KCBS-TV
Encyclopedia
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated
television station
of the CBS
Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California
. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV
(channel 9) inside CBS Studio Center
in the Studio City
section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter located atop Mount Wilson
. In the few areas of the western United States where viewers cannot receive CBS programs over-the-air, KCBS is available on satellite to subscribers of DirecTV
.
channel 2, and switched to analog nightlight
at 1:10 P.M. on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States
. KCBS-TV moved its digital broadcasts from channel 60 to channel 43 using PSIP to display KCBS-TV's virtual channel
as 2. KCBS broadcasts in 1080i
high definition on virtual channel 2.1, since CBS Network programming uses that HD format.
, which owned a chain of radio stations on the Pacific Coast
, and was first licensed by the Federal Radio Commission
, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission
as experimental television station W6XAO in June 1931. On December 23, 1931 it went on the air, and by March 1933 was broadcasting one hour daily except Sundays. The station used a mechanical camera which broadcast only film footage in an 80-line image, but demonstrated all-electronic receivers as early as 1932. It went off the air in 1935, and then reappeared using an improved mechanical camera producing a 300-line image for a month-long demonstration in June 1936. By August 1937, W6XAO had programming on the air six days per week. Live programming started in April 1938.
By 1939, with the image improved to 441 lines
, an optimistic estimate of the station's viewership was 1,500 people in a few hundred homes. Many of the receiver sets were built by television hobbyists, though commercially made sets were available in Los Angeles. The station's six-day weekly schedule consisted of live talent four nights, and film two nights. During World War II, programming was reduced to three hours, every other Monday. The station's frequency was switched from Channel 1 to Channel 2 in 1945 when the FCC decided to reserve Channel 1 for low-wattage community television
stations.
The station was granted a commercial license (the second in California, behind KTLA
) as KTSL on May 6, 1948, and was named for Thomas S. Lee, the son of Don Lee. The station became affiliated with the DuMont Television Network
later that year.
(channel 11), a station in which the network held a minority (49 percent) ownership stake. After an attempt to buy out that station's remaining shares were rebuffed by the majority partner, the Los Angeles Times
, CBS and Don Lee struck a deal for the transfer of KTSL. CBS sold its stake in KTTV to the Times, and on January 1, 1951 all CBS programming moved to KTSL. On November 1, 1951, KTSL changed its call letters to KNXT to coincide with CBS' Los Angeles radio outlet, KNX
(1070 AM).
In 1948, KNXT had launched Peter Potter's Jukebox Jury
a musical/quiz series which went national in the 1953-1954 season on ABC
. Many later well-known entertainers appeared on the program to judge the latest releases from the recording companies.
In 1960, KNXT created the nation's first one-hour local newscast, The Big News, which featured Jerry Dunphy
, one of Southern California's most beloved news icons, along with legendary weatherman Bill Keene
and sportscaster Gil Stratton. Also featured were Special Assignment reporter Maury Green and "Human Predicament" essayist Ralph Story
. This helped make KNXT the number-one news station in Los Angeles. At times, a quarter of Los Angeles televisions were tuned into The Big News, the highest ratings ever for a television newscast in the area. The station eventually added such reporters as Howard Gingold and Saul Halpert, among others, and added news bureaus in Sacramento
, San Francisco and Orange County
, each with full-time correspondents and camera crews. Eventually, KNXT expanded to two-and-a-half hours of live local news, as well as a late-night newscast. However, in the mid 1970s, rival KABC-TV
began gaining ratings at KNXT's expense. In 1975, KNXT fired Dunphy (who was quickly hired by KABC) and adopted a format similar to KABC-TV's Eyewitness News
with its "happy talk" between anchors. However, the change went nowhere. Just as most of its fellow CBS O&Os were dominating their cities' ratings, KNXT rapidly fell into last place.
after the latter was purchased by CBS Corporation
.
For a time during the 1980s and 1990s, KNXT/KCBS-TV had several locally produced programs such as "2 on the Town," a local show similar to Evening Magazine
and KABC-TV
's Eye on L.A., and Kid Quiz, a Saturday morning children's game show
hosted by longtime weathercaster Maclovio Perez. For a time in the mid-2000s, its sister station KCAL-TV did a show called 9 on the Town.
For most of the period from 1975 to 2006, KNXT/KCBS-TV was not a factor in the Los Angeles television ratings
. The exceptions were a brief surge to first place in the early 1980s and another in the mid-1990s.
During the period, Channel 2 had frequently changed formats to styles that often became unsuccessful and even controversial. In September 1986, Channel 2 implemented a news-wheel format with each half-hour of news devoted to certain topics and themes. For example, there was Entertainment and Lifestyle news early on and harder news later on. This format was heavily panned by critics and audiences alike, and cancelled after only a month.
The late 1980s and early 1990s brought in the Action News
format, which featured a tabloid
-type newscast; the style grated on the news staff, which circulated a memo that resulted in the eventual firing of news director
John Lippmann. Lippmann was heavily criticized by many, and reportedly had many confrontations with news staff, notably a shoving match between him and anchor Michael Tuck. The station's ratings quickly declined.
CBS management, highly embarrassed at KCBS' subpar performance, responded by bringing in Bill Applegate as general manager. Applegate had previously been general manager at WBBM-TV
, and ironically been a reporter there in the early 1970s. While Applegate had been criticized for making WBBM's newscasts flashier than they had previously been, he set about toning down KCBS's newscasts. One of his strategies involved bringing in popular news anchors and reporters from other stations including the return of Jerry Dunphy
, 20 years after he was fired from the station. Dunphy went on to anchor at KABC-TV
and KCAL-TV achieving high ratings at both stops. Also joining Dunphy were colleagues Ann Martin
, Dr. George Fischbeck, Paul Dandridge and Marc Coogan from KABC-TV, and Larry Carroll who worked with Dunphy at KABC and KCAL. Linda Alvarez of KNBC-TV also joined the team.
The station's ratings improved, but Applegate was eventually a casualty of CBS' merger with the Westinghouse
corporation in 1996; he'd bickered with Westinghouse over syndicated programming not long after he'd arrived. Westinghouse executives never forgot this, and Applegate was one of the first executives to be let go. Channel 2's momentum ground to a halt, and it soon dropped into last place. The Action News branding was dropped in 1997 and renamed CBS 2 News. That year, Dunphy returned to KCAL.
