Radio broadcasting is one of the most popular and affordable means of communication and entertainment worldwide. It is an audio transmission, which can be listened to from across the world. Radio stations have two types of broadcasting: terrestrial radio and satellite radio. Terrestrial is a land-based radio station, while satellite broadcasting is satellite-based. The listener must have a radio device to get the content. People can benefit by tuning into the radio stations of their choice, including sports radio, news radio, music radio, or the radio broadcasting an assortment of local and syndicated programming.
Some radio stations are associated with a radio network that makes available simulcasts, broadcast syndication, or sometimes offers both formats. Radio stations operate through two modulations: FM radio stations transmit in frequency modulation, and AM radio stations may transmit in amplitude modulation. In addition, the FM and AM radio stations may transmit digital signals (Digital Audio Broadcasting, Digital Radio Mondiale, and HD radio) or analog signals.
About News Radios in US
News Radio is one of the most tuned radio formats in the USA. Radio news is quite similar to television news; however, the radio news is transmitted through the mode of radio transmission. Radio news depends on audio features rather than visual. Different reporters record sound bites which are then played back through the radio. News Radio stations broadcast news programming throughout the day featuring local and global news regarding politics, sports, business, weather, and current affairs. In contrast, radio services other than news radio transmit news once or twice an hour.
This article summarizes the top seven news radio stations which are the most listened to broadcasting services in the different states of the USA. This excerpt includes relevant details such as programming, technical information, popular radio personalities, and contact details of these radio stations.
These radio stations are
- 1010 Wins (1010 kHz) (New York)
- KFI AM (640 kHz) (California)
- Fox News Radio (500 kHz) (Canada)
- KCBS AM (740 kHz) (California)
- WCBS AM (880 kHz) (New York)
- CNN radio
- MSNBC Audio
WINS 1010 AM : Included in the list of the Best News Radio Stations in US
WINS (AM), branded as “1010 WINS,” is the top-rated radio station on our list. The AM is one of the top news radios of USA. WINS 1010 AM is an American commercial radio service that airs All-news radio programming. The station is licensed to serve New York. It covers the New York Metropolitan area with its broadcast. It operates under Entercom (Entercom License, LLC). WINS AM has its transmitter in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. In addition to its 24/7 on-air broadcasting, FM has also provided an online streaming platform for international listeners.The Station can also be browsed on popular social media platforms to keep them up to date.
The station was first aired in 1924 (96 years before). The radio is accessible on 1010 kHz frequency. WNEW-FM, WFAN, WFAN-FM, WCBS, WNSH, WNYL, and WCBS-FM are its sister stations. WINS has an affiliation with Bloomberg Radio, ABC News Radio, and Associates Press. The station has been named after “Hearst Newspapers’ World International News Service,” which once used to be its owner. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was the first broadcaster to imitate all news formulas of Westinghouse.
In August 1967, when WINS did well, all news stations stimulated CBS to make a similar change with WCBS. In the beginning, WCBS did not broadcast around the clock. At that time, WCBS presented other than news programming during late nights. However, in 1970, WCBS broadcasted full time with all news just like WINS. The station has a repeater station, “WNEW-HD3,” serving New York on the FM frequency of 102.7. The former call sign of the service was WGBS from 1924 to 1927.
The former frequencies of the service were
950 kHz from 1924 to 1927
860 kHz from 1927 to 1930
600 kHz from 1930 to 1931
1180 kHz from 1931 to 1941
1000 kHz from 1941 to 1944
The nighttime signals of WINS transmit through ionosphere skywave propagation. The service had been under the ownership of two companies and experimented with a couple of formats, i.e., Rock & Roll from 1953 to 1965 and all news, all the time from 1965 to date.
Besides news and weather, the station also broadcasts live contests and quizzes. The station primarily broadcasts an All-news radio format.
The featured shows of the station are
Wins Morning Drive (5:00 AM – 10:00 AM)
Midday’s News (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
PM Rush (4:00 PM – 9:00 PM)
Nights (9:00 PM – 1:00 AM)
Overnights (1:00 AM – 5:00 AM)
The service broadcasts “weekend news” (1:00 AM) on Saturday and Sunday.
