The radio industry and the city of New York were shocked Monday morning to hear that WCBS-AM would abandon its all-news format. Radio Ink reached out to employees at WCBS 880 and beyond to assess the changes at the station and industry level.
Citing “the headwinds facing local journalism across the country,” Audacy’s New York Market President Chris Oliviero announced the decision had been made to hand the legacy station over to Craig Karmazin’s Good Karma Brands as part of a local marketing agreement, where it will become part of ESPN New York – likely under the new call sign WHSQ-AM.
Oliviero says Audacy’s focus on all news will now be on WINS-AM.
ESPN New York Market Manager of Good Karma Brands Vinny DiMarco said, “We are thrilled to add the legendary 880 AM signal to ESPN New York, expanding distribution and enriching the listening experience for our loyal fans. This legacy station will strengthen our connection to the community, enhance the advertising solutions we can offer our partners and create an opportunity for additional incredible content while we continue to broadcast the ESPN Radio Network on 1050 AM.”
Not all parties involved – past and present – are equally interested in the end of WCBS 880.
Radio Ink discussed the change with former CBS News VP/Radio Harvey Naglerwho also served as news and program director for WCBS-AM during his career. He told us, “The responsibility for the program and what happened has to rest with Audacy management. I don’t think you can just sweep that under the rug and say times and the culture have changed. This is an institution that had millions of listeners, probably hundreds of thousands at any time of day, and was respected and loved.”
“I don’t think management can be absolved of responsibility for the demise of WCBS. When I was there, which admittedly was many years ago, we only shared 20% of our audience with WINS. There were many viewers who didn’t even know or listen to the other all-news station. I suspect that’s still the case today.”
“You only have to look at some of the emails listeners have sent the radio station describing how much they rely on and trust it. At a time when there is so much polarization in the news media, WCBS was a beacon of objectivity, clarity and information that people could trust. It’s very sad to see it go.”
The Writers Guild of America East They said: “We are devastated that Audacy, the second largest radio company in America, today announced the closure of WCBS Newsradio 880, a trusted news source for New Yorkers since 1924. Audacy has laid off 23 members of the WGA East and we expect the company to comply with the applicable provisions of our collective bargaining agreement, including guaranteed severance pay.”
“Audacy owns more than 200 radio stations in nearly 50 markets. The closure of WCBS Newsradio 880 is yet another example of consolidation by a major media conglomerate that ultimately deprives the public of critical local news with diverse perspectives. Given that this is a crucial election year, Audacy’s decision is all the more egregious. This is a huge loss for New York City and the news industry as a whole.”
Audacy declined to comment on Radio Ink‘s questions about whether WCBS-AM staff would be moving to WINS. WCBS anchor Steve Scott confirmed in a post on X/Twitter that he is being laid off.
Finally, Radio Ink spoke to the Chief Strategy Officer and local news anchor of Ad Fontes Media Lou Paskalis about the consequences of the closure of one of America’s longest-running traditional news channels.
“Today’s announcement that New York City station WCBS-AM is ending its all-news format after 50 years of continuous broadcasting marks a troubling national trend for those of us who live in Manhattan: Two local, ad-supported news platforms are disappearing in this country every week, depriving millions of Americans of free access to quality news journalism. While there are many reasons for this, the biggest is that marketers have turned away from advertising in the news out of unfounded fears of their brands being drawn into the culture war. Journalism is vital to our economy, society and democracy. Failure to support it puts our way of life at risk.”
Numerous Radio Ink reader have shared their thoughts in the comments to our original article, with Michael Walsh offers a particularly poignant perspective. “I was a 14-year-old high school student home with pneumonia in September 1967 when I happened to hear Newsradio 88, a few weeks after its debut. Now I’m a 70-year-old grandfather about to retire, and I’ve listened all the time. I’ve heard all the giants of journalism who filled the airwaves all those years, some no longer with us, and many I can still hear every day on WCBS. To everyone who made Newsradio 88 possible, whether behind the scenes or on the air, THANK YOU for being a valued companion in my home and car every day.”