KCBS began making another attempt to get out of the ratings basement at the start of the 21st century. In 2000, former KNBC
Today in L.A.
anchor Kent Shocknek
joined KCBS to become its morning co-anchor. Then in 2001 the station hired Harold Greene
, longtime anchor at KABC, as its 5 and 11 p.m. anchor. A year later, he was joined by his former partner at KABC, Laura Diaz
. In 2004, Paul Magers
, longtime anchor at KARE
in the Twin Cities
, replaced Greene on the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. news, bumping Greene to the 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts. The 4 p.m. newscast moved to KCAL-TV with the arrival of Dr. Phil on KCBS. At the beginning of 2005, longtime KABC weatherman Johnny Mountain
moved to KCBS, surprising many since it appeared that he was going to retire.
At first, it seemed that none of these changes brought KCBS any closer to becoming a factor in the Los Angeles news race. However, in April 2006, KCBS grabbed the #2 spot at 5 PM from KABC due to a strong lead-in from Dr. Phil
. More importantly, KCBS shot past both KABC and KNBC to take first place at 11 p.m. for the first time in 30 years.
On April 21, 2007, KCBS and KCAL-TV moved from historic CBS Columbia Square
in Hollywood to an all-digital facility at the CBS Studio Center
in Studio City. The move marks many changes at KCBS and KCAL-TV. Several news personalities have departed, including David Jackson, a respected news anchor who returned to the duopoly after fronting KCAL's Prime 9 News in the early 1990s, Kerry Kilbride, reporter Jay Jackson, Paul Dandridge, Dilva Henry, Linda Alvarez, sports anchor Alan Massengale, and Dave Clark, who left for KTVU
. Both stations began broadcasting all their newscasts, sports shows, and public affairs programming in high definition
, becoming the third and fourth station in Los Angeles to do so; the other being KABC-TV in February 2006, and KTLA
in January 2007. In addition, KCBS and KCAL-TV now operate in a completely tapeless newsroom. This newsroom is named in honor of Jerry Dunphy, who previously worked at both stations in the past.
With the move, KTLA and KCET
are the only stations (either in radio or television) in Los Angeles to broadcast from Hollywood.
On April 1, 2008, CBS's owned-and-operated television stations division ordered widespread budget cuts and staff layoffs from its stations, among the largest budget cuts in television history. CBS O&Os across the country have laid off numerous staff members with KCBS and KCAL-TV being no exception. As a result of the budget cuts, roughly 10-15 staffers were released by the duopoly. The 6pm anchor team, Harold Greene
and Ann Martin
, decided to retire from television news after many years in the business. Greene and Martin (who both also anchored KCAL-TV's 4 p.m. newscast) were slated to have their contracts expire in June, and both were considered for layoffs. Additionally, longtime KCBS reporter Jennifer Sabih, and reporters Greg Phillips and Jennifer Davis were let go by the station.
" brand). The slogan was changed to News that's central to your life and was refocused to cover on more community news, including news from outlying communities. Local news headlines from the Los Angeles Newspaper Group
and other MediaNews Group
newspapers were displayed on the ticker, "street team" submissions of video and photos from viewers were featured, reporters ended stories with NewsCentral rather than the individual station names, and mic flags and news vehicles were branded to show both stations at once (previously the KCBS logo was displayed on half the sides and the KCAL logo on the other half). NewsCentral claimed that it produced more local news than any other television station in the country, with reporters in Ventura County, the Inland Empire
, and Orange County
, and the only Los Angeles television station with two helicopters (subcontracted to Angel City Air, owned by reporter Larry Welk). Ed Asner
was used to introduce the new newscast. CBS denied that the move was made in response to other stations pooling newsgathering resources.
On December 10, 2009, CBS brought in Steve Mauldin to replace Patrick McClenahan as president and general manager of the duopoly. That week, the duopoly ultimately rescinded the NewsCentral branding, reverting to the "CBS2 News" and "KCAL9 News" identities. The NewsCentral graphics, mic flags and logos remained in the interim, though on-air talent no longer used the NewsCentral identity.
at 11:30 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. Most CBS affiliates and stations air it at 11 a.m. in the Pacific, Mountain and Central Time Zones, owing to newscasts that air at 12 noon. But 11:30 a.m. is CBS' recommended time slot to air it. This reflects off the fact that most affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone air it at 12:30 p.m., following the midday news. This is also the case at KCBS, in lieu of sister station KCAL-TV's newscast schedule. CBS began offering its affiliates two feeds of the show in 1981 so stations in the Central time zone wouldn't have to tape delay Y&R to air before their midday newscasts.
In Los Angeles, national news from the major networks air at 6:30 p.m., an hour later than most West Coast affiliates. This includes the CBS Evening News
on KCBS. During the 1980s, the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News
(broadcast by KNBC
) and ABC World News Tonight (broadcast by KABC-TV
) aired on their respective stations at 7 p.m. From 1988 to 1999 KCBS aired the CBS Evening News at 5:30 p.m. (the timeslot the newscast typically airs in the Mountain and Central time zones).
KCBS carried Wheel of Fortune
and Jeopardy!
at 7:00 and 7:30 PST from 1989 until 1992, when rival KABC-TV
added it to its lineup. Before 1989, both Wheel and Jeopardy! were shown on KCOP-TV
. Today the 7 p.m. hour carries Entertainment Tonight
and The Insider
. Jeopardy! initially aired during the afternoon hours on KCBS in 1984, before KCOP picked it up a year later.
Show, which was canceled after only one season, then in 1999, the Woman 2 Woman public affairs
show. After the acquisition of now-sister station KCAL-TV, KCBS reintroduced the 4 pm newscast, but now airing exclusively on KCAL-TV. Dr. Phil now airs in the 4 p.m. slot on KCBS.
From 1986 to 1987, KCBS had a 7 p.m. newscast, airing CBS Evening News immediately beforehand at 6:30 p.m. KCBS was also the last station in the Los Angeles area to offer a 6:30 p.m. local newscast, when its 6 p.m. newscast ran for an hour, until KTLA
launched one in January 2009.
, Ann Curry
, Jerry Dunphy
, Ken Jones
, Steve Kmetko
, Dan Miller, Brent Musburger
, Pat O'Brien
, Keith Olbermann
, Maury Povich
, Bree Walker
, and Paula Zahn. Ken Jones anchored for KTTV and KCBS Weekends, Jerry Dunphy anchored for KNXT/KCBS and KCAL-TV.
