CBS News shuts down radio unit amid division-wide cuts

In a stunning move, CBS News is shutting down its vigor division, bringing to an extremity 1 of its astir recognizable sources of quality reporting aft astir 100 years connected air.

CBS News announced Friday it volition halt offering its vigor work to its 700 affiliate stations connected May 22.

“While this was a indispensable decision, it was not an casual one,” the institution said successful a memo obtained by The Times. “A displacement successful vigor presumption programming strategies, coupled with challenging economical realities, has made it intolerable to proceed the service.”

The determination marked the extremity of an epoch astatine CBS, which follows years of cutbacks astatine the network.

CBS sold its ain vigor stations successful 2017, but continued to connection hourly web newscasts to affiliate stations, including “World News Roundup,” which has been connected the aerial since 1938. Legendary CBS News writer Edward R. Murrow — who would go a nationally recognized anchor covering the planetary battlefields of World War II and the home “Red Scare” of the McCarthy epoch — delivered his archetypal study connected the program.

“World News Roundup” roseate to prominence during World War II, erstwhile Murrow and different CBS News correspondents delivered unrecorded reports from Europe.

Robert Trout led the broadcast erstwhile it was launched and is considered by historians to beryllium the archetypal quality anchor. Douglas Edwards, different esteemed seasoned of CBS News, was astatine the microphone for the programme from 1966 to 1988 erstwhile it was called “The World Tonight.”

“World News Roundup” is presently heard connected KNX successful Los Angeles, which besides carries the hourly CBS newscasts.

CBS News anchors Robert Trout and Douglas Edwards successful 1956.

(CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images)

While CBS News Radio is nary longer a important gross generator, the work did get the quality division’s reporting and the voices of its correspondents into the ears of millions of listeners each week.

The quality of the shutdown comes arsenic dozens of CBS News employees learned Friday astir their aboriginal astatine the struggling quality division.

A greeting email from CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and exertion successful main Bari Weiss that was obtained by The Times said unit affected by a caller circular of occupation reductions volition beryllium notified by the extremity of the day. About 60 people, oregon 6% of CBS News employees, volition beryllium affected.

The cuts drew a harsh effect from the Writers Guild of America, which is progressive successful negotiations for a caller declaration with CBS News.

“CBS News Radio is an institution, wherever generations of the finest journalists successful the state spent their careers reporting the quality and holding radical successful powerfulness to account,” the national said successful a statement. “The determination to simply shutter CBS News Radio is indicative of Bari Weiss and [Paramount Chief Executive] David Ellison’s inept leadership.”

Among those connected the TV broadside deed by the layoffs were Elaine Quijano, a longtime analogous and anchor who moderated the 2016 vice statesmanlike statement betwixt Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Mike Pence.

Omar Villafranca, a Dallas-based analogous often seen connected “CBS Evening News,” was besides fto go, according to radical acquainted with decision.

CBS News chopped 2 correspondents who specialized successful covering clime alteration — Dave Malkoff, a seasoned of section Los Angeles stations, and David Schechter, who served arsenic nationalist biology correspondent.

A CBS News typical did not remark connected circumstantial individuals affected by the cuts.

Several reporters and producers successful the network’s Washington bureau were besides affected.

Hunter Woodall, a governmental newsman since 2023, posted a connection connected X saying helium was among the layoffs successful the network’s Washington bureau.

The layoffs had been hinted astatine earlier this twelvemonth by Weiss, the arguable quality enforcement who said her concern extremity for the part is to grow its scope connected integer platforms. Weiss and Cibrowski raised the aforesaid contented successful their enactment informing employees of the cuts.

“It’s nary concealed that the quality concern is changing radically, and that we request to alteration on with it,” they wrote. “New audiences are burgeoning successful caller places and we are pressing guardant with ambitious plans to turn and put truthful that we tin beryllium determination for them.”

CBS News has been dealing with a diminution successful gross for its TV programs, arsenic viewers person gravitated toward streaming platforms and societal media.

The network’s regular programs “CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil” and “CBS Mornings,” some tally good down their contention successful the ratings. “CBS Evening News” is present averaging nether 4 cardinal viewers a night, the level it was astatine earlier Weiss installed Dokoupil arsenic anchor successful January.

More consolidation is apt up astatine CBS News, which is expected to beryllium nether the aforesaid firm ownership arsenic CNN erstwhile genitor institution Paramount closes its $111-billion woody to get Warner Bros. Discovery. The 2 divisions are apt to stock quality gathering costs, which could pb to the closure of bureaus and a simplification of personnel.

CBS News mislaid astir 100 employees successful October arsenic portion of a monolithic circular of cuts enacted astatine Paramount aft the institution was acquired by Skydance Media.

Weiss had joined CBS News earlier that period and was not straight progressive successful the unit reductions. She is said to beryllium much personally progressive successful the cuts occurring Friday.