouri, United States, the station serves the Columbia, Missouri area. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media and features programming from ABC Radio and Westwood One. KLIK also operates a local news operation with sister station KFRU. As of late 2018, KLIK has been operating on FM on 103.5 with translator K278CT.

KRDO is a commercial radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The station is owned and operated by the News-Press & Gazette Company of St. Joseph, Missouri and it airs a news/talk radio format, simulcast with KRDO-FM. Both stations are aided by the news department of co-owned KRDO-TV, with some TV newscasts also heard on the radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCSF</span> Radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado

KCSF is a radio station serving the Colorado Springs area with a sports format. It is under ownership of Cumulus Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westwood One News</span> Defunct Radio news network operated by Westwood One

Westwood One News was a radio news network launched on January 1, 2015, and operated by Westwood One through its parent company Cumulus Media. Using audio from CNN reports and correspondents, and anchored by Cumulus employees, it provided radio stations with hourly newscasts as well as voiced reports that could be individually used by member stations. It was discontinued on August 30, 2020.

References

  1. ↑ "ABC News radio deal with Cumulus to end, but there's an upside". Capital New York. Archived from the original on December 15, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Cumulus taps CNN for Westwood One news service". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Radio Market Survey Population, Rankings & Information" (PDF). Nielsen. Fall 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Ann Compton Retiring After 41 Years At The White House". Politico. August 15, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
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