group . for the radio network see cbs radio news . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message cbs radio inc. type subsidiary industry radio broadcasting founded 1928 1928 foundation of cbs 1997 relaunched as infinity broadcasting 2005 relaunched as cbs radio headquarters 345 hudson street new york ny 10014 u.s. area served nationwide key people andre fernandez president owner cbs corporation parent national amusements website cbsradio.com cbs radio inc. formerly known as infinity broadcasting corporation is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the united states fifth behind main rivals iheartmedia previously clear channel communications which owns many of the stations that were previously owned by former cbs parent viacom before 1997 cumulus media townsquare media and alpha media . cbs radio owns and operates 117 radio stations across the country . it is currently part of cbs corporation which also owns the cbs radio and television networks and jointly owns the cw . contents 1 early origins 2 history 3 howard stern and free fm 4 jack fm 5 major league baseball 6 all news radio stations 7 cbs altitude group 8 see also 9 references 10 external links early origins edit cbs radio is one of the oldest units within cbs corporation and has been around since 1928 . however the actual cbs radio network now cbs radio news was launched in 1927 when cbs itself was known as united independent broadcasters . columbia records later joined in and that company was renamed the columbia phonographic broadcasting system . in september 1927 columbia records sold the company to william s. paley and in 1928 paley streamlined the corporate name to columbia broadcasting system . history edit the former cbs radio logo as infinity broadcasting the company that would become cbs radio was founded in 1972 as infinity broadcasting corporation by michael a. wiener and gerald carrus with the acquisition of kome an fm radio station that served the san francisco bay area . it became a publicly traded company twice in 1986 and again in 1992 . westinghouse electric corporation which acquired cbs inc. in 1995 acquired infinity broadcasting in 1997 . westinghouse which established modern broadcasting on november 2 1920 with kdka in pittsburgh pennsylvania would later change its name to cbs corporation and reorganize all of its radio properties including its own group w stations as well as its outdoor advertising business under the infinity broadcasting corporation name . westinghouse acquired american radio systems in 1997 . 1 in 1999 cbs corporation was merged into viacom . on december 14 2005 viacom spun out its motion picture and cable television assets with the remainder maintained as cbs corporation in anticipation of this infinity broadcasting was reorganized as cbs radio . in august 2006 cbs radio announced the sale of its 15 radio stations in cincinnati ohio ; memphis tennessee ; austin texas ; and rochester new york to entercom communications . this group deal was granted fcc approval in mid november 2007 after it faced regulatory review and numerous challenges for over a year and officially closed on november 30 . several other stations most in smaller markets have also been sold to companies like border media partners and peak media corporation . on april 30 2008 cbs radio and aol entered a partnership following the dissolution of partnership between aol and xm satellite radio due to the change in internet royalty rates . the aol radio player powered by cbs radio features over 200 cbs radio stations along with over 200 aol radio stations combining two of the largest online radio networks and giving millions of listeners unlimited and free access to a diverse array of music and programming including news sports and talk . these stations have been folded into the aol radio application seen in the itunes app store for availability on the iphone ipod touch ipad . in 2008 cbs started the process of paring down its station holdings with a particular focus on ridding itself of stations in mid sized markets and markets where there are no television stations for synergistic advantages . 2 on july 31 2008 cbs radio announced that it would sell 50 more radio stations in 12 mid size markets . 3 however some companies like rbc capital markets said cbs radio is a melting icecube and that cbs corporation would be better off selling the entire radio unit rather than waiting a couple of years and selling the rest for less . citation needed on december 15 2008 cbs radio and clear channel communications reached an agreement to swap seven stations . in this deal clear channel acquired wqsr in baltimore maryland kbks in seattle washington klth and kxjm in portland oregon and kqjk in sacramento california ; and cbs radio would get khmx and klol in houston texas . 4 the deal closed on april 1 2009 . on december 20 2008 cbs radio announced that it would sell the entire denver cluster this includes three radio stations to wilks broadcasting for 19.5 million including kimn kwof and kxkl . 5 on august 10 2009 cbs radio announced that it would sell the entire portland cluster this includes four radio stations to alpha broadcasting for 40 million . the stations included in the sale are kcmd kink kufo and kupl . 6 on february 4 2010 all cbs radio stations as well as aol radio and yahoo music radio have restricted all non u.s. listeners from streaming online content . cbs radio redirects to sister property last.fm . 