DC/Balt Radio: WNEW 99.1 FM Flips To Business News

CBS Radio has thrown in the towel.

The company has announced it has dropped the general news format of WNEW 99.1 FM in favor of Bloomberg Radio buesinss news.

CBS is leasing the station via an LMA to  Bloomberg Media, the New York-based arm of billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s business empire.

Bloomberg took over management of WNEW-FM  Friday morning and it now branding as Bloomberg 99.1.

WNEW started in early 2012 as a competitor to all-news WTOP 103.5 FM and news-talk WAMU 88.5 FM, two of the area’s leading stations. But WNEW was never able to gain traction with its mix of local news reporting, weather, sports and traffic reports, and it was hampered by an identity split between Washington and Baltimore.

According to The Washington Post, it ranks 24th among Washington-area stations, finishing just behind Spanish-language pop-music station WDCN 87.7 FM and religious broadcaster WAVA 105.1 FM.

Bloomberg, which specializes in financial news, will broadcast primarily business-oriented programs from New York on 99.1.

“We’re not looking for a mass audience,” Justin Smith, Bloomberg Media’s chief executive, said in an interview. “We’re looking for a niche audience” of business executives and entrepreneurs.

The company said it will operate 99.1 with about a half-dozen local employees. WNEW had a staff of about 20, most of whom will be dismissed, said Steve Swenson, who runs CBS Radio’s Washington division.

WNEW 99.1 FM (45 Kw) Red=Local coverage

With its flagship station WBBR 1130AM in New York, WXKS 1200 AM/94.5 FM-HD2 in Boston, and KNEW 960 AM/KOSF 103.7 FM-HD2 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bloomberg Radio now reaches four of the leading global business markets in the country. Earlier this year, Bloomberg Radio partnered with CBS RADIO to deliver business reports which air on stations in 12 key markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco, among others.

The station will continue to carry live broadcasts of Washington Wizards games.