KYW Newsradio Parent Company To Change With CBS Radio, Entercom Merger
by Paul Kurtz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- KYW Newsradio's parent company will be changing. CBS Radio will combine forces with Entercom in a tax-free merger.
As a listener, you won't notice much once the merger goes through.
Well, this will go away:
"This is KYW Newsradio 1060, a CBS radio station serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware."
But the overall format will remain -- the same goes for the other stations in the CBS Philly cluster.
The merger will also bring together two companies with local roots. Entercom is located in Bala Cynwyd and Philadelphia was William Paley's hometown in 1928 when he formed the Columbia Broadcasting System with his father and brother-in-law.
One of the original 16 stations that formed the new network was WCAU, now The Big Talker 1210 AM WPHT.
CBS had originally planned to spinoff its 117 radio stations, until talks quietly heated up with Entercom a few weeks ago.
The merger will create a 244 station broadcast platform across the country when the deal is closed later this year.
In a statement released Thursday, CBS Chairman and CEO Les Moonves says the agreement will "separate our radio business in the best possible way," and he calls Entercom a "superbly run company."