Sports director Jim Hill may well be the station's most notable current personality. Hill, a former San Diego Charger
was a sportscaster for CBS Sports
during his first stint at KNXT/KCBS-TV, from 1976 to 1987. Hill then left to become sports director at KABC-TV, but returned to KCBS-TV in 1992 and has remained sports director at the station since. Other ex-athletes who are also sportscasters for KCBS and KCAL-TV are Eric Dickerson
, James Worthy
and Eric Karros.
2View Weather
Sports team
Timesaver Traffic
Reporters
CBSLA.com
Sky 2
2 Denotes general manager for both KCBS and KCAL
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...
(channel 9) inside CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It is located at 4024 Radford Avenue and takes up a triangular piece of land, with the Los Angeles River bisecting the site...
in the Studio City
Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Studio City is an affluent residential neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando Valley. Studio City expands over four ZIP code areas: 91604 and sections of 91602, 91607 and 90210....
section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter located atop Mount Wilson
Mount Wilson (California)
Mount Wilson is one of the better known peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains, part of the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, California. It is the location of the Mount Wilson Observatory and has become the astronomical center of Southern California with and telescopes, and and tall...
. In the few areas of the western United States where viewers cannot receive CBS programs over-the-air, KCBS is available on satellite to subscribers of DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
.
Digital programming
The station's digital channel is multiplexed. KCBS-TV broadcasts on digital channel 43.| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 2.1 | Main KCBS-TV programming / CBS |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KCBS-TV ended programming on its analog signal, on VHFVery high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
channel 2, and switched to analog nightlight
Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act
The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, or SAFER Act, is a U.S. law to require the Federal Communications Commission to allow the continuation of full-power analog TV transmissions in 2009 for 30 more days, for the purpose of broadcasting public service announcements regarding the...
at 1:10 P.M. on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. KCBS-TV moved its digital broadcasts from channel 60 to channel 43 using PSIP to display KCBS-TV's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 2. KCBS broadcasts in 1080i
1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
high definition on virtual channel 2.1, since CBS Network programming uses that HD format.
Experimental origins
KCBS-TV is one of the oldest television stations in the world. It was created by Don Lee BroadcastingDon Lee (broadcaster)
Donald Musgrave Lee was the exclusive west coast distributor of Cadillac automobiles in the early 20th century. In 1919 Lee purchased the Earl Automobile Works of Hollywood, California. Harley Earl, the son of the company's owner, was kept on as manager...
, which owned a chain of radio stations on the Pacific Coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
, and was first licensed by the Federal Radio Commission
Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission was a government body that regulated radio use in the United States from its creation in 1926 until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934...
, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
as experimental television station W6XAO in June 1931. On December 23, 1931 it went on the air, and by March 1933 was broadcasting one hour daily except Sundays. The station used a mechanical camera which broadcast only film footage in an 80-line image, but demonstrated all-electronic receivers as early as 1932. It went off the air in 1935, and then reappeared using an improved mechanical camera producing a 300-line image for a month-long demonstration in June 1936. By August 1937, W6XAO had programming on the air six days per week. Live programming started in April 1938.
By 1939, with the image improved to 441 lines
441 lines
441 lines, or 383i if named using modern standard, is an early electronic television system. It was used with 50 interlaced frames per second in France and Germany, where it was an improvement over the previous 180 lines system...
, an optimistic estimate of the station's viewership was 1,500 people in a few hundred homes. Many of the receiver sets were built by television hobbyists, though commercially made sets were available in Los Angeles. The station's six-day weekly schedule consisted of live talent four nights, and film two nights. During World War II, programming was reduced to three hours, every other Monday. The station's frequency was switched from Channel 1 to Channel 2 in 1945 when the FCC decided to reserve Channel 1 for low-wattage community television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
stations.
The station was granted a commercial license (the second in California, behind KTLA
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
) as KTSL on May 6, 1948, and was named for Thomas S. Lee, the son of Don Lee. The station became affiliated with the DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
later that year.
CBS acquisition
Since 1949 the CBS television network had been affiliated with KTTVKTTV
KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...
(channel 11), a station in which the network held a minority (49 percent) ownership stake. After an attempt to buy out that station's remaining shares were rebuffed by the majority partner, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, CBS and Don Lee struck a deal for the transfer of KTSL. CBS sold its stake in KTTV to the Times, and on January 1, 1951 all CBS programming moved to KTSL. On November 1, 1951, KTSL changed its call letters to KNXT to coincide with CBS' Los Angeles radio outlet, KNX
KNX (AM)
KNX is an all-news radio station in Los Angeles, California, USA. The station operates on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio. KNX broadcasts from facilities shared with sister stations KFWB, KCBS-FM, KTWV, and KAMP on Los Angeles' Miracle Mile...
(1070 AM).
In 1948, KNXT had launched Peter Potter's Jukebox Jury
Jukebox Jury
Jukebox Jury was an hour-long television series hosted by disc jockey Peter Potter which aired in the 1953-54 season on the American Broadcasting Company. It was thereafter syndicated in 1959....
a musical/quiz series which went national in the 1953-1954 season on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Many later well-known entertainers appeared on the program to judge the latest releases from the recording companies.
In 1960, KNXT created the nation's first one-hour local newscast, The Big News, which featured Jerry Dunphy
Jerry Dunphy
Jerry Dunphy was an American television news anchor in the Los Angeles/Southern California media market. He was best known for his catchy intro "From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California, a good evening."...
, one of Southern California's most beloved news icons, along with legendary weatherman Bill Keene
Bill Keene
Bill Keene was a television and radio personality who became famous in the Los Angeles, California market as a traffic and weather announcer...
and sportscaster Gil Stratton. Also featured were Special Assignment reporter Maury Green and "Human Predicament" essayist Ralph Story
Ralph Story
Ralph Story, originally Ralph Bernard Snyder was an American television and radio personality. He was best remembered as the host of The $64,000 Challenge, a spin off of the game show The $64,000 Question, from 1956 until 1958.-Biography:Story was born Ralph Bernard Snyder in Kalamazoo, Michigan...
