All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news.

All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the gamut from simulcasting an all-news television station like CNN, to a "rip and read" headline service, to stations that include live coverage of news events and long-form public affairs programming.

Many stations brand themselves Newsradio but only run news during the morning and afternoon drive times, or in some cases, broadcast talk radio shows with frequent news updates. These stations are properly labeled as "news/talk" stations. Also, some National Public Radio stations identify themselves as News and Information stations, which means that in addition to running the NPR news magazines such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered, they run other information and public affairs programs.

History

In 1960 KJBS radio in San Francisco, California, became KFAX and changed formats from a blend of music, news, and sports to trial the concept of a "newspaper of the air". The call letters reflected the word facts. However, this experiment proved unsuccessful.[1]

Broadcasting pioneer Arthur W. Arundel is credited with establishing the first 24-hour all-news station in the United States in January 1961 on his owned-and-operated WAVA in Washington, D.C. The station met with success amongst an audience in the capital city then riveted to news of the Vietnam War and of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. Arundel helped other stations in New York and Chicago to convert to his "All News, All the Time" format and then met direct competition from Washington Post-owned WTOP/1500 in 1969.

Radio programmer Gordon McLendon, who has been credited with pioneering top 40, all-sports, beautiful music and telephone talk formats, is also an acknowledged pioneer in the all-news format. XTRA News went on the air May 5, 1961, from XETRA, a station licensed to Tijuana, Mexico, whose 50,000-watt signal could be heard in San Diego and Los Angeles. Not long after, WNUS debuted in Chicago (the NUS in the call letters standing for "news").

The format, which can be heard to this day on many all-news stations, started each half-hour with world and national news, from a national network, then switched to locally anchored area news, filling out the half-hour with updates on weather, sports, business and features. XETRA had no outside reporters and got all of its local news from the AP and UPI wire services. Both stations operated using a 15-minute news cycle with newscasts repeated every 15 minutes.

Another early prototypical all-news format operated through WABC-FM in New York City during the 114-day 1962 New York City newspaper strike which lasted from December 8, 1962, to March 31, 1963.[2] The format only lasted as long as the strike, though, and the station reverted to its regular format of Broadway show tunes and simulcasting of its AM sister station afterwards. The following year, ABC's Detroit FM station, WXYZ-FM, made a similar effort during a newspaper strike. Both stations, which previously had simulcast their AM sister stations, carried ABC Radio Network news programs (including those not heard on the AM Top 40 stations), AM local newscasts plus wire service stories read to fill the balance of the time.

Group W, the broadcast division of Westinghouse, adopted an all-news format 20-minute cycle that eschewed network newscasts so that local and non-local news could be freely mixed, according to what appeared more interesting or important on any given day. Westinghouse also used field reporters at its all-news stations, which included 1010 WINS New York, KYW Newsradio 1060 Philadelphia and KFWB News 98 Los Angeles. WINS began broadcasting its all-news format in April 1965. A second New York all-news station, CBS-owned WCBS, began all-news programming on August 28, 1967 (although its first broadcasts were on its FM sister station after a plane crashed into its tower, knocking the AM station off the air). CBS converted some of its other AM outlets to this WCBS "Newsradio" format over the next several months and years, including WBBM Chicago, KCBS San Francisco, KNX Los Angeles and WEEI/590 Boston (which CBS sold in the 1980s).

In 1975 the NBC Radio Network shut down its profitable weekend music- and information-service NBC Monitor to launch the "News & Information Service" (NIS), the first all-news radio network. It closed two years later in a cost-cutting move, though it had strong ratings in some markets.

In 1994 Associated Press launched an effort similar to NIS. Officially known as AP All-News Radio, it had affiliates from coast to coast. However, it was informally better known by its promotional title of "The News Station". Associated Press discontinued the all-news format in July 2005. However, the Associated Press continue to offer top-of-the-hour updates, which are streamed 24/7 online.

In 2003, Fox News began syndicating one-minute radio updates to radio stations via syndication service Westwood One. Some years later, Fox opted to make a full foray into network radio news services. On June 1, 2005, Fox News Radio employed 60 people and provided hourly five-minute newscasts and a one-minute newscast half-hourly. At its launch, 60 stations participated in the network, with more joining under a deal struck between Fox and Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia). This allowed many Clear Channel stations to carry Fox News Radio newscasts and allowed Fox News Radio to use and nationally distribute news content produced by Clear Channel, with several of those stations ending decades-long relationships dating back to the Golden Age of Radio with ABC News Radio (now owned by competitor Cumulus Media) and CBS Radio News to carry Fox News Radio.

Fox also produces Fox News Talk, with talk radio programs featuring Fox News personalities. The programs are broadcast on terrestrial radio stations in the U.S. as well as a dedicated channel on SiriusXM Satellite Radio's digital platform on Channel 450.