WINS is a class B AM service with facility ID 25451. FM operates with an effective radiated power of 50,000 Watts for unlimited hours. From a directional (2- Patterns) antenna, it transmits digital signals. Its local predicted daytime coverage area is 40 miles, and the distant coverage range is 80 miles. Its regional expected nighttime coverage area is 30 miles, and the far-off coverage range is 60 miles. The transmitting coordinates of WINS are 40.803989, -74.106253. The FCC granted it the license to transmit on September 23, 2010.
Contact Details
Address: 345 Hudson St 10th FI, New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-315-7090
Fax: 212-315-7015
Email: info@wins.com
Official Website: https://www.radio.com/1010wins
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1010wins
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1010WINS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1010wins
2. KFI AM 640 : One of the Best News Radio Stations in US
The second top-ranking news radio, according to our compilation, is KFI AM 640. The station is an American commercial radio service airing news/talk programming round the clock. The service is licensed to serve Los Angeles, California. It covers the broadcast area of Southern California with its news transmission. It operates under iHeartMedia (Capstar TX LLC). The branding of the station is “KFI AM 640.”
The station first went on-air on April 16, 1922. The owner and founder of the service were Earle C. Anthony, who exerted his authority on the station until his death. Previously, KFI had been operating with 50 Watts from a crank telephone. In the beginning, the service used to broadcast for only four and a half hours a day. NBC (National Broadcasting Company) ran two networks: Blue Network and Red Network, in 1926.
NBC changed its operation into an orange and blue network in 1931. The station was a member of the orange group through Oakland (KOMO, Portland, KHQ, Seattle, and KGW), Spokane, and KGO. The station has been airing at 640 kHz AM frequency with the slogan, “More Stimulating Talk.” KEIB, KRRL, KLAC, KBIG, KYSR, KOST are its sister stations. The service has an affiliation with ABC News Radio. KFI AM also has a repeater station, “KOST-HD2,” on the FM frequency of 103.5-2.
The former personalities of the station were
Jerry Angel
Tammy Bruce
Bill Carroll
Chuck Cecil
Matt Drudge
Dale Dye
Scott Ellsworth Etc.
In addition to its 24/7 live broadcast, the service also offers internet streaming for international listeners. It also maintains social media profiles on social media networking sites to keep the audience up to date. Besides news and weather, the station also broadcasts contests & podcasts.
The weekday lineup of KFI includes the following nationally syndicated shows
Coast to Coast AM – George Noory (12:00 AM – 5:00 AM)
Wake Up Call (5:00 AM – 6:00 AM)
Bill Handel – (6:00 AM – 10:00 AM)
Gray and Shannon – (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
John and Ken – (2:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
Tim Conway Jr – (6:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
Coast to Coast AM Show with George Noory (10:00 PM – 12:00 PM)
The popular weekend’s on-Air shows are:
The Daily Dive (5:00 AM – 6:00 AM)
Jesus Christ shows “PRN” (6:00 AM – 9:00 AM)
Home with Dean Sharp (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM)
Leo Laporte (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
The Ric Edelman show (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Dr. Wendy Walsh (4:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
Mo’Kelly (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Bryan Suits (8:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
KFI is a Class A AM service. Its facility ID is 49688. It operates with an adequate radiated power of 50,000 Watts for unlimited hours. From a non-directional antenna (2 modes), it sends digital signals. Its regional expected daytime coverage area is 110 miles, and the distant coverage range is 190 miles. Its local projected nighttime coverage area is 60 miles, and the far-off coverage range is 130 miles. The station’s transmitting coordinates are 33.879736, -118.013953. The FCC granted it the license to transmit on June 02, 2009.
Contact Details
Address: 3400 W Olive Ave., Suite # 550, Burbank, CA 91505
Phone: 818-559-2252
Fax: 818-729-2502
Email: kfiwebmaster@kfiam640.com
Official Website: http://kfiam640.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kfiam640
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/KFIAM640
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KFIAM640
3. Fox News Radio : Among the Best News Radio Stations in US
Fox News Radio is a US-based profitable radio service and the third top-rated station as per our exploration. The station airs news/talk programming. The service is licensed to serve Canada, the United States. It operates under “Fox News Media (Fox Corporation).” The type of the station is a Satellite-delivered radio network.