. This helped make KNXT the number-one news station in Los Angeles. At times, a quarter of Los Angeles televisions were tuned into The Big News, the highest ratings ever for a television newscast in the area. The station eventually added such reporters as Howard Gingold and Saul Halpert, among others, and added news bureaus in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
, San Francisco and Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, each with full-time correspondents and camera crews. Eventually, KNXT expanded to two-and-a-half hours of live local news, as well as a late-night newscast. However, in the mid 1970s, rival KABC-TV
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
began gaining ratings at KNXT's expense. In 1975, KNXT fired Dunphy (who was quickly hired by KABC) and adopted a format similar to KABC-TV's Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
with its "happy talk" between anchors. However, the change went nowhere. Just as most of its fellow CBS O&Os were dominating their cities' ratings, KNXT rapidly fell into last place.
As KCBS-TV
On April 2, 1984, at noon, KNXT changed its call letters to the present KCBS-TV. In 1997, it adopted the "CBS2" moniker for its on-air image, following the lead of its Chicago and New York sisters. In 2002, KCBS-TV became a sister station to KCAL-TVKCAL-TV
KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...
after the latter was purchased by CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
.
For a time during the 1980s and 1990s, KNXT/KCBS-TV had several locally produced programs such as "2 on the Town," a local show similar to Evening Magazine
Evening Magazine
Evening Magazine is the name of various news and entertainment style local television shows in different markets.-The original concept:...
and KABC-TV
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
's Eye on L.A., and Kid Quiz, a Saturday morning children's game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
hosted by longtime weathercaster Maclovio Perez. For a time in the mid-2000s, its sister station KCAL-TV did a show called 9 on the Town.
For most of the period from 1975 to 2006, KNXT/KCBS-TV was not a factor in the Los Angeles television ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. The exceptions were a brief surge to first place in the early 1980s and another in the mid-1990s.
During the period, Channel 2 had frequently changed formats to styles that often became unsuccessful and even controversial. In September 1986, Channel 2 implemented a news-wheel format with each half-hour of news devoted to certain topics and themes. For example, there was Entertainment and Lifestyle news early on and harder news later on. This format was heavily panned by critics and audiences alike, and cancelled after only a month.
The late 1980s and early 1990s brought in the Action News
Action News
Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
format, which featured a tabloid
Tabloid journalism
Tabloid journalism tends to emphasize topics such as sensational crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and junk food news...
-type newscast; the style grated on the news staff, which circulated a memo that resulted in the eventual firing of news director
News Director
A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...
John Lippmann. Lippmann was heavily criticized by many, and reportedly had many confrontations with news staff, notably a shoving match between him and anchor Michael Tuck. The station's ratings quickly declined.
CBS management, highly embarrassed at KCBS' subpar performance, responded by bringing in Bill Applegate as general manager. Applegate had previously been general manager at WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
, and ironically been a reporter there in the early 1970s. While Applegate had been criticized for making WBBM's newscasts flashier than they had previously been, he set about toning down KCBS's newscasts. One of his strategies involved bringing in popular news anchors and reporters from other stations including the return of Jerry Dunphy
Jerry Dunphy
Jerry Dunphy was an American television news anchor in the Los Angeles/Southern California media market. He was best known for his catchy intro "From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California, a good evening."...
, 20 years after he was fired from the station. Dunphy went on to anchor at KABC-TV
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
and KCAL-TV achieving high ratings at both stops. Also joining Dunphy were colleagues Ann Martin
Ann Martin
Ann Matthews Martin is an American children's author.Ann Martin grew up in Princeton, New Jersey with her parents and her younger sister, Jane...
, Dr. George Fischbeck, Paul Dandridge and Marc Coogan from KABC-TV, and Larry Carroll who worked with Dunphy at KABC and KCAL. Linda Alvarez of KNBC-TV also joined the team.
The station's ratings improved, but Applegate was eventually a casualty of CBS' merger with the Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
corporation in 1996; he'd bickered with Westinghouse over syndicated programming not long after he'd arrived. Westinghouse executives never forgot this, and Applegate was one of the first executives to be let go. Channel 2's momentum ground to a halt, and it soon dropped into last place. The Action News branding was dropped in 1997 and renamed CBS 2 News. That year, Dunphy returned to KCAL.
KCBS began making another attempt to get out of the ratings basement at the start of the 21st century. In 2000, former KNBC
KNBC
KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
Today in L.A.
Today in L.A.
Today In L.A. is a local early-morning local newscast airing over NBC's west coast flagship, KNBC-TV, in Los Angeles. It became the first morning local newscast in Southern California when it debuted on KNBC in 1986, as a half-hour lead-in to The Today Show...
anchor Kent Shocknek
Kent Shocknek
Kent Shocknek is Southern California's longest-running television news morning news anchor. He also appears in cameo roles in movies and television dramas. On radio, Shocknek has narrated a daily commentary in Los Angeles; and hosted a nationally syndicated entertainment program...
joined KCBS to become its morning co-anchor. Then in 2001 the station hired Harold Greene
Harold Greene
Harold Greene is a former award-winning journalist, best known for working at KCAL 9 News and CBS 2 News in Los Angeles. Before joining the CBS duopoly, Greene enjoyed a long television news career, mostly in Southern California....
, longtime anchor at KABC, as its 5 and 11 p.m. anchor. A year later, he was joined by his former partner at KABC, Laura Diaz
Laura Diaz (TV anchor)
Laura Diaz is a Southern California newscaster. In September 2011, Diaz announced that she would be leaving KCBS-TV after nine years to pursue producing projects under her own banner....
. In 2004, Paul Magers
Paul Magers
Paul Magers is a television news anchor for the CBS owned and operated television station KCBS in Los Angeles, California. He was born in Santa Maria, California, but grew up in Ellensburg, Washington...
, longtime anchor at KARE
KARE
KARE, digital channel 11, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota and portions of western Wisconsin. It also operates KARE WX NOW, formerly known as NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel...
in the Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
, replaced Greene on the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. news, bumping Greene to the 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts. The 4 p.m. newscast moved to KCAL-TV with the arrival of Dr. Phil on KCBS. At the beginning of 2005, longtime KABC weatherman Johnny Mountain
Johnny Mountain
Johnny Mountain is a retired weathercaster for both KABC-TV and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, California. He has been described as "one of the most recognizable faces -- and names -- in local TV news."...
moved to KCBS, surprising many since it appeared that he was going to retire.
