On August 30th, the Westwood One News network closed up shop. It had aired each hour on SiriusXM Progress Channel 127. Beginning yesterday, I started hearing a different "white label" newscast on Progress. It is actually NBC Radio News.
NBC Radio News is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Most affiliates air it with a sounder at the beginning, based on NBC's traditional three-tone identification. But hearing it on SiriusXM, there is no sounder. The anchor simply starts reading the news and only gives his name at the conclusion, never identifying NBC Radio News, or any network mention. But I know the anchors from NBC Radio and those are the names I'm hearing.
I suppose iHeart now offers two versions of its hourly newscasts, one with a sounder, identified as NBC Radio News, and one with no sounder, a white label version with no network identification, designed for former Westwood One affiliates. Westwood One has always been white label from its start in 2015, so most listeners may not even know the network changed.
NBC Radio News is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Most affiliates air it with a sounder at the beginning, based on NBC's traditional three-tone identification. But hearing it on SiriusXM, there is no sounder. The anchor simply starts reading the news and only gives his name at the conclusion, never identifying NBC Radio News, or any network mention. But I know the anchors from NBC Radio and those are the names I'm hearing.
I suppose iHeart now offers two versions of its hourly newscasts, one with a sounder, identified as NBC Radio News, and one with no sounder, a white label version with no network identification, designed for former Westwood One affiliates. Westwood One has always been white label from its start in 2015, so most listeners may not even know the network changed.