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The Westwood One logo
The Westwood One logo

Westwood One is an American radio network. Radio is one of the major major mass media of the United States. A radio network is a network system which distributes programming to multiple stations simultaneously or slightly delayed for the purpose of extending total It is based in New York City, and it was previously managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation. The City of New York This article is about the radio group for the radio network see CBS Radio Network. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. CBS Corporation () is an American Media conglomerate focused on Broadcasting, Publishing, Billboards, and Television Westwood One is now an autonomous company that describes itself as "platform agnostic" but still focuses mostly on radio as well as online audio products.

Contents

History

The company was founded by Norman J. Pattiz in 1976. Norm Pattiz (born 1943 is chairman and founder of radio industry giant Westwood One. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. At the time, he was a former advertising sales executive with KCOP-TV, a Los Angeles 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 1970s. By 1982, he was distributing his radio shows via satellite through an arrangement with idb Communications in Culver City. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) 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. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Other highlights in the late 1980s include the purchase of three radio stations, and the hiring of Casey Kasem from ABC. Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem, (born on April 27 1932, in Detroit Michigan) is an American Radio personality and Voice The company purchased Unistar Radio Networks in 1994 (later spinning off the company in 2006), and then purchased Metro Networks in 1999 in a three-way merger involving Metro Networks, Copter Acquisition Corp. Transtar was the first Radio network to provide 24-hour music programming to local affiliates Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) and Westwood. The company continues to trade publicly under the stock symbol WON.

Purchase of Mutual and NBC

In 1985, Westwood One purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System, one of the "Big Four" of the 1940s in American radio, and continued to operate it as a separate network program service into the 1990s. The Mutual Broadcasting System ( MBS) was an American Radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999 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. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar)

Two years later in 1987, Westwood One purchased the NBC Radio Network from General Electric. The NBC Red Network was one of the radio networks for the National Broadcasting Company. 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. NBC News is the news division of American Television network NBC, a part of NBC Universal, which is majority-owned by General Electric First Light is a syndicated Talk radio program hosted by Dirk Van 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. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an Emmy Award -winning American late-night Talk show currently hosted by Jay Leno, on Premiere Radio Networks is an American Radio network. It is the largest syndication company in the United States based on popularity of Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

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. The CBS Broadcast Center is a television and radio production facility located in New York City.

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

Westwood One expanded into digital media with the hiring of radio veteran Gary Krantz in 2006; Krantz remained with the company until March 2008.

Sale

On May 4, 2007, the New York Post reported that Westwood One has retained investment bank UBS to seek potential buyers for the network,[1]. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

In October 2007, Westwood and CBS Radio signed a new contractual agreement by which Westwood would hire its own officers and directors, and CBS would benefit from Westwood One programming and trademark licenses. Westwood will also enjoy the benefit of CBS trademarks, under the agreement, which was filed as part of the companies' public disclosures with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The new agreement took effect on March 3, 2008, the same day that Gores Radio Group invested $12,500,000 dollars as part of a multi-stage investment takeover of Westwood One. The second stage of the Gores investment happened only two weeks later, with an identical investment of $12,500,000,[2] which gave Gores Radio direct ownership of more than 14,000,000 shares of stock in Westwood One. Gores Radio Group companies states it has been investing in media since the late 1980's. [3].

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 United States of America —commonly referred to as the The company is America's top provider of local traffic reports through its subsidiaries, Metro Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services and SmartRoute Systems. Metro Networks is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Houston, Texas. Shadow Broadcast Services is a traffic reporting service owned by Westwood One.