At first, it seemed that none of these changes brought KCBS any closer to becoming a factor in the Los Angeles news race. However, in April 2006, KCBS grabbed the #2 spot at 5 PM from KABC due to a strong lead-in from Dr. Phil
Phil McGraw
Phillip Calvin McGraw best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, former psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002...
. More importantly, KCBS shot past both KABC and KNBC to take first place at 11 p.m. for the first time in 30 years.
On April 21, 2007, KCBS and KCAL-TV moved from historic CBS Columbia Square
CBS Columbia Square
CBS Columbia Square, located at 6121 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, was the home of CBS's Los Angeles radio and television operations from 1938 until 2007. The building housed the CBS Radio Network's West Coast facilities, as well as CBS' original Los Angeles radio...
in Hollywood to an all-digital facility at the CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It is located at 4024 Radford Avenue and takes up a triangular piece of land, with the Los Angeles River bisecting the site...
in Studio City. The move marks many changes at KCBS and KCAL-TV. Several news personalities have departed, including David Jackson, a respected news anchor who returned to the duopoly after fronting KCAL's Prime 9 News in the early 1990s, Kerry Kilbride, reporter Jay Jackson, Paul Dandridge, Dilva Henry, Linda Alvarez, sports anchor Alan Massengale, and Dave Clark, who left for KTVU
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
. Both stations began broadcasting all their newscasts, sports shows, and public affairs programming in high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, becoming the third and fourth station in Los Angeles to do so; the other being KABC-TV in February 2006, and KTLA
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
in January 2007. In addition, KCBS and KCAL-TV now operate in a completely tapeless newsroom. This newsroom is named in honor of Jerry Dunphy, who previously worked at both stations in the past.
With the move, KTLA and KCET
KCET
KCET, channel 28, is an independent, non-commercial public television station licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KCET's studio is located on West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is atop Mount Wilson. Al Jerome is the current CEO and President, serving since 1996.KCET was...
are the only stations (either in radio or television) in Los Angeles to broadcast from Hollywood.
On April 1, 2008, CBS's owned-and-operated television stations division ordered widespread budget cuts and staff layoffs from its stations, among the largest budget cuts in television history. CBS O&Os across the country have laid off numerous staff members with KCBS and KCAL-TV being no exception. As a result of the budget cuts, roughly 10-15 staffers were released by the duopoly. The 6pm anchor team, Harold Greene
Harold Greene
Harold Greene is a former award-winning journalist, best known for working at KCAL 9 News and CBS 2 News in Los Angeles. Before joining the CBS duopoly, Greene enjoyed a long television news career, mostly in Southern California....
and Ann Martin
Ann Martin (journalist)
Ann Martin is a former award-winning journalist and a news anchor for CBS owned-and-operated KCBS-TV and KCAL television stations in Los Angeles, California. On April 1, 2008, she was informed that her contract will not be renewed. Media reports speculated that her contract expired June 1, 2008...
, decided to retire from television news after many years in the business. Greene and Martin (who both also anchored KCAL-TV's 4 p.m. newscast) were slated to have their contracts expire in June, and both were considered for layoffs. Additionally, longtime KCBS reporter Jennifer Sabih, and reporters Greg Phillips and Jennifer Davis were let go by the station.
NewsCentral era
On September 19, 2009, KCBS and KCAL rebranded to the NewsCentral brand (unrelated to Sinclair Broadcasting Group's former "News CentralNews Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...
" brand). The slogan was changed to News that's central to your life and was refocused to cover on more community news, including news from outlying communities. Local news headlines from the Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
The Los Angeles Newspaper Group is an umbrella group of local daily newspapers published in the greater Los Angeles area by MediaNews Group. The news coverage of the newspapers are mainly local stories. The newspapers contain some national and international news, often from the Associated Press...
and other MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group, based in Denver, Colorado, is one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States. It is privately owned and operates 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively...
newspapers were displayed on the ticker, "street team" submissions of video and photos from viewers were featured, reporters ended stories with NewsCentral rather than the individual station names, and mic flags and news vehicles were branded to show both stations at once (previously the KCBS logo was displayed on half the sides and the KCAL logo on the other half). NewsCentral claimed that it produced more local news than any other television station in the country, with reporters in Ventura County, the Inland Empire
Inland Empire
Inland Empire may refer to:In geography:* Inland Empire , a geographic region in Southern California* Inland Empire , a geographic region encompassing Eastern Washington and North IdahoIn entertainment:...
, and Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, and the only Los Angeles television station with two helicopters (subcontracted to Angel City Air, owned by reporter Larry Welk). Ed Asner
Ed Asner
Edward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
was used to introduce the new newscast. CBS denied that the move was made in response to other stations pooling newsgathering resources.
On December 10, 2009, CBS brought in Steve Mauldin to replace Patrick McClenahan as president and general manager of the duopoly. That week, the duopoly ultimately rescinded the NewsCentral branding, reverting to the "CBS2 News" and "KCAL9 News" identities. The NewsCentral graphics, mic flags and logos remained in the interim, though on-air talent no longer used the NewsCentral identity.
Programming
KCBS airs The Young and the RestlessThe Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
at 11:30 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. Most CBS affiliates and stations air it at 11 a.m. in the Pacific, Mountain and Central Time Zones, owing to newscasts that air at 12 noon. But 11:30 a.m. is CBS' recommended time slot to air it. This reflects off the fact that most affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone air it at 12:30 p.m., following the midday news. This is also the case at KCBS, in lieu of sister station KCAL-TV's newscast schedule. CBS began offering its affiliates two feeds of the show in 1981 so stations in the Central time zone wouldn't have to tape delay Y&R to air before their midday newscasts.
In Los Angeles, national news from the major networks air at 6:30 p.m., an hour later than most West Coast affiliates. This includes the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
on KCBS. During the 1980s, the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
(broadcast by KNBC
KNBC
KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
) and ABC World News Tonight (broadcast by KABC-TV
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
) aired on their respective stations at 7 p.m. From 1988 to 1999 KCBS aired the CBS Evening News at 5:30 p.m. (the timeslot the newscast typically airs in the Mountain and Central time zones).
KCBS carried Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
and Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
at 7:00 and 7:30 PST from 1989 until 1992, when rival KABC-TV
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
added it to its lineup. Before 1989, both Wheel and Jeopardy! were shown on KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV, channel 13, is a television station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, KCOP is a sister station to Fox network outlet KTTV , and is affiliated with the MyNetworkTV programming service...
