EXHIBIT 31.a

                      CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I, Shane Coppola, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certify that:

1)   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Westwood One, Inc.;

2)   Based on my  knowledge,  this  annual  report  does not  contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to
     make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such
     statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
     this quarterly report;

3)   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information  included  in this  quarterly  report,  fairly  present  in all
     material respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash
     flows of the  registrant  as of, and for,  the  periods  presented  in this
     quarterly report;

4)   The  registrant's  other  certifying  officers  and I are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) for the registrant and have;

     (a)  designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  or caused such
          disclosure   controls  and  procedures  to  be  designated  under  our
          supervision,  to ensure  that  material  information  relating  to the
          registrant,  including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
          us by others within those entities,  particularly during the period in
          which this annual report is being prepared;

     (b)  evaluated the  effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure  controls
          and procedures; and presented in this report our conclusions about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
          of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     (c)  disclosed  in this  report  any  change in the  registrant's  internal
          control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
          most recent fiscal quarter (the  registrant's  first fiscal quarter in
          the case of a quarterly  report) that has materially  affected,  or is
          reasonably  likely to materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal
          control over financial reporting; and;

5)   The registrant's other certifying  officers and I have disclosed,  based on
     our most recent  evaluation,  to the  registrant's  auditors  and the audit
     committee of  registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing  the
     equivalent function):

     (a)  all  significant  deficiencies  in the design or operation of internal
          controls  which could  adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to
          record,  process,   summarize  and  report  financial  data  and  have
          identified for the  registrant's  auditors any material  weaknesses in
          internal controls; and

     (b)  any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management or other
          employees who have a  significant  role in the  registrant's  internal
          controls.



/S/ Shane Coppola
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Shane Coppola
Chief Executive Officer
May 6, 2004