7 2011 saw the biggest ac format removal of the company dropping ac for hot adult contemporary on washington d.c. s wiad in march followed by new york city s wwfs on october 12 both in the eastern time zone . on august 1 wcfs fm chicago removed its ac format for all news to simulcast wbbm am . by november 2011 wlte in minneapolis st. paul removed the ac format for christmas music only to transition to country music as kmnb on december 26 . on april 9 2012 cbs radio announced that it was selling its west palm beach cluster of stations to palm beach broadcasting for 50 million . 8 on december 1 2014 cbs radio traded 14 stations its charlotte north carolina and tampa bay clusters as well as wip in philadelphia to beasley broadcast group in exchange for wrdw fm and wxtu in philadelphia and wkis wpow and wqam in miami . 9 on march 15 2016 cbs ceo leslie moonves stated that the company was exploring strategic alternatives that could result in the sale or spin out of cbs radio . cumulus media had been named as one of the potential buyers . 2 as a result of the failure to find a buyer cbs radio has filed with the securities and exchange commission for an initial public offering to spin off its radio division . 10 in may 2016 judge percy anderson ruled in favor of cbs radio in a lawsuit filed by abs entertainment over the use of pre 1972 sound recordings which are subject to common law state copyright and not federal law on cbs radio s oldies stations . abs argued that because pre 1972 works are not subject to federal copyright they are not subject to the federal laws providing compulsory licenses for performing the recordings on terrestrial radio and via non interactive digital streams and require permission . cbs however argued that it did not play pre 1972 sound recordings but remastered versions of recordings published from compilations with copyrights registered after 1972 making them separate works subject to federal copyright and eligible for compulsory licenses . the court ruled that the remastered recordings contained multiple kinds of creative authorship such as adjustments of equalization sound editing and channel assignment with a level of creativity suitable enough to generate a new copyright . 11 12 howard stern and free fm edit for more details on this topic see the howard stern show and free fm . from 1985 to 2005 infinity cbs radio was the home of controversial and top rated talk show host howard stern who left due to increasing fcc and station censorship . in january 2006 rock star david lee roth rover s morning glory and talk show host adam carolla replaced stern in most major radio markets and cbs radio launched its new free fm hot talk format in many of these markets . roth s show was cancelled four months later and cbs radio announced that opie and anthony of xm radio would replace roth on the stations that carried him despite the irony that the two were fired after the sex act controversy inside of st. patrick s cathedral new york . adam carolla s show was also later canceled . on february 28 2006 cbs radio announced it had filed a lawsuit against stern his agent don buchwald and sirius arguing that stern promoted sirius to enrich himself unfairly . 13 it also claimed that stern repeatedly and willfully breached his contract with cbs misappropriated millions of dollars worth of airtime for his own benefit and fraudulently concealed his performance related interests in sirius stock . the suit filed in new york state court sought compensatory and punitive damages . stern anticipated the suit and earlier that day prior to cbs announcement held a press conference discussing how cbs added to the media attention even booking him for appearances on late show with david letterman and 60 minutes . i made them millions of dollars stern argued . if i was hurting them why did they keep me on the air for fourteen months how can you have it both ways 14 when a settlement was announced on may 26 2006 sirius gained exclusive rights to stern s back catalogue of radio broadcasts at wxrk from november 1985 to december 2005 totalling almost 23 000 hours . 15 the rights costing sirius approximately 2 million equates to approximately 87 per hour of tape . 16 as of 2009 update the free fm branding has been discontinued in all markets and no former free fm station continues to have a hot talk format.the only remaining show still on air is the sports junkies on wjfk 106.7 fm dc . all other shows broke up or were canceled . some have been reborn as podcasts . jack fm edit main article jack fm cbs radio owns the majority of stations in the united states that broadcast the jack fm format a radio format that incorporates all types of popular music from the mid 50s to the present . these include stations in los angeles dallas seattle minneapolis and many other cities . new york chicago and houston had jack fm stations too ; the new york city station wcbs fm has reverted to its traditional oldies format and jack which had been renamed tony was carried on its hd2 subchannel . major league baseball edit cbs radio is the largest broadcaster of local major league baseball broadcasts . in 2005 and 2007 respectively cbs dropped the st. louis cardinals from kmox and the pittsburgh pirates from kdka ending two long relationships between the teams and their flagship stations . however kmox reacquired the cardinals broadcast rights in 2011 and kdka s fm sister all sports station acquired the pirates broadcast rights in 2012 in addition to new york yankees games being renewed on wcbs after the conclusion of the 2011 season they would have the rights until the end of the 2013 season . cbs s wfan is the flagship station of the new york yankees they had broadcast the mets until 2014 and wscr is the flagship station of the chicago cubs