citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message infinity broadcasting corporation industry radio broadcasting outdoor advertising fate reverted back to cbs radio successor cbs radio founded 1972 founder michael a. wiener gerald carrus defunct 2005 headquarters new york city new york usa area served united states key people mel karmazin owner cbs corporation 1997 2000 original viacom now cbs corporation 2000 2005 parent westinghouse electric 1997 2000 national amusements 2000 2005 website infinityradio.com infinity broadcasting corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005 . it was founded by michael a. wiener and gerald carrus . it became associated with popular radio personalities like opie and anthony howard stern don imus and mike francesa . infinity merged with cbs corporation in 1997 and later became part of viacom in 2000 when cbs and viacom merged . after the viacom split in 2005 infinity changed its name to cbs radio . contents 1 history 1.1 formation and pre merger 1.2 merger with cbs and viacom 1.3 departure of mel karmazin and epilogue 2 references 3 external links history edit formation and pre merger edit infinity was founded in 1972 by two former metromedia executives michael a. wiener and gerald carrus with the acquisition of kome an fm radio station that served the san francisco bay area and finally received its license by the federal communications commission fcc a year later . 1 in 1979 infinity acquired wbcn in boston . in 1981 mel karmazin was bought in as new president . karmazin oversaw the operation of new york s wnew am now wbbr and wnew fm for metromedia . soon after the company acquired fellow new york stations wnew fm wktu now wbmp ; the present day wktu is owned by iheartmedia wzrc and wfan the following years followed by wysp fm in philadelphia . in 1983 infinity absorbed kxyz in houston and wjmk fm and wjjd in chicago . infinity became a publicly traded company in 1986 . within a year it had purchased six more stations kroq fm in los angeles wjfk fm in washington d.c. wqyk am fm in tampa and kvil am fm in dallas . the company reverted to a private company in the late 1980s why but it became a public company again in 1992 . in 1993 infinity was expanded to 22 radio stations . how clarification needed citation needed merger with cbs and viacom edit as a result of the telecommunications act of 1996 which loosened ownership restrictions of broadcast stations infinity was able to quickly acquire more stations owning over 75 at the time of the merger with ... clarification needed in 1997 it was announced that westinghouse electric corporation which owned cbs would acquire infinity broadcasting . karmazin had attempted to acquire cbs but michael jordan ceo of westinghouse refused to sell the firm to karmazin but instead agreed to buy infinity . the 4.9 billion deal was completed on december 31 1996 . 2 as a result of the westinghouse purchase infinity was merged into the cbs radio group with karmazin as president . karmazin soon became chairman and ceo of cbs radio and took the control of the cbs television network . shortly after westinghouse sold its non broadcasting assets and renamed itself as cbs corporation . in 1998 cbs decided to spin off a portion of its radio and outdoor advertising holdings as infinity broadcasting corp. once again bringing the infinity name back to the public . the stock offering was the largest in the media industry at the time and raised 2.87 billion . the most significant move during 1999 however was the deal struck with viacom in september . sumner redstone ceo of viacom shot down karmazin s offer to buy viacom . karmazin then offered cbs to redstone who eventually made a 37 billion proposal to merge the two companies together . viacom completed the cbs corp. purchase in may 2000 and it retained 80 % ownership of infinity . at that same year infinity acquired outdoor systems and renamed it infinity outdoor . under the new ownership by viacom infinity acquired 18 radio stations from its competitor clear channel communications now iheartmedia which needed to divest them as part of its own merger with amfm incorporated . the company also purchased giraudy sa an outdoor advertising company based in france . in 2002 viacom acquired the remaining shares of infinity that it did not already own making it a wholly owned subsidiary . at that time infinity outdoor was separated from infinity broadcasting and renamed viacom outdoor . departure of mel karmazin and epilogue edit karmazin resigned on may 2004 due to many differences with redstone . 3 karmazin later said he didn t get along with redstone and found it difficult to be no. 2 at a company but particularly under redstone . the two executives continued to snipe at each other through the media even a year after karmazin left viacom . 4 on december 14 2005 infinity broadcasting reverted to cbs radio and joined with the cbs and upn networks the latter of which would later merge with former rival network the wb to form the cw paramount s television properties showtime networks viacom outdoor simon & schuster and paramount parks into a revived cbs corporation . at that time cbs corp. spun off the new viacom which includes mtv networks bet and paramount pictures among other assets . currently the infinity radio name and logo is used for an online only variety hits station on cbs radio s streaming platform radio.com presumably to prevent trademark dilution . references edit barry david jim hard he played a part in how the west was won by fm radio business journal san jose april 2 1990 p. 12 . kamen robin to infinity and beyond mel takes on cbs crain s new york business november 24 1997 p. 1 . mel karmazin champion for howard stern resigns by corey deitz at about.com 1 sirius fun mel karmazin finds new media is a lot like what he used to love an article by devin