Westwood One

Westwood One, Inc. (NYSE: WON) is the largest radio network in the United States based on programming quantity. It is based in the city of New York, and it is managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation.

Overview

The company is one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcasts 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 Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services and SmartRoute Systems.

Commentators distributed by Westwood One include Don Imus, Bill O'Reilly, Lars Larson, Jay Severin, and Larry King. Hot Talkers Tom Leykis, and Don (Geronimo) & Mike (O'Meara) are also carried on the network. Westwood One distributes the radio news operations of CNN and NBC as well as its corporate cousin, the CBS Radio Network.

Until 2006, Westwood One distributed a number of 24-hour radio formats via satellite to affiliate stations. These formats included: Adult Rock & Roll (classic rock), Adult Standards (formerly "AM Only"), Bright AC, CNN Headline News, Hot Country, Mainstream Country, SAM - Simply About Music (variety hits), Soft AC, and The Oldies Channel. The 24 hour formats, originally acquired through Westwood One's purchase of Unistar in 1993, were sold in 2006 to Excelsior Radio Network and are now distributed under the Dial Global brand. Dial Global discontinued the Soft AC format in February 2007 and replaced it with a rhythmic adult contemporary approach called Rhythm Mix AC.

Westwood One syndicates several popular programs for a variety of music formats. Shows include The Beatle Years, Beatle Brunch, CMT's Country Countdown USA, Absolutely Live, Superstar Concert Series, Weekly Country Music Countdown, Country Gold (in most markets, also known as "Country Gold Saturday Night", but also available on Sunday), 106 and Park Weekend Countdown with Terrence and Rocsi, MTV TRL Weekend Countdown, Off the Record with Joe Benson, VH1 Concerts and Specials, and Out of Order with Jed the Fish. The Dr. Demento Show was carried by Westwood One from 1978 to 1992.

Westwood One is most notable for its coverage of live events. The company broadcasts live concerts, college football and NHL hockey games, and also holds exclusive national radio rights for many National Football League games, the Olympic Games, the NCAA Basketball Tournament (along with corporate sibling CBS TV), the Masters golf and Wimbledon tennis tournaments, Notre Dame football games, and the GRAMMY Awards.

The company was founded by Norman J. Pattiz in 1976. At the time, he was a former advertising sales executive with an LA 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 70s. By 1982, he was distributing his radio shows via satellite through an arrangement with idb Communications in Culver City. Mr. 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 80s include the purchase of three radio stations, and the hiring of Casey Kasem from ABC. The company purchased Unistar Radio Networks in 1994, and then purchased Metro Networks in 1996.

Westwood One purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1985 and continued to operate Mutual 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. Westwood One discontinued using the Mutual name in favor of CNN Radio in 1999 and the Mutual name passed permanently from use on the air.

The NBC Radio brand is still occasionally used, most commonly for the hourly newscasts produced by NBC News and for the news magazine First Light. (Imus in the Morning, produced by MSNBC, would also fall under this umbrella.) In addition, Westwood One acquired the radio rights to the short-form feature "Last Night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" from Premiere Radio Networks in 2007, effectively uniting all of NBC's radio productions under one network.

Westwood One provides 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 provides alternate feeds of NFL football games to Sirius Satellite Radio.

In September of 2006, Westwood One hired Gary Krantz as its first Chief Digital Media Officer. Krantz, formerly the President of Air America, EVP/Operations for Clear Channel/Premiere Radio Networks, AMFM Networks, and co-founder of MJI Broadcasting is rapidly developing Westwood One's portfolio of digital assets in the areas of talk, music, interactive traffic services, and syndicated news product through Westwood's Metro Networks. Details on Westwood's digital media assets can be found at www.westwoodone.com and www.westwoodone2007.com

See also

• List of United States radio networks

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