March 24, 2026
Static on air, fireworks in comments
An Aural Companion for Decades, CBS News Radio Crackles to a Close
Fans mourn, doomscrollers shrug, rural listeners feel left behind
TLDR: CBS News Radio ends after 99 years this May as the parent company cites costs and changing strategies. Commenters are split between short‑video evangelists and fears that rural listeners lose a trusted lifeline, with both nostalgia for radio’s speed and anger over missed modernization.
After 99 years on the dial, CBS News Radio is signing off in May — and the comments are louder than the static. On one side, the short‑video crowd rolled in with ring lights blazing: “just distill the news into 10” clips,” said one user, arguing the future is swipe-sized. Others ripped the corporate calculus, calling it “saving couch change” while cutting a lifeline for folks outside big cities.
The vibes are split between grief and “adapt or die.” Some listeners insist radio still delivers news fastest, a trusty companion from sunrise to bedtime. But several insiders say the network was “whittled down” and unprofitable, a cautionary tale of failure to modernize beyond the old satellites and towers. One commenter even dropped an archive link like they were presenting receipts.
Meanwhile, nostalgia hit hard: people reminisced about that iconic five‑tone chime — yes, this one — and name‑checked legendary reporter Edward R. Murrow, as if to say the pioneers wouldn’t love a TikTok news beat. The drama? It’s classic internet: tech optimists vs. radio loyalists, rural access vs. spreadsheets, and a lot of gallows humor about replacing airwaves with autoplay. Read the full story in the New York Times here.
Key Points
- •Paramount Skydance announced CBS News Radio will sign off after 99 years near the end of May.
- •CBS News Radio is known for historic World War II reporting by Edward R. Murrow and William Shirer.
- •The network’s five-tone chime became synonymous with breaking news in the radio era.
- •In recent years, CBS News Radio provided eyewitness dispatches to hundreds of local stations, including in rural areas.
- •The shutdown is part of a round of layoffs, according to the announcement.