leonard in fortune magazine november 14 2005 external links edit infinity radio official website infinity radio on play.it cbs radio official website sec filing form s 4 relating to split dead link v t e cbs radio a subsidiary of cbs corporation am radio stations kcbs kdka kfnq khtk kikk kilt kmox knx krak krld kxnt kxst kyw kzdg waok wbbm wbz wcbs wcco wfan wins wjfk wjz wpht wqam wscr wtic wwj wxyt fm radio stations kalv fm kamp fm kcbs fm kdka fm kegy kezk fm kezn kfrc fm kfrg khmx kilt fm kits kjaq kjkk kkhh kllc klol kluc fm kluv kmle kmnb kmps fm kmvk kmvq fm kmxb knci kool fm krld fm kroq fm krth ksfm ktwv kvfg kvil kxfg kxqq fm kxte kyky kymx kyxy kzjk kzok fm kzzo wbbm fm wbmp wbmx wbz fm wbzz wcbs fm wcfs fm wdch fm wdok wdsy fm wdzh wfan fm wiad wip fm wjfk fm wjmk wjz fm wkis wkrk fm wlif wlzl wncx wnew fm wocl wods wogl womc womx fm wpgc fm wpow wqal wqmp wrch wtic fm wusn wvee wwmx wxrt wxtu wxyt fm wycd wzgc wzlx wzmp wzmx radio networks boston bruins radio cbs radio news cbs sports radio new york yankees radio digital properties eventful last.fm play.it see also infinity broadcasting corporation former company name v t e cbs corporation corporate directors david r. andelman joseph a. califano jr. william s. cohen charles k. gifford leonard goldberg bruce s. gordon arnold kopelson leslie moonves doug morris shari redstone sumner redstone radio stations v t e cbs radio am radio stations kcbs kdka kfnq khtk kikk kilt kmox knx krak krld kxnt kxst kyw kzdg waok wbbm wbz wcbs wcco wfan wins wjfk wjz wpht wqam wscr wtic wwj wxyt fm radio stations kalv fm kamp fm kcbs fm kdka fm kegy kezk fm kezn kfrc fm kfrg khmx kilt fm kits kjaq kjkk kkhh kllc klol kluc fm kluv kmle kmnb kmps fm kmvk kmvq fm kmxb knci kool fm krld fm kroq fm krth ksfm ktwv kvfg kvil kxfg kxqq fm kxte kyky kymx kyxy kzjk kzok fm kzzo wbbm fm wbmp wbmx wbz fm wbzz wcbs fm wcfs fm wdch fm wdok wdsy fm wdzh wfan fm wiad wip fm wjfk fm wjmk wjz fm wkis wkrk fm wlif wlzl wncx wnew fm wocl wods wogl womc womx fm wpgc fm wpow wqal wqmp wrch wtic fm wusn wvee wwmx wxrt wxtu wxyt fm wycd wzgc wzlx wzmp wzmx radio networks boston bruins radio cbs radio news cbs sports radio new york yankees radio digital properties eventful last.fm play.it see also infinity broadcasting corporation former company name broadcast tv assets cbs the cw co owned with warner bros. decades co owned with weigel broadcasting network facilities cbs building cbs broadcast center cbs studio center cbs television city ed sullivan theater cbs television studios cbs productions cbs television distribution big ticket entertainment broadcast stations v t e cbs television stations cbs dec o & o kcbs kcnc kdka kovr kpix ktvt kyw wbbm wbz wcbs wcco wfor wjz wwj cw o & o kbcw kmax kstw wkbd wpcw wpsg wtog wupa other stations ind. kcal ktxa wbxi cd weather wlny tv mynetworktv wbfs wsbk cable channels showtime networks cbs sports network pop 50 % with lionsgate axs tv minority stake cbs studios international cbs action cbs drama cbs europa cbs reality horror channel eleven rtl cbs entertainment rtl cbs extreme cbs interactive v t e cbs interactive brands bnet cbsnews.com cbs moneywatch cbssports.com 247sports . com maxpreps.com chowhound clicker.com cnet comic vine gamespot giant bomb last.fm metacritic mysimon ongamers smartplanet techrepublic tv.com urbanbaby zdnet related websites cbs innertube download.com findarticles gamefaqs gamerankings gooey movietome mp3.com versiontracker wallstrip channels and shows buzz out loud cbsn cnet tv moblogic staff current dan ackerman bridget carey brian cooley jeff gerstmann jim lanzone daniel terdiman sharon profis staff former matthew barzun veronica belmont esther dyson ina fried richard hart james kim declan mccullagh tom merritt halsey minor natali morris rafe needleman andrew nusca ryan seacrest molly wood contributors current violet blue christopher dawson david gewirtz jason perlow contributors former harry mccracken simon & schuster howard pimsleur pocket scribner simon & schuster threshold aladdin atheneum miscellaneous assets cbs all access cbs consumer products cbs records westinghouse electric cbs home entertainment cbs films cbs news cbs sports defunct properties cbs cable cbs paramount domestic television cbs paramount network television free fm king world productions spelling television upn worldvision enterprises see also viacom original national amusements westinghouse electric corporation gulf and western industries v t e westinghouse subsidiaries baldwin westinghouse electric locomotives electrification of the new york new haven and hartford railroad bryant electric company infinity broadcasting corporation new england westinghouse company westinghouse aviation gas turbine division westinghouse broadcasting products a2w reactor list of westinghouse locomotives s2w reactor transit expressway revenue line people george westinghouse related companies viacom cbs corporation westinghouse digital westinghouse electric company westinghouse licensing corporation white westinghouse related george westinghouse award george westinghouse medal intel science talent search westinghouse works 1904 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title infinity broadcasting corporation & oldid 738128645 categories cbs radio stationsdefunct radio broadcasting companies of the united statescompanies established in 1972cbs corporation subsidiariescbs radioprivate equity portfolio companieshidden categories articles needing additional references from september 2011all articles needing additional referenceswikipedia articles needing clarification from october 2011wikipedia articles needing clarification from april 2013all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from april 2013all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from september 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom