History of NFL Games On Westwood One's Predecessors: Relationship To CBS

History of NFL games on Westwood One's predecessors[edit]
While major networks such as Westwood One, CBS, NBC, and Mutual held exclusive rights to
most national broadcasts of the NFL throughout the league's history, Dial Global's
predecessor, Jones Radio Networks, had carried several years' worth of Sunday afternoon
games nationwide. Beginning in 2002, Jones carried game broadcasts from the Sports USA
Radio Network. After Dial Global's massive acquisition spree of other networks began in
2008, Jones came under the Dial Global banner and Sports USA ended its relationship with
the network. In 2009, Dial Global instead switched to Compass Media Networks for its Sunday
afternoon NFL coverage.
Relationship to CBS[edit]
Westwood One had a long-standing relationship with CBS Radio. CBS' parent company
owned the network for approximately ten years (1998–2008) and, through the CBS Radio
Network, maintained control of the production of certain programming, including NFL games,
an arrangement that continued following Westwood One's acquisition by Dial Global through
the end of the 2011 NFL season. CBS had likely been carrying NFL games since at least 1935,
when George A. Richards, owner of WJR and the Detroit Lions, switched WJR's affiliation
from NBC Blue to CBS; Richards had negotiated with NBC the previous season to carry the
Lions' Thanksgiving contest that year and likely carried those games over to CBS when he
switched WJR's network.
As such, there was often synergy between the NFL on Westwood One and its former sister
outlet, the NFL on CBS.
The theme music for The NFL on Westwood One from 2003 until the end of the 2012 season
was "Posthumus Zone" by E.S. Posthumus, the same theme music used for the NFL on CBS
television coverage (Westwood One's sports coverage had always used the appropriate CBS
television theme for their sport where applicable). For the 2013 season onwards, a new
radio-specific score was commissioned by the network.
Some personnel is shared between the two units; for instance, certain CBS play-by-play
announcers (e.g. Don Criqui, Dick Enberg and Ian Eagle) call select Sunday afternoon games
throughout the first several weeks of the season on CBS and then switch to Thursday and
Saturday night games on Westwood One. Boomer Esiason, who is an analyst for CBS' The
NFL Today, called color commentary on Westwood One's Monday Night Football (and would
often advertise the latter on the former, as "the Monday night game on Westwood One");
conversely, Steve Tasker, a color commentator for CBS's Sunday afternoon coverage, served
as an analyst on The NFL on Westwood One shows.
The coverage carried the CBS Radio Sports tag (both with and without "Westwood One") for
many years before switching to Westwood One. The Mutual Broadcasting System, purchased
by Westwood One in 1985, also aired NFL coverage for many years beginning in 1940, while
NBC Radio, purchased by Westwood One in 1987, had exclusive NFL coverage in 1985–86.
Westwood One now acknowledges the NBC Radio broadcasts as part of the entire history of
[1]
the network's football coverage.
In December 2008, it was reported that the NFL was considering leaving Westwood One for a
rival service (ESPN Radio, Sports USA, and Sporting News Radio being the contenders), or
possibly splitting rights for prime-time, Thanksgiving, and postseason games between two or
[2]
more networks. However, on March 12, 2009 it was announced that Westwood One had
[3]
signed a two-year extension with the NFL. The league then announced on December 22,
[4]
2010 that Westwood One's contract has been extended through 2014. The two sides have
[5]
since agreed to an extension through the 2017 season.
Westwood One also served as the distributor for the Sports USA network's NFL games; as
such, Westwood One employed Sports USA announcers for certain games covered by the
former network, including Thanksgiving Day games, the opening Monday night
doubleheader, and Wild Card Weekend, during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. This agreement
was terminated in the 2011 offseason.
Although Dial Global's broadcasts continued to carry CBS branding and personalities
through 2012, it was initially unclear whether or not this would continue in 2013. CBS is
currently working with Cumulus Media Networks in distributing its own nationwide sports
radio network, while Dial Global is distributing NBC's national sports network. Several of Dial
Global's announcers (Kevin Harlan, Boomer Esiason, Dan Fouts, and Ian Eagle) are employed
by CBS and Esiason is a contributor to CBS Sports Radio. The situation was mooted in
August 2013, just weeks before the 2013 season started, when Cumulus agreed to acquire
Dial Global's network assets; Townsquare Media, which had previously been in the same
corporate structure as Dial Global, will acquire 53 of Cumulus's stations as part of the trade.
Thus, CBS Sports' radio operations will once again be under the same management as the
NFL package.
Cumulus Media, Westwood One's owner, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2017
and began canceling its national broadcast contracts (beginning with that of Imus in the
[6]
Morning) in January 2018. Cumulus's local sports rights, including affiliations with the
Seattle Seahawks outside Seattle, and a long-unpaid debt to the Buffalo Bills, are among
those Cumulus seeks to terminate in bankruptcy, making it unlikely that the company will
[7]
renew its national deal with the NFL. At the same time, CBS's radio operations, while still
under the control of CBS's shareholders, were spun off and merged into Entercom. No
contract extension has yet been announced as of May 2018; the NFL still recognizes
Westwood One as a broadcast partner (for instance, San Diego's KWFN proclaimed that it
[8]
would carry the package in the fall when it switched to a sports radio format in April 2018 ),
and unlike in 2010, the league has not publicly solicited bids for a radio contract.

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History of NFL games on Westwood One's predecessors[edit]

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