The service first reached the airwaves in 2003. The station started syndicating one-minute radio updates through a service, “Westwood One.” When it succeeded, the service chose to create raid into network radio news services and appointed a team of 60 radio professionals. The station started broadcasting news on an hourly basis: a five-minute newscast at the start of the hour and one minute at the semi-hour mark. When this station started broadcasting, sixty stations entered the network. Under the contract struck among Clear Channel Communications and fox news radio, many new members get connected. This gave opportunities:
to Clear Channel Communications to carry Fox news radio newscasts, permitted Fox News Radio to exercise it, and share out the Clear Channel’s news content countrywide.
About Fox Radio
Fox News reaches the radio waves at 500 kHz AM with the slogan “America is listening.” Fox News Radio is available on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, live streaming, and different AM/FM stations. In addition, the service broadcasts live news through leader staff.
In addition to its 24/7 live broadcast, the service has also offered internet streaming for international listeners. It maintains social media profiles on social media networking sites to keep the audience up to date. Besides live news and weather, the station also airs podcasts. Weekdays shows of Fox News Radio are:
Brian Kilmeade Show hosted by Brian Kilmeade airing from 9:00 AM to Noon.
Fox across America hosted by Jimmy Failla going on air from Noon to 3:00 PM
The Guy Benson show carried by Guy Benson broadcasting from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Contact Details
Address: 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 15th floor, New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-301-5439
Official Website: https://radio.foxnews.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foxnewsradio/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foxnewsradio/
4. KCBS All News : Among the Best News Radio Stations in US
KCBS (740 AM), an American commercial radio service, is on no four on our list. The station airs All-news radio programming because AM is best news radio stations in USA. The service is licensed to serve San Francisco, California, and covers the San Francisco Bay Area with its transmission. KCBS operates under the ownership of Entercom (Entercom License, LLC). The branding of the station is All News 106.9 & AM 740 KCBS.
The station first went on-air on December 9, 1921. The station reaches the radio waves at 740 kHz AM frequency with the slogan, “The Bay Area’s News station.” KGMZ-FM, KLLC, KFRC-FM, KRBQ, KITS, and KGMZ are its sister stations. The meaning of its call sign is “Columbia Broadcasting System.” The former call sign of the station had been KQW from 1921 to 1949. KCBS has an affiliation with Compass Media Network, CBS Radio News, and Bloomberg Radio.
In addition to its 24/7 live broadcast, the service also offers internet streaming for international listeners. Listeners can also download the official radio app, Tune-In, and most streaming apps up to August 01, 2018. It maintains social media profiles on social media networking sites to keep the audience up to date. Besides news and weather, the station also broadcasts contests and podcasts.
Some of the stellar news anchors of the service are
John Atkinson
Rick Batiste
Jeff Bell
Jason Brooks
Sherry Brown
Stan Bunger
Rebecca Corral
Melissa Culross, Etc.
The station broadcasts the following news programming throughout the weekdays
KCBS Radio Morning News (5:00 AM to 10:00 AM)
KCBS Radio Midday News (10:00 AM to 2:00 PM)
Afternoon News (2:00 PM to 7:00 PM)
KCBS Radio Overnight News (7:00 PM to 5:00 AM)
On the weekend, KCBS airs the following newscasts
KCBS Radio Weekend News (12:00 AM to 5:00 AM)
CBS News Weekend Roundup (5:00 AM to 5:30 AM0
KCBS Radio: In-Depth (5:30 AM to 6:00 AM)
Face the Nation (9:30 AM to 10:30 AM)
60 Minutes (7:00 PM to 8:00 PM)
KCBS is a class B AM/FM service. The facility ID of the station is 9637. It functions with an ERP of 50,000 Watts for unlimited hours. From a directional (2 Pattern) antenna, it sends digital signals. Its regional predicted daytime coverage area is 110 miles, and the distant coverage range is 190 miles. Its local expected nighttime coverage area is 80 miles, and the far-off coverage range is 160 miles. The transmitting coordinates of KCBS are 38.139641, -122.530258.The FM got its FCC license on 21 January 1992.