The national audio feed of CNN Headline News, began a long phaseout in 2007. Headline News's audio feed was popular among some all-news stations, particularly after the AP disbanded the format in 2005, until the TV network decided in 2006 to abandon its all-news format and add talk-show programming in prime time, when many smaller stations do not have air staff and rely on a network feed. Most of the Headline News affiliates became talk-radio stations, with a handful of daytime-only stations keeping the feed. CNN also for a time offered a second all-news channel with the hour filled with CNN Radio newscasts on the hour and half-hour and business, sports and feature segments from CNN Radio and Headline News at specific points each hour, plus time segments for local news to be inserted. Many smaller affiliates, however, preferred Headline News audio which was more suited to turn-key (or unattended, automated) operation. CNN Radio ceased operations April 1, 2012,[3] although CNN continues to stream an advertisement-supported audio simulcast of CNN on TuneIn.

While not a full-time NIS, the CBS Radio Network provides significant content for most all-news radio stations in the United States. WestwoodOne offers two morning news magazines (First Light and America in the Morning) on weekdays, which many talk radio stations air at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. The network's mobile app also contains a 24/7 stream featuring rolling news and features on a set schedule, along with breaking news coverage.

All-news has for years been a top-rated radio format in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities, but as big-city traffic worsens and people work longer hours that increase the urgency of planning their day ahead, the focus of such stations has increasingly turned to traffic and to weather, updated every 10 minutes. Attempts at long-form commercial all-news stations, such as Washington Post Radio, have been largely unsuccessful.

A newcomer to all-news in the early 2010s, Randy Michaels, acquired FM stations in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia (through his Merlin Media company) in preparation for all-news formats in those cities (the Philadelphia station never made the switch and instead aired talk shows). Michaels gave up on the format after approximately one year (after an attempt to add 'conversational breaks' discussing the news), and changed formats on both the New York and Chicago stations to music, later selling the stations.

Talk Radio Network launched America's Radio News Network, a 15-hour weekday block of news, in January 2011; the company had been launching three-hour news blocks in specific dayparts since January 2009. The network was syndicated mostly to smaller stations in need of turnkey news operations during the day; the network never produced programming for overnights or weekends. The service shut down in September 2013.

In 2012 Cumulus Media added more all-news hours on KGO in San Francisco and KLIF in Dallas under the branding "News & Information", but both stations have since changed to a news-talk format due to audience and talk staff rejection of the all-news programming as presented on the stations, accompanied by staff reductions due to budget cuts.

In 2016 "24/7 News" on the iHeart app was renamed NBC Newsradio. It also carries a second all-news network, AP Radio News.

In late 2015, Fox News Radio began offering Fox News Headlines 24/7 exclusively to SiriusXM subscribers on Channel 115. The program is a live-anchored all-news radio channel offering news, sports, entertainment and social media discussion in fifteen-minute blocks. It is a companion channel to the audio simulcasts of the Fox News Channel on SiriusXM 114 and Fox Business on SiriusXM 113. The channel draws heavily from the newsgathering resources of Fox News Radio's two terrestrial radio networks.

TuneIn offers audio simulcasts of several television networks, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and Fox News, along with 'commercial-free' feeds (in reality, extra network features overlaid over commercial advertising) through its Premium tier.

Stations

Many all-news stations only operate as such during the daytime, or may preempt news with live sports coverage. To be included in this list, a station must broadcast all-news programming during a majority of a normal broadcast day.

Asia

China

  • CNR The Voice Of China frequencies are varied nationwide.
  • CRI News Radio FM 90.5 in Beijing
  • Beijing Newsradio FM94.5 (Beijing)
  • Zhejiang Newsradio FM98.8 AM1530 (Hangzhou)
  • Shanghai Newsradio FM 93.4 AM 990 (Shanghai)
  • Tianjin Newsradio FM 97.2 AM909 (Tianjin)

Israel

People at the Galei Tzahal station in 2016

Malaysia

Nepal

Philippines

The all-news radio format in the country is largely credited as having started in 1968 at the height of that year's Casiguran earthquake that notably toppled the Ruby Tower in Manila. Starting out on the AM band, FM started to become a successful nationwide prospective trend in 2009.

AM Band

Almost all AM stations in large broadcast markets of the Philippines are all-news stations while smaller markets employ a full-service format. The stations listed are flagship stations based in Manila.

Logo of Radyo Pilipinas 1
FM Band

Prior to 2009, the format was experimental on independent provincial FM stations and were mostly operated via time-brokerage until key stations in the country began a trend on operating all-news radio networks on FM, though the earlier practice still has considerable extent in smaller radio markets. This foray has a major advantage from the long-standing "news-intensive AM" because of high-quality broadcasting and penetrates all locations, unlike the older AM transmissions that are prone to electrical and other signal interference.

As of December 2018, six major network operators have their distinction of this format on the FM band.

South Korea

  • YTN News FM 94.5

Europe

France

Logo of BFM Business

Germany

Most all news stations in Germany are operated by the local public broadcasters in the different states. All of these stations (except NDR Info) carry ARD-Infonacht produced by MDR Aktuell during the overnight hours.

