Westinghouse Broadcasting

Westinghouse Broadcasting Company
Group W
FormerlyWestinghouse Radio Stations, Inc. (1920–1954)
Company typeDivision
IndustryRadio and television broadcasting
FoundedNovember 2, 1920 (1920-11-02), in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. (with the establishment of KDKA)
Defunct
  • 2000 (2000) (as an independent company)
  • 1999 (1999) (as a licensee of Infinity)
FateMerged into CBS, remained as a licensee until 1999
Successors
Headquarters,
United States
Area served
United States
ParentWestinghouse Electric
Websiteparamount.com
Evolution of Paramount Skydance
1886Westinghouse Electric Corporation is founded as Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company
1912Famous Players Film Company is founded
1913Lasky Feature Play Company is founded
1914Paramount Pictures is founded
1916Famous Players and Lasky merge as Famous Players–Lasky and acquire Paramount
1927Famous Players–Lasky is renamed Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation; CBS is founded with investment from Columbia Records
1929Paramount acquires 49% of CBS
1930Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation is renamed Paramount Publix Corporation
1932Paramount sells back its shares of CBS
1934Gulf+Western is founded as the Michigan Bumper Corporation
1935Paramount Publix Corporation is renamed Paramount Pictures
1936National Amusements is founded as Northeast Theater Corporation
1938CBS acquires Columbia Records
1950Desilu is founded and CBS distributes its television programs
1952CBS creates the CBS Television Film Sales division
1958CBS Television Film Sales is renamed CBS Films
1966Gulf+Western acquires Paramount
1967Gulf+Western acquires Desilu and renames it Paramount Television (now CBS Studios)
1968CBS Films is renamed CBS Enterprises
1970CBS Enterprises is renamed Viacom
1971Viacom is spun off from CBS
1987National Amusements acquires Viacom
1988CBS sells Columbia Records to Sony
1989Gulf+Western is renamed Paramount Communications
1994Viacom acquires Paramount Communications
1995Paramount Television and United Television launch UPN; Westinghouse acquires CBS
1997Westinghouse is renamed CBS Corporation
2000Viacom acquires UPN and CBS Corporation
2005Viacom splits into the second CBS Corporation and Viacom
2006Skydance Media is founded as Skydance Productions; CBS Corporation shuts down UPN and replaces it with The CW
2009Paramount and Skydance enter an agreement to co-produce and co-finance films
2017CBS Corporation sells CBS Radio to Entercom (now Audacy)
2019CBS Corporation and Viacom re-merge as ViacomCBS
2022ViacomCBS is renamed Paramount Global
2025Skydance acquires National Amusements and merges with Paramount Global as Paramount Skydance
2026Paramount Skydance enters into a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery

The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication.

Westinghouse Broadcasting was formed in the 1920s as Westinghouse Radio Stations, Inc. After expanding into television, it was renamed as Westinghouse Broadcasting Company in 1954, and adopted the Group W moniker on May 20, 1963. It was a self-contained entity within the Westinghouse corporate structure; while the parent company was headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Westinghouse Broadcasting maintained headquarters in New York City. It kept national sales offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. After its merger with CBS in 2000, the majority of the broadcast assets today are owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation.

Group W stations are best known for using a distinctive corporate typeface, introduced in 1963, for their logos and on-air imaging. Similarly styled typefaces had been used on some non-Group W stations as well and several former Group W stations still use it today. The Group W corporate typeface has been digitized and released freely by John Sizemore; Ray Larabie's font "Anklepants borrows heavily from the typeface and is occasionally used as a substitute. The font is also used in the video game Damnation.

Westinghouse Broadcasting was also well known for two long-running television programs, the Mike Douglas Show and PM Magazine (called Evening Magazine in Group W's core broadcast markets).