Contact Detail
Address: 865 Battery St 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: 415-765-4049
Fax: 415-765-4141
Email: norcalpromotionmanagers@entercom.com
Official Website: https://www.radio.com/kcbsradio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KCBSRadio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kcbsradio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KCBSRadio
5. WCBS AM 880 : Counted among the Best News Radio Stations in US
WCBS (AM) is the fifth top-ranking news radio according to our study. It provide best news radio stations service in USA. The station is an American commercial radio service broadcasting All-news radio programming. The service is licensed to serve New York and covers the broadcast area of the New York metropolitan area. WCBS operates under Entercom (Entercom License, LLC). The branding of the station is “WCBS News radio 880.“
The station first went on-air on September 20, 1924. The service has been recognized for announcing the time constantly every three minutes since 1924 because all the listeners did not have a dependable clock. Now the service announces the time regularly. The station goes on air at 800 kHz AM frequency with the slogan, “More Than Just the Headline.” WNSH, WINS, WFAN, WNYL WNEW-FM, WCBS-FM, and WFAN-FM are its sister stations. The service has an affiliation with CBS News Radio and WCBS-TV covering New York. KFI AM also has a repeater station, “WCBS-HD2,” serving New York on the FM frequency of 101.1. The meaning of its call letters refers to the Columbia Broadcasting System. The former call signs of the service were WAHG and WABC, whereas its former frequencies were 920 kHz, 970 kHz, and 860 kHz.
In addition to its 24/7 on-air broadcasting, it has also offered a streaming platform for worldwide listeners. WCBS also maintains profiles on social media websites for the audience to keep them updated. Along with local news and weather, US’s of the best news radio Stations also broadcasts contests, sports updates, and podcasts. WCBS also features syndicated shows.
The weekday shows of the service include
Levon Putney (12:00 AM-5:00 AM)
Steve Scott (5:00 AM-6:00 AM)
Wayne Cabot (6:00 AM-7:00 AM)
Steve Scott (7:00 AM-8:00 AM)
Wayne Cabot (8:00 AM-9:00 AM)
Steve Scott (9:00 AM-10:00 AM)
On Sundays, the station transmits the following programs
Weekend news (12:00 AM to 9:00 AM)
The Truth about money with Ric Edelman (10:00 AM to 12:00 PM)
Weekend news (12:00 PM to 12:30 PM)
Face the Nation from CBS News (12:30 PM to 1:00 PM)
Weekend news (1:00 PM to 7:00 PM)
CBS News 60 minutes (7:00 PM to 8:00 PM)
Night news (8:00 PM to 12:00 AM)
WCBS is a class A AM service whose facility ID is 9636. It has an effective radiated power of 50,000 Watts for unlimited hours. From a non-directional antenna (1 mode), it sends digital signals. Its regional predictable coverage area is 60 miles, and the distant coverage range is 130 miles. Its transmitting coordinates are 40.859822 and -73.785410. The FCC granted it the license to transmit on March 17, 1981.
Contact Details
Official Website: https://www.radio.com/wcbs880
Address: 345 Hudson St 11th Floor, New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-524-2910
Fax: 212-397-1709
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wcbs880
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wcbs880
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WCBSNewsradio880
6. CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is among the best news radio stations in US. Multiple stations operate under CNN as radio affiliates. CNN covers the broadcast area of the United States and Canada. The service operates under the ownership of CNN worldwide (Warner Media News & Sports). The network headquarters are at 30 Hudson Yards, New York City. The station uses the 1080i HDTV format.
The station first went on air on June 1, 1980, as the first radio station to make available 24-hour news coverage. CNN is an affiliated radio station with Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Besides 24/7 broadcasting, it also delivers live streaming for a worldwide audience.
The slogan of the different stations are
Go there
This is CNN
The most trusted name in news
Facts first
The world’s news leader
Reporting from around the world
The world’s news network
The worldwide leader in news
The sister station of the service viz HLN, CNN-News18, 2CNN News, A2 CNN, CNN Chile, CNN Airport, CNN International, CNN Philippines, CNN Brazil, CNN en Espanol, CNN Prime News, CNN Turk, and CNN prima news. In 2020, a Peabody honored CNN’s Ed Lavatera for “The hidden workplace: Undocumented in America and also awarded the CNN films for the documentary “Apollo 11.”
Besides live news programming, the station also broadcasts local events, live contests, news, sports updates, and area weather. CNN also airs programs such as the call to earth, freedom project, impact your world, inside Africa, 2 degrees, and CNN heroes, etc. The CNN features Africa and the middle east (Inside Africa, African voices, and Global gateway), Culture and travels (Business Traveler, Best of Hong Kong, Road to ASEAN, Japan now, Destination Egypt, and in 24 Hours), and Sport (Living Golf, Mainsail, World Rugby, The Circuit, winning post, and supercharged). The station also won the title of best news radio stations in USA.
