NBC Radio Network

NBC Radio Network
Type	Radio network
Country	United States
Ownership
Owner	General Electric (RCA); (1926–1928); RCA (1928–1986); General Electric (1986–1987); Westwood One (1987–1999);
Key people	David Sarnoff (founder)
History
Launch date	November 15, 1926
Replaced	"WEAF chain" (AT&T;; d/b/a the Broadcasting Company of America);
Closed	April 17, 1999; (72 years, 153 days);
Replaced by	Westwood One; NBC News Radio;
Former names	NBC Red Network (1927–1942)
Coverage
Availability	National, through regional affiliates

The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942)^[a] was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it was one of the first two nationwide networks established in the United States. Its major competitors were the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), founded in 1927, and the Mutual Broadcasting System, founded in 1934. In 1942, NBC was required to divest one of its national networks, so it sold NBC Blue, which was soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). After this separation, the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.

For the first 61 years of its existence, this network was owned by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) with New York City radio station WEAF (renamed WNBC in 1946, WRCA in 1954 and again as WNBC in 1960) as its flagship station. Following the emergence of television as the dominant entertainment medium and much of NBC Radio's talent migrating both to CBS and NBC television, the network made multiple investments in programming in hopes of retaining relevance. These included the weekend program umbrella Monitor (1955–1975), the all-news focused NBC News and Information Service (1975–1977) and the talk radio service NBC Talknet, all of which encountered varying degrees of success and failure.

Following General Electric's purchase of RCA in late 1986, GE sold the NBC Radio Network to Westwood One in 1987. Westwood One previously acquired Mutual in 1985 and gradually merged the two together. NBC Radio News, which was also folded into Mutual's news operations, saw most of its functions cease on April 17, 1999, after further consolidation merged both NBC and Mutual directly into CBS's radio news operations. Westwood One and its successor network continued to use "NBC" branding for some of its programming until 2020, partnering with NBC News to operate NBC News Radio from 2003 until 2014, and with NBC Sports for NBC Sports Radio. From 2016 onward, iHeartMedia has handled production and distribution of NBC News Radio.

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[a]