Due to purchases, mergers and other forms of consolidation in the 1980s and 1990s, at one time or another, it had ownership stakes in or syndication rights to some of the most famous brands in network radio, including CBS, NBC, Mutual, CNN, Fox, and Unistar.

It broadcast entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the United States.

The company was the top provider of local traffic reports in the U.S. through its subsidiaries, Metro Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services, SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com.

Pattiz took Westwood One public in 1984 and with the money raised by the IPO, he purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System the following year and the NBC Radio Network in 1987.

In 1993, operations were shifted to radio station group owner Infinity Broadcasting, headed by Mel Karmazin, who also took over direct management of Westwood.

[12] On August 30, 2010, Pattiz was succeeded as chairman by Mark Stone, senior managing director of the Gores Group, which by then was the majority owner and controlled Westwood.

In 1985, Westwood One purchased the Mutual Broadcasting System, one of the "Big Four" of the 1940s in American radio, continuing to operate it as a separate network into the 1990s.

On May 4, 2007, the New York Post reported that Westwood One had retained investment bank UBS to seek potential buyers for the network.

Westwood also had use of CBS trademarks under the agreement, which was filed as part of the companies' public disclosures with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

After further stock losses, the Gores Group bought the company outright in March 2009 and relisted it on NASDAQ later that year under the ticker symbol "DIAL."

It is America's top provider of local traffic reports through its subsidiaries Metro Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services, SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com.

Talk radio personalities distributed by Westwood One included at various times Don and Mike,[17] Phil Valentine, Dennis Miller,[18] Jim Bohannon, Billy Bush, Robert Wuhl, Drew Pinsky (Loveline),[19] G. Gordon Liddy, Joe Scarborough, Kevin and Bean, Tom Leykis, Opie and Anthony, and Adam Carolla.

One Fox program, The Radio Factor, hosted by Bill O'Reilly, continued to be distributed by Westwood One until his departure from the show in January 2009.

Imus in the Morning was carried on Westwood One from 1993 until the controversy surrounding his remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team led to his firing in 2007.

The 24-hour formats, originally acquired through Westwood One's purchase of Unistar in 1993, were spun off in 2006 and are currently distributed under the Dial Global brand.

Perhaps its most famous alumnus was Casey Kasem, who spent over nine years hosting a weekly radio countdown franchise for the network.

[22] They syndicated the summer solstice Grateful Dead concert on June 21, 1989, a service that currently conglomerated radio stations no longer do.

The company holds exclusive national radio rights for many sporting events including National Football League and college football games, the Olympic Games, the NCAA basketball tournament (this and NFL coverage are co-produced with corporate sibling CBS TV), the Masters and U.S. Open golf, the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Frozen Four of college hockey, and the GRAMMY Awards.