The popular personalities of the station were
Jim Walton
James Carville
Mary Matalin
Erick Erickson
The former stations of CNN in the past were
CNN+
CNN Pipeline
Cable News Network Checkout Channel
CNN Italia
CNN Money Switzerland
Cable News Network sports illustrated
CNNfn
CNN.com Live
Contact Details
Address: One CNN Center, Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-878-2276
Fax: 404-817-1995
Official Website: https://edition.cnn.com/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/cnninternational
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnni
Instagram: https://instagram.com/cnn
7. MSNBC : Stands in the list of the Best News Radio Stations in US
MSNBC is the 7th best news radio station in US. It is an American commercial radio station. The service is licensed to serve the United States. MSNBC operates under the ownership of NBC Universal News Group. The station uses the 1080i HDTV format. The headquarter of the station is at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, United States. The slogan of the station is “This is who we are.” The station first went on air on July 15, 1996, under the partnership of Microsoft and NBC.
The executive of NBC “Tom Roger” was involved in this partnership. The station “MSNBC Live” is an NBC News’ flagship daytime news platform, which broadcasts six hours every day on MSNBC. Syfy, Oxygen, NBCSN, USA Network, Bravo, CNBC NBC, Sky News, E!, Golf Channel, and CNBC world are its sister stations. In addition, on the 24-hour news network “OSN news” in the MENA area, NBC and MSNBC are aired for numerous hours a day: MSNBC Live and some other MSNBC programs.
On April 12, 2010, the radio service was launched on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 90 and XM Satellite Radio channel 120. On September 4, 2006, the channel got dropped from XM radio. The simulcast of programming of the station is aired on SiriusXM channel 118. Msnbc.com launched the brand “MSNBC2” in July 2014. With the programming schedule, the station changed its name in December 2014, which was more liked by the younger audience. The station also broadcasts sports updates, live contests, quizzes, and weather updates.
The station features the following shows
Rachel Maddow (weeknight) at 9:00 PM
Morning Joe (weekdays) at 6:00 AM
The beat (weeknights) at 6: 00 PM
The Readout (weeknights) at 7:00 PM
Last word (weeknights) at 10:00 PM
11th hour (weeknights) at 11:00 PM
MTP Daily (weekdays) at 1:00 PM
All in (weeknights) at 8:00 PM
Deadline WH (weekdays) at 4:00 PM
Now, MSNBC live broadcasts from 9:00 AM to Noon and 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on all weekdays. The service also transmits on weekends from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM & 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. If the breaking news interrupts, the running time of programs may get prolonged.
On weekdays, the service transmits the following shows
Stephanie Ruhle from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM
Hallie Jackson from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Craig Melvin from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Andrea Mitchell Reports from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
MTP Daily with Chuck Todd from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Katy Tur from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Ayman Mohyeldin from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Weekends shows of the station are
Kendis Gibson and Lindsey from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM
Weekend with Alex Witt from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Yasmin Vossoughian from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
The popular personalities of the station are
Steve Kornacki
Rachel Maddow
Brian Williams
Lawrence O’Donnell
Eugene Robinson
Chuck Todd
Steve Schmidt
Nicolle Robinson
Contact Details
Official Website: http://www.msnbc.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlanetNewsUSA/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlanetNews7
Conclusion
All news radio is a radio format that principally broadcasts news and news discussion & analysis. While news/talk radio formatted services broadcast news and talk shows. All-news formatted and news/talk radio stations both transmit syndicated and local programs. These radio stations operate through both terrestrial and satellite radio networks of the United States.
The services we have discussed are both all news radio and news/talk radio formatted stations. The most tuned into a FM in the USA as per this article are WINS-AM (1010 kHz), KFI AM (640 kHz), Fox News Radio AM (500 kHz), KCBS AM (740 kHz), and WCBS AM (880 kHz), CNN, and MSNBC. These radio stations broadcast around the clock, seven days a week on-air transmission and live streaming for the international listeners to keep up-to-date.
Almost all stations maintain social media profiles on Facebook and Twitter, updating the audience with upcoming events and important news and announcements. The audience of these radio stations ranges from the 30 to 55 age group, with a majority share of the male gender. CNN and MSNBC are TV channels and simulcast their transmission on radio stations as well. If you find any information that needs revision, help us improve.