ABC Radio appears to be the winner in the battle to take over top-of-the-hour news on former CBS News Radio affiliates in the Upper Midwest, but it didn’t capture a majority of affiliates.
CBS aired its last radio newscast on Friday, May 22, at 10:30 p.m. Central time after 99 years on the air, forcing stations to switch to other networks to maintain hourly national news updates.
In the Upper Midwest, at least 23 former CBS affiliates have switched to ABC, which represents 41% of the stations confirmed to have been CBS affiliates when the network announced its shutdown in March.
That’s followed by ten stations that switched to NBC (actually produced by iHeartMedia), nine that switched to FOX, four that switched to USA, two that switched to Townhall, and one that switched to AP. An additional seven former CBS affiliates appear not to have affiliated with any new network.
Nationally, ABC gained major-signal affiliations from most of Audacy’s stations, which were formerly CBS owned-and-operated stations. That includes WCCO/830 (Minneapolis).
Here is the list of Upper Midwest stations that were confirmed to be carrying CBS Radio when the shutdown announcement was made, and what network they have switched to. Station announcements are linked from their callsign.
IOWA:
| Britt | 103.1 KHAM | ABC |
| Carroll | 1380/95.1 KCIM | Townhall |
| Cedar Rapids | 1450/93.1 KMRY | ABC |
| Charles City | 1580/103.3 KCHA 95.9 KCHA-FM | ABC |
| Clinton | 1340/105.9 KROS | ABC |
| Dubuque | 1370 KDTH | NBC |
| Forest City | 107.3 KIOW | ABC |
| Iowa City | 1630 KCJJ | ABC |
| Manchester | 94.7 KMCH | ABC |
| Mason City | 1300 KGLO | ABC |
| New Hampton | 95.1 KCZE | ABC |
| Spencer | 1240/102.5 KICD | ABC |
| Waterloo | 1250/105.1 KCFI | ABC |
MICHIGAN’S UPPER PENINSULA:
| Menominee | 103.7 WHYB | FOX |
MINNESOTA:
| Blue Earth | 1560/95.3 KBEW | USA |
| Detroit Lakes | 1340/95.1 KDLM | ABC |
| Duluth | 610/103.9 KDAL | NBC |
| Ely | 1450/103.9 WELY | NBC |
| Hibbing | 650 KDAH | NBC |
| Minneapolis | 830 WCCO | ABC |
| St. Cloud | 800/102.3 WVAL | None heard |
| Thief River Falls | 1230/93.3 KTRF | FOX |
NEBRASKA:
| Ainsworth | 1450/106.3 KBRB 92.7 KBRB-FM | None heard |
| Chadron | 610 KCSR | FOX |
| Hastings | 1230 KHAS | ABC |
NORTH DAKOTA:
| Devils Lake | 1240/99.7 KDLR | FOX |
| Dickinson | 1230/100.7 KDIX | ABC |
| Fargo | 790/94.1 KFGO 104.7 KFGO-FM | ABC |
| Grafton | 1340/93.9 KXPO | FOX |
| Jamestown | 600/100.1 KSJB | AP |
| Mayville | 105.5 KMAV-FM | ABC |
| Minot | 102.9 KWGO | No replacement |
| Rugby | 1450/92.1 KZZJ | ABC |
SOUTH DAKOTA:
| Brookings | 910 KJJQ 1430 KBRK | None heard |
| Yankton | 570/96.9 WNAX | FOX |
| Watertown | 950 KWAT | ABC |
WISCONSIN:
| Adams | 106.1 WCWI | USA |
| Appleton | 1150/103.5/106.3 WHBY | ABC |
| Black River Falls | 99.7 WWIS-FM | None heard |
| Eau Claire | 93.5/105.7 HD2 WCFW-HD2 | NBC |
| Fond du Lac | 1170/93.7/103.3 WFDL | ABC |
| Hayward | 92.3 WRLS | FOX |
| Janesville | 1230/92.7 WCLO | USA |
| La Crosse | 1410 WIZM | FOX |
| Manitowoc | 1240/107.9 WOMT 98.9 WOMT-FM | Townhall |
| Milwaukee | 1290/107.3 WRJM | NBC |
| Monroe | 1260/95.5 WEKZ | USA |
| Racine | 1400/98.1/99.9 WRJN | NBC |
| Rice Lake | 1240/96.5 WJMC | FOX |
| Ripon | 1600/93.1 WRPN | NBC |
| Tomahawk | 92.5 WJJQ-FM | None heard |
| Wausau | 1230/98.9 WXCO | NBC |
| Wisconsin Rapids | 1320/97.5 WFHR | NBC |
OTHER MAJOR STATIONS OUTSIDE THE UPPER MIDWEST:
| Chicago | 780 WBBM 105.9 WCFS | ABC |
| Dallas | 1080 KRLD | ABC |
| Detroit | 950 WWJ | ABC |
| Los Angeles | 1070 KNX | ABC |
| St. Louis | 1120 KMOX 104.1 KMOX-FM | ABC |
| San Francisco | 740 KCBS 106.9 KFRC | ABC |
| Washington, D.C. | 103.5 WTOP | ABC |
This item was first published May 19 and has been updated continuously as stations have switched to new networks.