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Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Imus and Mike Francesa. Infinity merged with
CBS Corporation CBS Corporation was an American multinational media company with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing and television production. It was split from Viacom on December 31, 2005, alongside an entirely new Viacom; both ...
in 1997 and later became part of Viacom in 2000, when CBS and Viacom merged, serving as the radio division of CBS. After the Viacom split in 2005, Infinity changed its name to CBS Radio; the company would later merge with Entercom, presently known as Audacy, Inc.


History


Formation and pre-merger

Infinity was founded in 1972 by two former Metromedia executives Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus, with the acquisition of KOME, an FM radio station that served the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
, and finally received its license by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) a year later. In 1979, Infinity acquired WBCN in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. In 1981, Mel Karmazin was brought in as new president. Karmazin oversaw the operation of New York's WNEW-AM (now WBBR) and
WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary-Radio format, formatted radio station, City of license, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy faci ...
for Metromedia. Soon after, the company acquired fellow New York stations WNEW-FM, WKTU (now WINS-FM; the present-day WKTU is owned by
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
), WZRC, and WFAN the following years, followed by WYSP-FM in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. In 1983, Infinity absorbed KXYZ in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
and WJMK and WJJD in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Infinity became a publicly traded company in 1986. Within a year, it had purchased six more stations: KROQ-FM in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
WJFK-FM WJFK-FM (106.7 Hertz, MHz "106.7 The Fan") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station licensed to serve Manassas, Virginia, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. WJFK-FM airs a sports radio, sports radio format and is owned and opera ...
in Washington, D.C., WQYK-AM/ FM in Tampa, and KVIL-AM/ FM in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Karmazin and three other company executives took the company private in 1988 and took it public again in 1992. In 1993, Infinity was expanded to 22 radio stations.


Merger with CBS and Viacom

As a result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which loosened ownership restrictions of broadcast stations, Infinity was able to quickly acquire more stations, gradually increasing its portfolio to 75 stations. In 1996, it was announced that
Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...
(which owned CBS) would acquire Infinity Broadcasting. Karmazin had attempted to acquire CBS, but Michael Jordan, CEO of Westinghouse, refused to sell the firm to Karmazin but instead agreed to buy Infinity. The $4.9 billion deal was completed on December 31, 1996. As a result of the Westinghouse purchase, Infinity was merged into the CBS Radio Group, with Karmazin as president. Karmazin soon became chairman and CEO of CBS Radio, and took the control of the CBS television network. Shortly after, Westinghouse sold its non-broadcasting assets and renamed itself as
CBS Corporation CBS Corporation was an American multinational media company with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing and television production. It was split from Viacom on December 31, 2005, alongside an entirely new Viacom; both ...
. In 1998, CBS decided to spin off a portion of its radio and outdoor advertising holdings as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, once again bringing the Infinity name back to the public. The stock offering was the largest in the media industry at the time and raised $2.87 billion. The most significant move during 1999, however, was the deal struck with Viacom in September. Sumner Redstone, CEO of Viacom, shot down Karmazin's offer to buy Viacom. Karmazin then offered CBS to Redstone, who eventually made a $37 billion proposal to merge the two companies. Viacom completed the CBS Corp. purchase in May 2000, and it retained 80% ownership of Infinity. In that same year, Infinity acquired Outdoor Systems and renamed it Infinity Outdoor. Under the new ownership by Viacom, Infinity acquired 18 radio stations from its competitor,
Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
(now iHeartMedia), which needed to divest them as part of its own merger with AMFM Incorporated. The company also purchased Giraudy SA, an outdoor advertising company based in France. In 2002, Viacom acquired the remaining shares of Infinity that it did not already own, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. At that time, Infinity Outdoor was separated from Infinity Broadcasting and renamed Viacom Outdoor.


Departure of Mel Karmazin and Epilogue

Karmazin resigned in May 2004, due to many differences with Redstone. Karmazin later said he didn't get along with Redstone and found it difficult to be "No. 2" at a company, but particularly under Redstone. The two executives continued to snipe at each other through the media even a year after Karmazin left Viacom.
"Sirius Fun: Mel Karmazin finds new media is a lot like what he used to love," an article by Devin Leonard in ''Fortune'' magazine, November 14, 2005
On December 14, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting reverted to CBS Radio, and joined with the CBS and UPN networks (the latter of which would later merge with former rival network
The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...
to form
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
), Paramount's television properties,
Showtime Networks Showtime Networks, Inc. is a subsidiary of American media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks division that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship namesake service. Overview The compan ...
, Viacom Outdoor,
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, and Paramount Parks into a revived CBS Corporation. At that time, CBS Corp. spun off the "new" Viacom, which included
MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...
, BET, and
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
, among other assets. CBS Radio was sold to Entercom (now Audacy, Inc.) on November 17, 2017. The Infinity Radio name and logo were used for an online-only variety hits station on CBS Radio's streaming platform, InfinityRadio.com and Radio.com, to maintain trademark rights. As of 2021 the infinityradio.com website resolves to audacy.com which still preserves the current trademark registration. The Infinity brand was later repurposed by Audacy for its Infinity Sports Network (after its transitional rights to the
CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
branding expired), and Infinity Networks—a syndication unit launched in 2025.


References


External links


Infinity Radio official websiteSEC filing (Form S-4) relating to split
{{Westinghouse Defunct radio broadcasting companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1972 Former CBS Corporation subsidiaries CBS Radio Private equity portfolio companies 1972 establishments in California 2005 disestablishments in New York (state) Mass media companies disestablished in 2005 1998 initial public offerings Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange