(AP) CBS News announced Friday that it will shut down its historic radio news service after nearly a century of operation, bringing a close to a defining chapter in broadcast journalism amid tough economic conditions and the industry’s shift toward digital platforms and podcasts.
The service, which first took to the airwaves in September 1927, served as the foundation for the entire CBS network and launched the career of a young William S. Paley. During World War II, Edward R. Murrow’s gripping rooftop dispatches from London amid the Nazi Blitz captivated American listeners and helped cement CBS’s reputation for excellence in reporting.In recent years, CBS News Radio has supplied content to roughly 700 affiliate stations nationwide, most notably its signature top-of-the-hour news summaries. The operation will cease on May 22. (abcnews.com)
“While this was a necessary decision, it was not an easy one,” CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski said in a memo to staff. Weiss added that “Radio is woven into the fabric of CBS News and that’s always going to be part of our history.” (wtop.com)
The closure is part of broader cost-cutting measures at the network, including staff layoffs.
Rip and read
Jason Remington • March 21, 2026
At any news radio station worth their salt, news anchors should be able to put together two minutes of national plus the local report. Just a shame that CBS Radio News is going the way of newspapers, dial phones, and good local radio.
CBS and KIRO
Bill • March 21, 2026
As a major affiliate with a news/talk format, KIRO didn’t make as much use of the network as you might think. For example, they routinely cut away from top-of-the-hour newscasts at the two-minute mark. Perhaps the programming department believes CBS is just “filler,” and the remaining three minutes would be a tune out.
Death of CBS Radio News
Steve • March 21, 2026
What a shame. I always enjoyed the CBS hourly news and listening to the distinctive sound byte that preceded the news. Dallas Townsend, Douglas Edwards; they spoke with educated, authoritative voices. The current presenters should listen to recordings of them and learn something about proper English and on air presence.
CBS News Sounder
Jason Remington • March 21, 2026
Yes, an audio memory. This and the network cue tones. https://www.qzvx.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CBS-news-Sounder-1969-2001.mp3
Cue tones and sounders
Jason Remington • March 21, 2026
Those “little beeps” (often described as clicks, chirps, bleeps, or “bee-doops”) that listeners heard before and sometimes during U.S. radio network newscasts in the mid-20th century through the 1980s/1990s were primarily network cue tones (also called alert tones, NetAlert, Hotline, or Mutualert tones).
Radio networks CBS, NBC, ABC, and Mutual distributed programming over telephone lines (and later satellites) to hundreds of affiliate stations across the country. These tones served as automated electronic signals to:
Alert local stations that network news or a special bulletin was about to start (so engineers or automation could switch feeds, play the network ID, or prepare for the broadcast).
Trigger “hotline” or emergency cut-ins for breaking news, overriding local programming without manual intervention.
Provide countdowns or synchronization cues (e.g., a series of beeps leading up to the exact top-of-the-hour news).
They became a familiar (if quirky) part of the listening experience. Different networks had their own signature sounds:
CBS NetAlert: Started with loud clicking/bleeping sequences (like rotary phone dialing) in the 1960s, later softer “chirps” or warbles (touch-tone-like pairs). A countdown of several beeps often preceded the news jingle. (durenberger.com)
Mutual:”Bee-doop” tones (short dual-frequency bursts), used from the 1970s onward.
https://www.qzvx.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CBS-Mutual-ABC-NBC-radio-news-sounders.mp3
These systems evolved with technology—early versions were basic tone sequences; later ones carried more data. By the late 2000s, many (like CBS’s chirps) were phased out as digital/satellite feeds and automation made them unnecessary.
NBC Chimes (three tones: G-E-C): These were a famous network identifier and cue for program switches or IDs, not specifically for news beeps (though a fourth chime signaled major breaking news).
Teletype/teletypewriter sounds: Clacking or tapping in the background of old newscasts (or dramatized in movies) came from wire service machines printing stories. This was sometimes played as an effect for atmosphere, not the same as the cue beeps.
News Sounder
Mike Barer • March 21, 2026
I think the silent words to the that was CBS Radio
We appreciate your loyalty
Jason Remington • March 20, 2026
In the memo concerning radio– Bari Weiss noted that “the coming weeks will be difficult for the team members” since they’ll be keeping the radio network on the air until May while knowing their jobs are ending.
Question
Adam • March 20, 2026
Surprising news, but then again… not surprising considering the state of radio in 2026…
I am wondering though, what happens with the stations that carry CBS News(both the top of hour newscasts, and long form programming)? KIRO-FM in Seattle, for example…
Do they go with another network, or just program locally produced news at the top of the hour?
ABC Radio News will gain
Jason Remington • March 20, 2026
That is a question soon to be addressed by those stations — https://shorturl.at/w1MNy
A sad day
Bill Taylor • March 20, 2026
When I started in the business in the mid-1960s, and later as news director at a CBS affiliate, the network was the “North Star” in broadcasting, followed closely by NBC Radio. The latter, which went on the air a year before CBS, was closed down in 1999. And now the death knell for CBS Radio. Unimaginable.
CBS and NBC hourly newscasts.
Steve • March 23, 2026
Yes, Bill, I agree with you. The top of the hour newscasts were literate and authoritative; and live from New York. To me, they were a moment of national bonding across the US for the listeners.
Oh, and by the way
jason • March 20, 2026
CBS News’ homepage did not carry news about the radio division on its homepage.
Make me a sandwich
Jason Remington • March 20, 2026
Bari, not Barry. Just to clarify, Bari Weiss is a woman.
Bari Weiss to blame?
Jason Remington • March 20, 2026
Decisions. Decisions. Bari Weiss, founder of the Free Press website and without broadcast news experience before being hired by CBS parent Paramount’s new management, has quickly become a headline-maker and polarizing figure in journalism.
CBS Radio lay-offs begin
Jason Remington • March 20, 2026
CBS News was cutting about 6% of its workforce, or more than 60 people, on Friday