An institutional pillar of American journalism went silent on Friday night as CBS News Radio concluded its final broadcast, wrapping up nearly 99 years of continuous service that shaped the sound of modern newsgathering.
The network officially signed off for the last time at 11:00 p.m. on May 22, 2026. The closure, which was announced internally to staff in March, resulted in the elimination of 60 to 70 radio-dedicated positions and severed ties with approximately 700 affiliate stations across the United States.
In a joint memo, CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss explained that the difficult decision was fueled by a changing media landscape.
”A shift in radio station programming coupled with challenging economic realities has made it impossible to continue the service,” Cibrowski and Weiss stated, noting that the radio division “served as the foundation for everything we have built since 1927.”
The Final ‘World News Roundup’
The shutdown also marked the final transmission of the World News Roundup, the nation’s longest-running network newscast. Initiated in 1938 to chronicle the looming threat of World War II in Europe, the program birthed the standard field-reporting format still used across the globe today.
During the program’s final morning edition, longtime anchor Steve Kathan handled the day’s routine headlines before dedicating the closing minutes to the network’s historic legacy. Kathan played an archival audio clip of legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow’s 1938 on-air debut from Vienna, paying homage to the network’s roots.
“Our history has always been important to us, and as CBS News Radio signs off today, too, we all leave with a sense of proud accomplishment and gratitude for our listeners and the great radio stations who’ve been part of our family,” Kathan reflected on air. “They will carry on.”
A Lasting Legacy
First hitting the airwaves on September 18, 1927, CBS News Radio pioneered the standard for unbiased, objective live journalism.
Over its decades-long run, it brought generation-defining events directly into American living rooms—ranging from the Great Depression and World War II to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the moon landing, and the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, who began his career at a CBS radio affiliate, spoke on the profound cultural loss of the network, describing the medium as a “magic carpet” for listeners.
“CBS Radio should be remembered for becoming a national institution very important to the development of news other than newspapers,” Rather said in a tribute. “It, for many, many years, was a part, and I would argue not a small part, of what held the country together.”
In the wake of the closure, the vast majority of Audacy’s legacy news and talk stations are transitioning their national coverage to ABC News Radio.
Meanwhile, several former CBS News Radio journalists are slated to join Red Apple Media’s newly formed Worldwide News Network, ensuring that a piece of the network’s institutional voice endures in a new form.