• by Wayne Friedman , December 15, 2005

Trying to streamline its brand name, CBS will rebrand its Infinity Broadcasting radio unit, CBS Radio.

CBS Radio will also start up a new marketing campaign to reflect new technologies, using the slogan "Broadcast....HD...Streaming....On-Demand."

This comes just days after Infinity lost one of its biggest radio brands--that of Howard Stern, who will start a new radio show with Sirius Satellite Radio this month. Last October, former president-CEO of Viacom Inc., Mel Karmazin, then joined Stern in becoming chief executive officer of Sirius Satellite Radio.

The name change also reflects a final attempt of CBS to remove any association with Mel Karmazin. It was Karmazin who, as president of Infinity--which in addition to its radio stations also had an outdoor advertising business--moved over to take a senior executive-level position when Viacom bought Infinity in the 1990s.

The Infinity unit has 179 stations in the top 50 markets. Infinity has existed side-by-side with CBS Radio, CBS' own group of stations, and a network. With almost thirty stations, CBS Radio has local sports teams of Major League Baseball, National Football League, National Basketball League, and the National Hockey League.

Starting next year, Viacom Inc. businesses will separate into two divisions--CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc.