First Light (radio program)


First Light is a news program airing on numerous talk radio stations, syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. The one-hour live program airs weekdays at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is hosted by Michael Toscano. The show features reports from Westwood One News and CNN, as well as guest interviews, a call-in segment and the short-form feature Last Night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. A weekend version, The Week in Review, for airing on Saturday mornings, is also available to affiliates.
Dirk Van was the show's longtime host from 1989 to 2015, with Evan Haning taking the hosting chores upon Van's retirement. In August 2018, Haning announced he would be stepping away from full-time hosting and Michael Toscano would replace him as host of First Light. Haning will continue to occasionally fill in as host.
An alternate one-hour Westwood One news program, America in The Morning, hosted by John Trout, also airs at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. While the two broadcasts are separately written and anchored, some stories filed by field reporters are the same.
First Light was the last program that continued to use the original "NBC Radio" branding, via a short announcement at the end of the program and through the program's online and print logo. Westwood One, owns the remains of the original NBC radio network through its purchase of the original "Westwood One". When Westwood One retired the NBC News Radio news service on December 15, 2014, First Light was rebranded as a "Westwood One" program. Haning is also one of the anchors on the hourly Westwood One newscasts, airing on stations owned by Cumulus Media and other owners.