CBS PARENT PICKING UP AIRWAVES RIVAL; WESTINGHOUSE UNVEILS AMERICAN RADIO DEAL.

Byline: Eric Quinoses Associated Press 

CBS owner Westinghouse Electric Corp. took a major step to stay atop the rapidly changing radio business with a deal Friday to buy American Radio Systems Corp. for $1.6 billion.

Boston-based American Radio, the nation's fifth-largest radio company, owns or is buying 98 stations, which will bring Westinghouse's total to 175.

The companies already compete in markets such as Boston and Baltimore, and the purchase will allow Westinghouse to expand into several new markets, including Seattle, Cincinnati and Portland, Ore.

Westinghouse, which has focused on top-10 cities such as New York and Los Angeles, will continue to look for takeovers in the new markets, said Mel Karmazin, president of its CBS Station Group.

The purchase comes four days after Westinghouse announced the sale of its Thermo-King refrigeration business for $2.56 billion in part to raise cash for more acquisitions to keep with the rash of radio takeovers.

Deregulation of the telecommunications industry last year sparked a wave of consolidation by removing limits on how many stations a company may own and boosting the number of stations in the same market that can be owned.

Late last month, Westinghouse's closest rival, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst Inc., announced a $1.2 billion takeover of SFX Broadcasting Inc., a target several radio companies including Westinghouse and American Radio had prized.

Hicks Muse is affiliated with major radio companies Capstar Broadcasting Corp. and Chancellor Broadcasting Co., which is merging with Evergreen Media.

Westinghouse also is assuming $1 billion in debt. The deal does not include American Radio's radio-tower business, which will be spun off to shareholders.

The American Radio purchase will boost Westinghouse's radio-station revenue to $1.5 billion this year, just above Hicks Muse's $1.4 billion, according to projections by industry publisher Duncan's American Radio Inc.

American Radio stations offer a wide range of formats, with some emphasis on country music stations, CBS spokesman Gil Schwartz said. They will be added to Westinghouse's broad lineup.