. Today the 7 p.m. hour carries Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
and The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
. Jeopardy! initially aired during the afternoon hours on KCBS in 1984, before KCOP picked it up a year later.
News operation
KCBS had 4 p.m. newscasts from time to time. It was the first in the Southland with a 4:30 pm newscast, that was later expanded to an hour. KCBS dropped its 4 p.m. newscasts in 1998 in favor of the short-lived Howie MandelHowie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
Show, which was canceled after only one season, then in 1999, the Woman 2 Woman public affairs
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
show. After the acquisition of now-sister station KCAL-TV, KCBS reintroduced the 4 pm newscast, but now airing exclusively on KCAL-TV. Dr. Phil now airs in the 4 p.m. slot on KCBS.
From 1986 to 1987, KCBS had a 7 p.m. newscast, airing CBS Evening News immediately beforehand at 6:30 p.m. KCBS was also the last station in the Los Angeles area to offer a 6:30 p.m. local newscast, when its 6 p.m. newscast ran for an hour, until KTLA
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
launched one in January 2009.
Newscast titles
- World NewsWorld NewsWorld News may refer to one of the following sources that covers international news:* ABC World News, a television news program that airs on the American television network ABC...
(1938–1948) - Telenews (1948–1949)
- Fleetwood Lawton & The News (1950–1951)
- World News and KNXT News (1951–1960)
- The Big News (1960–1976, 6:15 p.m. newscast until September 1, 1963; 6 p.m. newscast from September 2, 1963 to 1976)
- 24 Hours (1960–1976, 11 p.m. newscast)
- 2LA Newsroom (1976–1979)
- Channel 2 News (1979–1988)
- Channel 2 Action NewsAction NewsAction News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
(1988–1997) - CBS 2 News (1997-September 2009 and December 2009–present)
- CBS 2 NewsCentral (September 2009-January 2010)
Entertainment titles
- Panorama Pacific (1952-1964?), 7-9 a.m. Monday through Friday morning show
Station slogans
- Here's 2 L.A. (1976–1978)
- We're Looking Out for You (1978–1982)
- The Team to Watch (1981–1984; also used by Network TenNetwork TenNetwork Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
in Australia from 1982–1988) - LA Watches 2 (1987–1988)
- Home of Action News (1988–1991)
- Stand Up and Tell 'em You're From LA (1985–1994; based on Frank GariFrank GariFrank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
's "Turn To" series) - Bringing Balance Back to Local News (1997–1999)
- The Station of the People (2000–2001)
- CBS 2 is Always On (2005–2009)
- News That's Central to Your Life (September–December 2009)
- Only CBS 2 (2010–present; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Coverage You Can Count On (2011–Present)
On-air staff
The station's former anchors include Connie ChungConnie Chung
Connie Chung, full name: Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich is an American journalist who has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S...
, Ann Curry
Ann Curry
Ann Curry is an American television news journalist and co-anchor on NBC's morning television program Today. She is the former news anchor on Today, a role she began in March 1997, and was the host of Dateline NBC from 2005-2011.Curry is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Biography:Curry was born in...
, Jerry Dunphy
Jerry Dunphy
Jerry Dunphy was an American television news anchor in the Los Angeles/Southern California media market. He was best known for his catchy intro "From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California, a good evening."...
, Ken Jones
Ken Jones (news reporter)
Kenneth Leon "Ken" Jones was an American television journalist, actor, reporter and news anchor, most notably working for Los Angeles television station KTTV-TV channel 11 and KNXT channel 2. Jones, a veteran Los Angeles TV newsman was known for his reports on the 1965 Watts riots and the...
, Steve Kmetko
Steve Kmetko
Steven Kmetko is an American entertainment television host and reporter.Kmetko was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. His most prominent job was on the E! cable network. He had previously worked as an entertainment reporter for CBS's Los Angeles affiliate . The television station replaced him with...
, Dan Miller, Brent Musburger
Brent Musburger
Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a...
, Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (television)
Pat O'Brien is currently a radio host with Fox Sports Radio as well as an author. He is best known for his time as a sportscaster with CBS Sports and as anchor/host of Access Hollywood and The Insider .O'Brien covered five Olympic Games, two for CBS...
, Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
, Maury Povich
Maury Povich
Maurice Richard "Maury" Povich is an American TV talk show host who currently hosts his self-titled talk show Maury.-Personal background:...
, Bree Walker
Bree Walker
Bree Walker is a radio talk show host, actress, and disability-rights activist, who gained fame as the first on-air American television network news anchor with ectrodactyly. Walker worked as a news anchor and/or reporter in San Diego, New York City, and Los Angeles.Walker was born in Oakland,...
, and Paula Zahn. Ken Jones anchored for KTTV and KCBS Weekends, Jerry Dunphy anchored for KNXT/KCBS and KCAL-TV.
Sports director Jim Hill may well be the station's most notable current personality. Hill, a former San Diego Charger
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
was a sportscaster for CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
during his first stint at KNXT/KCBS-TV, from 1976 to 1987. Hill then left to become sports director at KABC-TV, but returned to KCBS-TV in 1992 and has remained sports director at the station since. Other ex-athletes who are also sportscasters for KCBS and KCAL-TV are Eric Dickerson
Eric Dickerson
Eric Demetric Dickerson is a former professional running back in the National Football League who in his career played for the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Raiders, and Atlanta Falcons.-College career:...
, James Worthy
James Worthy
James Ager Worthy is a retired Hall of Fame American college and professional basketball player. Named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, "Big Game James" was a seven-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion...
and Eric Karros.
Current on-air staff
Anchors- Rick Garcia - weeknights at 6 p.m.
- Pat HarveyPat HarveyPat Harvey is an award winning broadcast journalist. She joined former Walt Disney owned and operated KCAL 9 in Los Angeles in 1989. Joining Jerry Dunphy on the anchor desk, she was the last original KCAL 9 News anchor left. In April 2010, Harvey begin co-anchoring for KCAL sister station KCBS...
– weeknights at 5 and 11 p.m. - Paul MagersPaul MagersPaul Magers is a television news anchor for the CBS owned and operated television station KCBS in Los Angeles, California. He was born in Santa Maria, California, but grew up in Ellensburg, Washington...
