CBS News to End Radio Service After Nearly 100 Years, Marking Shift in Media Landscape

CBS News will shut down its long-running radio news service on May 22, bringing to a close nearly a century of continuous broadcasting and signaling a broader shift in how the organization delivers news.

The decision was announced on March 20 alongside companywide layoffs, with executives pointing to structural changes in the media industry and evolving audience habits.

All positions tied to its radio operation will be eliminated as the service winds down, according to CBS News.

The network said the closure reflects economic challenges and changes in how audiences consume audio news.

“Radio is woven into the fabric of CBS News and that’s always going to be part of our history,” CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss told her staff, according to The Associated Press.

“I want you to know that we did everything we could, including before I joined the company, to try and find a viable solution to sustain the radio operation.”

The layoffs are expected to affect 6 percent of its workforce, or more than 60 people, and the radio division will be among the most significantly affected.

CBS News Radio currently distributes content to about 700 affiliate stations nationwide, including its flagship “World News Roundup,” widely regarded as the longest-running network newscast in the United States.

The network’s radio division traces its origins to 1927, when it served as the foundation for what would become CBS’s broader news operation. In its early decades, the service played a central role in shaping broadcast journalism, delivering live reports during pivotal global events.

During World War II, correspondent Edward R. Murrow’s reports from London became emblematic of radio’s immediacy and reach. Over time, voices such as Douglas Edwards, Dallas Townsend, and Christopher Glenn became fixtures of the network’s audio coverage, while radio bulletins informed Americans during moments of national crisis.

Although radio remained influential through the mid-20th century, its prominence declined with the rise of television and, more recently, digital platforms and podcasts. In recent years, CBS had already scaled back some radio programming in an effort to sustain the division.

Still, the network emphasized the enduring legacy of the service.

“For nearly 100 years, CBS News Radio has delivered original reporting to the nation,” CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Weiss said, calling it “the foundation for everything [CBS has] built since 1927.”

CBS News continues to produce a range of programming across television and digital platforms, including “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Mornings,” “60 Minutes,” “Face the Nation,” and “CBS Saturday Morning.”

Skydance Media completed the acquisition of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, in August 2025.