CNBC will make radio its new squawk box for financial-news coverage March
31.
Under a multiyear pact with Viacom Inc.-owned radio programmer Westwood One
Inc., CNBC will produce minute-long updates each hour from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
On weekends, the service will distribute 10 vignettes -- a mix of news
recaps, analysis and week-ahead overviews.
The updates, known as "CNBC Radio Business Reports," will be anchored by CNBC
hosts and reporters, with more details to be announced later.
Radio stations taking the updates will also get the option to simulcast CNBC
opening/closing-bell stock-market reports and take excerpts from interviews on
various programs.
Westwood One and CNBC did not disclose any affiliate or ad-sales agreements
for the service.
"This new partnership expands our ability to provide real-time business news
to the CNBC audience whenever and wherever they need it . on television, on the
Web or on the radio," CNBC CEO Pamela Thomas-Graham said in a prepared
statement.
The radio venture "will be of great value to affiliates and advertisers
during a time when the demand for business news continues to grow," Westwood One
CEO Joel Hollander added in a prepared statement.
Viacom manages Westwood One through its Infinity Broadcasting Corp.
unit.