– weeknights at 5 and 11 p.m. - Kent ShocknekKent ShocknekKent Shocknek is Southern California's longest-running television news morning news anchor. He also appears in cameo roles in movies and television dramas. On radio, Shocknek has narrated a daily commentary in Los Angeles; and hosted a nationally syndicated entertainment program...
– weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and 11 a.m. - Rob Schmitt – weekends at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.; also weekday reporter
- Suzie Suh – weekends at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.; also weekday reporter
- Sibila VargasSibila VargasSibila Vargas is a news anchor in the morning and 11 a.m.editions of "CBS 2 News" for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, formerly of KRIV-TV in Houston, Texas, and former CNN entertainment reporter.- Early years :...
- weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and 11 a.m.
2View Weather
- Jackie JohnsonJackie JohnsonJacqueline "Jackie" Johnson is an American weather forecaster and television personality for KCBS-TV news at 5, 6 and 11 PM in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...
– weather anchor; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. - Josh Rubinstein (AMS Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seals of Approval) – chief meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and 11 a.m. - Kaj Goldberg – weather anchor; weekends at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
- Rich FieldsRich FieldsRichard Wayne "Rich" Fields is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer and meteorologist, best known for being the announcer of the American version of The Price Is Right from 2004–2010....
– meteorologist; fill-in
Sports team
- Gary MillerGary Miller (sportscaster)Gary Miller is an American sportscaster and radio host.-Education:Miller graduated in the same high school class, in Naperville, Illinois, as former CNN news anchor Paula Zahn....
– Sports Anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also Sports Central co-host - Jim Hill – Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m., also Sports Central host
Timesaver Traffic
- Whitney Drolen – morning traffic reporter
- Leyla Gulen - morning traffic reporter, Fill-in
Reporters
- Stephanie Abrams – general assignment reporter
- Joy Benedict - general assignment reporter
- Serene Branson – general assignment reporter
- Dave Bryan – political reporter
- Stacey Butler – general assignment reporter
- Whitney Drolen – general assignment reporter
- Suraya Fadel – general assignment reporter
- Juan Fernández – general assignment reporter
- Kara Finnstrom – general assignment reporter
- Michele Gile – Orange County reporter
- David Goldstein – investigative reporter
- Kirk Hawkins – general assignment reporter
- Louisa Hodge - general assignment reporter
- Amy Johnson – Ventura County reporter
- Rachel Kim – freelance reporter
- Edward Lawrence – general assignment reporter
- Kristine Lazar – general assignment reporter
- Jeff Nguyen – general assignment reporter
- Dave Lopez – Orange County reporter
- Melissa Maynarich – general assignment reporter
- Suzanne Marques – entertainment reporter
- Greg Mills – Inland Empire reporter
- Melissa McCarty – freelance reporter
- Randy Paige – consumer/investigative reporter
- Rob Schmitt – general assignment reporter
- Lisa Sigell – general assignment reporter/fill-in anchor (former morning anchor)
- Ann Sterling - freelance reporter
- Suzie Suh – general assignment reporter
CBSLA.com
- Erik Oginski – managing editor
- Mark Liu – webcaster/assignment editor/blogger
- Jenn McBride – webcaster/web producer
Sky 2
- Derek Bell – pilot/reporter
- Mike Case
- Aaron Fitzgerald – fill-in pilot/reporter
- Justin Jager – photographer/reporter
- Gary Lineberry – pilot/reporter
- Larry Welk – pilot/reporter/helicopter owner
Notable former on-air staff
- Ross BeckerRoss BeckerRoss Becker is a television journalist and news anchor. He is currently employed as an anchor/reporter at KUSI-TV in San Diego, California.Becker began his career in broadcasting in 1975 as a reporter at WFRV-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin, before moving in 1977 to WTHR-TV in Indianapolis as a weekend...
– reporter (1980–1990, now at KUSI in San Diego) - Jim CastilloJim CastilloJim Castillo , whose birth name is James, is an American meteorologist. Castillo is a weekend Meteorologist at KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California....
- weather anchor (2001–2002, now at KTLAKTLAKTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
) - Joel ConnableJoel ConnableJoel Connable is an American television host, news anchor and reporter. He is a former 6pm and 7pm news anchor at NBC6 in Miami. He was named "Best News Anchor," by the New Times Magazine in 2009...
– reporter (now at WTVJWTVJWTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
in Miami) - Laura DiazLaura Diaz (TV anchor)Laura Diaz is a Southern California newscaster. In September 2011, Diaz announced that she would be leaving KCBS-TV after nine years to pursue producing projects under her own banner....
- anchor/reporter (2002–2011) - Linda DouglassLinda DouglassLinda Douglass was Director of Communications for the White House Office of Health Reform in the Obama Administration. She assumed that post in May 2009, and left it in April 2010...
– Political reporter (1983–85) (Later with KNBCKNBCKNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
, CBS News and ABC News before becoming senior strategist and spokeswoman for the Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
presidential campaign - Jerry DunphyJerry DunphyJerry Dunphy was an American television news anchor in the Los Angeles/Southern California media market. He was best known for his catchy intro "From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California, a good evening."...
– anchor The Big News Team and KCBS (1960–1975 and 1995–1997), KCAL-TV 9 Original Anchor of Prime 9 News (1990–1994) and returned to KCAL-TV from 1997–2002, deceased 2002) - Sophia ChoiSophia ChoiSophia Choi is an American news broadcaster at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.-Biography:Sophia Choi was born in Taegu, Korea. She moved to the U.S. at the age of seven, and attended Hollywood Elementary School in Hollywood, Maryland. After her father's death when she was 12, she moved to Memphis,...
– (formerly with KSNV-DT in Las Vegas) - Connie ChungConnie ChungConnie Chung, full name: Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich is an American journalist who has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S...
– anchor/reporter (1976–1983) - Ann CurryAnn CurryAnn Curry is an American television news journalist and co-anchor on NBC's morning television program Today. She is the former news anchor on Today, a role she began in March 1997, and was the host of Dateline NBC from 2005-2011.Curry is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Biography:Curry was born in...
– reporter (1984–1990, now at NBC News) - Steve EdwardsSteve Edwards (talk show host)Steve Edwards is an American television personality on Los Angeles, California, morning shows, including AM Los Angeles, Two on The Town, and Good Day L.A....
