The Source (network)

Last updated
"The Source" logo The Source.gif
"The Source" logo

The Source was a radio network operated in the 1970s and 1980s by the NBC Radio Network, with newscasts and features focusing on 18- to 34-year-olds. The network was sold, along with the rest of NBC's radio operations, to Westwood One in August 1987. The Source would last until the late 1990s as a programming source before ultimately being absorbed into Westwood One.

Announcements from the network, voiced by legendary NBC announcer Don Pardo, continued to be heard on many radio stations across the country until Pardo's death in 2014.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Pardo</span> American announcer (1918-2014)

Dominick George "Don" Pardo was an American radio and television announcer whose career spanned more than seven decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBC News</span> News division of NBCUniversal

NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations report to the president of NBC News, Noah Oppenheim. The NBCUniversal News Group also comprises MSNBC, the network's 24-hour general news channel, business and consumer news channels CNBC and CNBC World, the Spanish language Noticias Telemundo and United Kingdom–based Sky News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mutual Broadcasting System</span> American radio broadcasting network (1934–1999)

The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, Mutual 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. For many years, it was a national broadcaster for Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. From the mid-1930s and until the retirement of the network in 1999, Mutual ran a highly respected news service accompanied by a variety of popular commentary shows. Mutual pioneered the nationwide late night call-in talk radio program in the late 1970s, introducing the country to Larry King and later Jim Bohannon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadcast network</span> Form of centralized broadcasting

A terrestrial network is a group of radio stations, television stations, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or broadcast, content from a centralized source. For example, ABCTooltip American Broadcasting Company (U.S.), CBC/Radio-CanadaTooltip Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Canada), the BBCTooltip British Broadcasting Corporation (UK), the ABCTooltip Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia), DWTooltip Deutsche Welle (Germany), KBSTooltip Korean Broadcasting System, and NHK (Japan) are TV networks that provide programming for local terrestrial television station affiliates to air using signals that can be picked up by the home television sets of local viewers. Networks generally, but not always, operate on a national scale; that is, they cover an entire country.

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.

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.

NBC Talknet was a nighttime programming block on the NBC Radio Network from the 1980s to the 1990s. It comprised several advice-oriented call-in talk shows, the most notable personalities being Bruce Williams and Sally Jessy Raphael. At a time when talk radio was a mostly local format, Talknet, among similar services, brought the format to a national level.

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 parent company, even though CBS sold its owned and operated radio stations in 2017. The current NBC Radio Network is actually owned by iHeartMedia but licenses use of the NBC name and NBC's TV news reports.

The NFL on Westwood One Sports is the branding for Cumulus Broadcasting subsidiary Westwood One's radio coverage of the National Football League. These games are distributed throughout the United States and Canada. The broadcasts were previously branded with the CBS Radio and Dial Global marques; CBS Radio was the original Westwood One's parent company and Dial Global purchased the company in 2011. Dial Global has since reverted its name to Westwood One after merging with Cumulus Media Networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBC Radio Network</span> American radio network (1926–1999)

The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it was one of the first two nationwide networks established in the United States. Its major competitors were the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), founded in 1927, and the Mutual Broadcasting System, founded in 1934. In 1942, NBC was required to divest one of its national networks, so it sold NBC Blue, which was soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). After this separation, the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westwood One</span> American radio network (under this name since 2013)

Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.

From 1985–1986, the NBC Radio Network was the official, national radio provider for National Football League games. The program succeeded the CBS Radio Network's package.

The year 1987 in radio involved some significant events.

WCHN is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Norwich, New York, United States, the station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. WCHN has programming from Fox News Radio, NBC News Radio, Compass Media Networks, Premiere Networks, Radio America, and Westwood One.

WDLA is an AM radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Walton, New York, United States, the station is owned by Townsquare Media. It has programming from Fox News Radio, NBC News Radio, Compass Media Networks, Premiere Networks, Radio America, and Westwood One.

WDOS is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Oneonta, New York, United States, the station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. It features programming from Fox News Radio, NBC News Radio, Compass Media Networks, Premiere Networks, Radio America, and Westwood One.

WSEK-FM is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Burnside, Kentucky, it serves the south-central region of the state, specifically the Somerset and Lake Cumberland areas. It can also be received in London and Corbin, and as far north as the Lexington area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and features programming from Premiere Networks.

NHL Radio is the official national radio broadcaster of the National Hockey League, covering the Stanley Cup Finals, both Conference Finals, selected early round playoff action, the All-Star Game, the NHL Winter Classic and a selected number of regular-season games. The package was distributed by Westwood One and premiered in the 1993-94 season. This arrangement lasted through the end of the 2007-08 season until it was relaunched for the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals, through the network's NBC Sports Radio service. The contract was continued for the 2016-17 season with a playoff game of the week, both conference finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, the Winter Classic and select regular season games being added. The NBC Sports Radio brand was dropped in 2020; Westwood One will syndicate the broadcasts directly. In 2021, Sports USA Radio Network took over the national radio rights to the NHL.

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

NBC Sports Radio was a sports radio network that debuted on September 4, 2012. The network content was produced by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and distributed by Westwood One, which is the corporate successor to the remains of the original NBC Radio Network that was dissolved in the 1980s. NBC Sports Radio was available through over 300 affiliates throughout the United States as of September 2013, as well as through live streaming on NBCSportsRadio.com, NBCSports.com, WestwoodOneSports.com, and the affiliates' websites. Its launch made NBC the last major broadcast network with a sports radio network to complement its sports division.

<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.