Profile America: All News Radio

Wednesday, April 19 — The first all-news radio format in the U.S. debuted on this date in 1965, as WINS-AM in New York City switched from rock and roll to rip and read. Almost 20 years earlier, the station had notched another first by broadcasting every New York Yankees game live, both home and away. The station shut off the music — its last record was the Shangri-Las’ “Out in the Streets” — and became “all news, all the time.” The format has been successfully replicated in cities around the country, with some 46 stations currently devoted to all-news. Hundreds more are found in the news-talk format. Today in the U.S., there are over 15,500 radio stations, employing more than 94,000 people, with annual industry revenues of around $18 billion.

You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, here.

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