Notable personalities

Talk radio personalities distributed by Westwood One include Bill O'Reilly (by agreement with Fox News Radio), Lars Larson, Dennis Miller, Jim Bohannon, Billy Bush and an audio simulcast of Larry King Live. William James O'Reilly Jr (born September 10 1949 is an American television / radio host, Author, Syndicated columnist, and Fox News Radio is an American Radio network programmed by Fox News Channel. Lars Larson (born March 6, 1959 in Taipei, Taiwan) is an American conservative Talk radio show host based Dennis Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American Stand-up comedian, political/sports commentator, and television/radio personality James E "Jim" Bohannon (born January 7, 1944) is a broadcaster who has worked in both Television and Radio. William Hall "Billy" Bush (born October 13 1971) was the chief host/announcer of the syndicated NBC Universal TV show Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN. Hot Talkers Tom Leykis, Adam Carolla, and Mike O'Meara are also carried on the network, as is Drew Pinsky, who hosts two programs on the network, the hot talk Loveline and the general advice program "Dr. Thomas Joseph Leykis (pronounced /LYE-kiss/ Leykis has been described as a Shock jock by many Adam Carolla (born May 27 1964 is an American radio / Television host, Comedian, and Actor. Michael Sean Patrick O'Meara (born June 22, 1959) in Glastonbury Connecticut is the host of the radio program The Mike O'Meara Show. David Drew Pinsky (born September 4, 1958) is an American board-certified Internist and Addiction medicine specialist Loveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in the United States, Canada and Mexico, offering medical and relationship Drew Live. " The company syndicates these shows across AM and FM affiliates, and does not sell the programs to satellite radio (O'Reilly is distributed to satellite through Fox). Westwood One distributes the radio news operations of CNN and NBC as well as its former corporate cousin, the CBS Radio Network. Cable News Network, usually referred to by its Initialism CNN, is a major English language Television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's The CBS Radio Network provides news sports and other programming to more than 1000 radio stations throughout the United States

24-hour radio formats via satellite to affiliate stations

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. Classic rock was originally conceived as a Radio station programming format which evolved from the Album oriented rock (AOR format in the early-1980s Adult Standards is a North American Radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations America's Best Music is the on-air branding of an Adult standards 24-hour radio network known internally as Adult Standards and formerly known as AM Only Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated AC, refers to styles of popular music that ranges from "lush Sixties pop often vocal -based and rooted in Headline News is a Spin-off network from the original Cable News Network ( CNN) television news network in the United States. Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. Adult hits (sometimes also called variety hits or Classic hits) is a Radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific Oldies is a generic term commonly used to describe a Radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the 1950s 1960s and 1970s (about 1955-1977 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. Transtar was the first Radio network to provide 24-hour music programming to local affiliates Dial Global is a radio syndication company It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group. Dial Global discontinued the Soft AC format in February 2007 and replaced it with a rhythmic adult contemporary approach called Rhythm Mix AC. Rhythmic adult contemporary is a format used on stations in the United States and Canada, similar to Rhythmic top 40 radio

The lone exception is the audio feed of CNN Headline News, which remains part of the CNN Radio branding under Westwood One. Headline News is a Spin-off network from the original Cable News Network ( CNN) television news network in the United States. The Headline News feed is slowly being phased out as the contracts with the individual stations expire.

Music programs syndicated

Westwood One syndicates several popular programs for a variety of music formats. Shows include The Beatle Years with Bob Malik, Beatle Brunch with Joe Johnson, Country Countdown USA, Absolutely Live, Superstar Concert Series, 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. Country Countdown USA is a nationally syndicated weekly Country music top-30 chart countdown program hosted by Lon Helton MTV ( Music Television) is an American Cable television network based in New York City. VH1 (known as VH-1 Video Hits One from 1985 to 1994 and VH1 Music First until 2003) is an American Cable television The Dr. Demento Show was carried by Westwood One from 1978 to 1992, and rights to those shows are still held by Westwood One. Dr Demento is the Stage name of Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941) a Radio Disc jockey specializing in Novelty Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar)

Live concerts and sports broadcasts

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 (this and NFL coverage are co-produced with corporate sibling CBS TV), the Masters and U.S. Open golf, Wimbledon tennis tournament, and the GRAMMY Awards. College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, Colleges and military academies The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single elimination Tournament held each spring featuring 65 College basketball teams in the The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters or The US Masters (outside of the United States is one of four major championships in men's The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the US The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered as the most prestigious The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

Syndicated News and Traffic Programming

In 2005, Westwood One, Inc. and its traffic subsidiary, Metro Networks, sent several existing officers and directors of Westwood to Canada and Australia to unify a number of helicopter aviation companies that were already providing reports to Westwood One and Metro Networks' affiliates. Metro Networks is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Houston, Texas. The result was the incorporation of a company called Global Traffic Network, which began taking deliveries of Robinson R44 news helicopters in 2005. Global Traffic Network is a Helicopter Traffic reporting service that provides reports to radio and television stations across the United States and The companies signed a three-way content and data sharing agreement in November 2005, which is part of documents on file with the SEC in Washington, D. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (commonly known as the SEC) is an independent agency of the United States government which holds primary responsibility C.

See also

References

  1. ^ New York Post
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]

External links

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