''First Light'' was 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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

stations, syndicated by

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

. The one-hour live program aired 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, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

and was hosted by Michael Toscano. The show featured reports from

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), 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 ...

, 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 actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

''. A weekend version, ''The Week in Review'', for airing on Saturday mornings, was 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 would continue to occasionally fill in as host. An alternate one-hour Westwood One news program, '' America in The Morning'', hosted by John Trout, continues to air at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. While the two broadcasts were separately written and anchored, some stories filed by field reporters were 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). 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 Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

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 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Port Huron, Michigan. The station broadcasts a News/Talk/Sports radio format. It is owned by Radio First with studios on Huron Avenue in Downtown Port Huron. WPHM is powered at 5,000 watts. ...

, 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