Ireland

  • RTÉ Radio 1 is a mixed-genre service but it provides the most comprehensive news and current affairs coverage in the country.

Italy

Netherlands

Logo of NPO Radio 1

Norway

Poland

Russia

  • Kommersant FM – all-news station from newspaper Kommersant
  • Business FM

Spain

Logo of Radio 5

United Kingdom

  • LBC News – rolling news for UK from 24/7 every 20 minutes.
  • News Radio UK – the UK's only 24/7 headline news station, providing news, sports, travel, business, showbiz and weather updates every 10 minutes. This station was launched in 10/10/2016, at 10 a.m.[4]

Ukraine

  • Radio NV

North America

Canada

Between 1977 and 1989 Canada All News Limited operated Canada's first attempt at all news radio with a network of eight FM stations and one AM station in major Canadian cities, all using the base callsign CKO (or CK News). The effort was similar in some ways to NBC Radio's News and Information Service, mostly national news programming with cut-ins for individual stations to broadcast local news. The network was also the first to offer live broadcasts of Question Time in the Canadian parliament. The network was plagued by low ratings and poor advertising sales (similar to problems faced by all-news radio networks operated by NBC, CNN and AP in the US). Ironically, many of the stations listed below operate in cities which CKO News had served previously.

Call signBrandingCityOwner
CFFRCityNews 660CalgaryRogers Media
CFTRCityNews 680TorontoRogers Media
CHQTGlobal News Radio 880 Edmonton[lower-alpha 1]EdmontonCorus Entertainment
CKWXCityNews 1130VancouverRogers Media

News-talk radio stations 570 News in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario, News 95.7 in Halifax (also Rogers Broadcasting-owned stations) use an all-news wheel for their morning and afternoon shows, simulating their sister station, 680News in Toronto.

In February 2001, Corus Entertainment launched an all-news sister station to Vancouver news-talk station CKNW. All news NW2 (CJNW AM730, formerly CKLG) was branded as "24 hour news radio, powered by CKNW." NW2 shared newsroom resources with CKNW, including several anchors and reporters. However, NW2 did not achieve broad appeal, and was shut down in May 2002. The station currently airs an all-traffic format under the call sign CHMJ. That same year, Corus acquired two all-news stations in Montreal, CINW ("940 News") at 940 AM in English and CINF ("Info 690") at 690 AM in French, which had launched in late 1999. These frequencies were previously operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English and French radio services respectively before the public broadcaster switched to the FM dial. But as AM radio listenership in Montreal declined sharply in recent years – only longtime talk-radio stations CJAD in English and CKAC in French (now an all-traffic station) remained popular – neither CINW nor CINF were able to make a profit (even after several format changes on CINW), and Corus finally shut down both stations on January 29, 2010.

Mexico

Logo of XEW-AM, also broadcast on XEW-FM

United States

Logo of WBBM

South America

Brazil

  • BandNews FM – news every 20 minutes
  • CBN and Radio Bandeirantes – two stations broadcast news 24/7
  • Jovem Pan News – news for Brasilia
  • Rádio Itatiaia – regional news for Belo Horizonte
  • Rádio Jornal – regional news for Recife
  • Rádio Gaúcha, Rádio Guaíba and Pampa FM – regional news for Porto Alegre

Cuba

  • Radio Reloj – the world's oldest all-news station, broadcasting live news and information 24/7 with continuous clock ticks in the background and a beep every minute

Oceania

Australia

Logo of ABC NewsRadio

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ CHQT is the only Global News Radio station to use an all-news format, the remaining stations are news-talk.

References

  1. ↑ Schneider, John F. "The History of KJBS Radio San Francisco, California". Voices out of the fog. Bay Area Radio Museum. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016. After several decades as one of the Bay Area's dominant stations, KJBS had lost its momentum by the late 1950s. [...] When the station was sold to Argonaut Broadcasting in 1960, an idea was devised that, for its time, was revolutionary and untried—the 'newspaper of the air.' The station presented continuous news in the style of a newspaper, complete with a sports page, cooking features and a 'comics page' (comedy records). [...] KJBS became KFAX ('K-Facts'). The entire broadcast industry watched the KFAX experiment with great interest as the station began its new service in May of 1960, the first station in the country to attempt around-the-clock news programming. Unfortunately, by September the station had already lost a quarter of a million dollars. The station decided to drop the all-news format in favor of a sure-fire moneymaker, radio religion.
  2. ↑ Hinckley, David. "WRKS SHOWS WHY NO RACE HAD 'SOUL' POSSESSION" Archived 2009-05-16 at the Wayback Machine, Daily News (New York), November 29, 1997. Accessed January 18, 2009.
  3. ↑ NBC News to beef up radio news as CNN withdraws. Associated Press. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
  4. ↑ "UK rolling news radio service set to launch – RadioToday". radiotoday.co.uk. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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