Infinity Broadcasting Corporation
Parent CBS Corporation (1997–2000) | Viacom (2000–2005) | |
| Website | infinityradio.com | |
|---|---|---|
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by
History
Formation and pre-merger
Infinity was founded in 1972 by two former
In 1981,
.Infinity became a publicly traded company in 1986. Within a year, it had purchased six more stations:
Karmazin and three other company executives took the company private in 1988 and took it public again in 1992.[2] In 1993, Infinity was expanded to 22 radio stations.[how?][clarification needed][citation needed]
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 (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.[3] 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. 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
Under the new ownership by Viacom, Infinity acquired 18 radio stations from its competitor,
Departure of Mel Karmazin and Epilogue
Karmazin resigned in May 2004, due to many differences with Redstone.[4] 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.[5]
On December 14, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting reverted to
The Infinity Radio name and logo were used for an online-only variety hits station on CBS Radio's streaming platform, InfinityRadio.com and
In April 2024, CBS Sports Radio was rebranded as Infinity Sports Network.[7]
References
- ^ Barry, David, "Jim Hard: He Played a Part in How the West Was Won--By FM Radio," Business Journal-San Jose, April 2, 1990, p. 12.
- ^ "History of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation – FundingUniverse".
- ^ Kamen, Robin, "To Infinity and Beyond: Mel Takes on CBS," Crain's New York Business, November 24, 1997, p. 1.
- ^ "Mel Karmazin, Champion For Howard Stern Resigns" by Corey Deitz at About.com
- ^ [1] "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
- ^ "Entercom Sets Friday Morning Close For CBS Radio Merger". Insideradio.com. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- ^ "CBS Sports Radio to Become the Infinity Sports Network". barrettsportsmedia.com. April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
External links
Westinghouse | ||||||||||||||
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| Westinghouse Electric Corp. (1886–2000) |
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