''First Light'' is a news program airing on numerous

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

stations, syndicated by

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...

, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

. The one-hour live program airs weekdays at 5:00 a.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...

and is hosted by Michael Toscano. The show features reports from

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...

, as well as guest interviews, a call-in segment and the short-form feature ''Last Night on

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''. A weekend version, ''The Week in Review'', for airing on Saturday mornings, is also available to

affiliates In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or al ...

. Dirk Van was the show's longtime host from 1989 to 2015, with Evan Haning taking the hosting chores upon Van's retirement. In August 2018, Haning announced he would be stepping away from full-time hosting and Michael Toscano would replace him as host of ''First Light''. Haning will continue to occasionally fill in as host. An alternate one-hour Westwood One news program, '' America in The Morning'', hosted by John Trout, also airs at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. While the two broadcasts are separately written and anchored, some stories filed by field reporters are the same. ''First Light'' was the last program that continued to use the original "NBC Radio" branding, via a short announcement at the end of the program and through the program's online and print logo (which included a "sunset orange" variant of the

NBC peacock The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

). Westwood One (known as "Dial Global" from 2011 through 2013), owns the remains of the original NBC radio network through its purchase of the original "Westwood One". When Westwood One retired the

NBC News Radio NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

news service on December 15, 2014, ''First Light'' was rebranded as a "Westwood One" program. Haning is also one of the anchors on the hourly Westwood One newscasts, airing on stations owned by Cumulus Media and other owners. On June 30, 2022, Westwood One informed affiliates that it would discontinue ''First Light'' at the end of July, with ''America in the Morning'' being offered to stations as a replacement. In an interview with affiliate

WPHM WPHM (1380 AM) is a news/talk/sports radio station licensed to Port Huron, Michigan, with a power output of 5,000 watts, covering much of The Thumb area of Michigan. The station is owned by Radio First and broadcasts from studios on Huron Avenue ...

, Toscano noted that it was a business decision by parent company Cumulus Media and not a reflection on the show's performance.

References

External links

''First Light'' official Web site
{{Westwood One American talk radio programs Westwood One