– talk show host/reporter (1978–1984; now with KTTV's "Good Day LA") - Roy FirestoneRoy FirestoneRoy Firestone is an American sports commentator and journalist. Firestone is a graduate of Miami Beach High School and the University of Miami.-Television career:...
– sports anchor/reporter (1978–1985) - David GarciaDavid GarciaDavid Garcia was a broadcast journalist for ABC News. Garcia had the distinction of becoming one of the first Hispanic news correspondents for a major American television network in the 1970s....
– anchor/reporter (1983–1986; deceased) - Harold GreeneHarold GreeneHarold Greene is a former award-winning journalist, best known for working at KCAL 9 News and CBS 2 News in Los Angeles. Before joining the CBS duopoly, Greene enjoyed a long television news career, mostly in Southern California....
– (2001–2008) - Drew GriffinDrew GriffinDrew Griffin is a reporter on the American cable news channel CNN.-Career:Griffin worked as an investigative reporter for CBS 2 News in Los Angeles for 10 years. He joined CNN in May 2004. In September 2005, Griffin covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Griffin's reports about the looting by...
– reporter (1994–2004, now at CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
) - Joel GroverJoel GroverJoel Grover is an investigative journalist for KNBC in Los Angeles, California. He is nationally known for his undercover investigations, exposes and consumer reports.- Education and early career :...
– reporter (1996–2002, now at KNBCKNBCKNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
) - Steve HartmanSteve HartmanStephen Robert "Steve" Hartman is a television journalist.Steve Hartman attended a Catholic Elementary School in Little Flower Parish of Toledo, Ohio that has since been consolidated to "Saint Benedict Catholic Elementary School"....
– feature reporter (1994–1998, now at KTLAKTLAKTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
) - Chick HearnChick HearnFrancis Dayle "Chick" Hearn was an American sportscaster. Known primarily as the long-time play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, the legendary Hearn is remembered for his rapid fire, staccato broadcasting style, inventing colorful phrases such...
– Lakers games (died in 2002) - Lester Holt – reporter (1982–1983, now at NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
) - David HorowitzDavid Horowitz (consumer advocate)David Horowitz is an American consumer advocate and former reporter for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, whose Emmy-winning TV program Fight Back! would warn viewers about defective products, test advertised claims to see if they were true, and confront corporations about customer complaints...
– consumer reporter (1993–1998) - Huell HowserHuell HowserHuell Burnley Howser is an American television personality best known for California's Gold, his travel show for the Los Angeles based KCET.-Early career:...
– features reporter (1981–1987) - Rex HudlerRex HudlerRex Allen Hudler is a former Major League Baseball utility player. He played a total of thirteen seasons after being a first round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 1978.-Playing career:...
– Angels games (1999–2005) - Ken JonesKen Jones (news reporter)Kenneth Leon "Ken" Jones was an American television journalist, actor, reporter and news anchor, most notably working for Los Angeles television station KTTV-TV channel 11 and KNXT channel 2. Jones, a veteran Los Angeles TV newsman was known for his reports on the 1965 Watts riots and the...
– anchor/reporter (1976–1982; deceased 1993) - Lisa JoynerLisa JoynerLisa Marie Joyner is an American entertainment reporter and television host.- Life and career :Joyner has reported on celebrity news in the Los Angeles area for KTTV and KCBS-TV. She first gained national recognition for her InFANity segments on the TV Guide Network. Joyner is married to Two and a...
– entertainment reporter (2002–2006; now at TV Guide Network) - Bill KeeneBill KeeneBill Keene was a television and radio personality who became famous in the Los Angeles, California market as a traffic and weather announcer...
– weather anchor/traffic reporter (1954–1974 and 1980s-1993; was part of "The Big News" team and also worked at KNX-AM, died in 2000) - Steve KmetkoSteve KmetkoSteven Kmetko is an American entertainment television host and reporter.Kmetko was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. His most prominent job was on the E! cable network. He had previously worked as an entertainment reporter for CBS's Los Angeles affiliate . The television station replaced him with...
– entertainment reporter (1987–1998; now reporter for KTTVKTTVKTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...
/KCOP-TVKCOP-TVKCOP-TV, channel 13, is a television station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, KCOP is a sister station to Fox network outlet KTTV , and is affiliated with the MyNetworkTV programming service...
) - Jim LampleyJim LampleyJames "Jim" Lampley is an American sportscaster, news anchor, movie producer, and restaurant owner. Lampley has anchored a record 14 Olympic Games U.S. television broadcasts, most recently the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China....
– news and sports anchor (1987–1992) - Kelly LangeKelly LangeKelly Lange is an American journalist, most notable for being the first woman to be a nightly news anchor in Los Angeles...
– "Women 2 Women" host (2000–2001) - Harvey LevinHarvey LevinHarvey Robert Levin is an American television producer, lawyer, legal analyst and a celebrity reporter. He is the founder of celebrity gossip website TMZ.com.-Education:...
– legal analyst (1987–1997; now with TMZ.comTMZ.comTMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...
, TMZ on TVTMZ on TVTMZ on TV, or simply TMZ and TMZTV, is an American syndicated entertainment and gossip news television show that premiered on September 10, 2007. The program is generally aired on Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates, though a majority of the stations that carry the series are Fox affiliates...
and The People's CourtThe People's CourtThe People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
) - Dorothy LuceyDorothy LuceyDorothy Lucey is an American entertainment reporter who currently can be seen on Good Day L.A., the morning news broadcast of Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV.-Career:...
– anchor/reporter (1987–1992; now at KTTV) - Dave MalkoffDave MalkoffDave Malkoff is an American television journalist working for KTLA in Los Angeles. He has covered some of the most destructive hurricanes in US history and reported from several parts of Iraq at the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2010...
- Feature & Sci/Tech Reporter (2007–2010; now with KTLAKTLAKTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
) - Mario MachadoMario MachadoMario Machado is the Eurasian eight-time Emmy Award-winning television and radio broadcaster who made television history when, in 1970, he became the first Chinese-American on-air television news reporter and anchor in Los Angeles and perhaps in the nation.-Television:Machado’s television career...
– consumer affairs reporter (1969–1977) - Rory MarkasRory MarkasRory Markas was an American sportscaster best known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's play-by-play broadcaster for eight seasons, and as the radio voice of the University of Southern California men's basketball team for 11 seasons...
– sports anchor (1990–1996)- deceased - Jess MarlowJess MarlowMyron Jess Marlow born November 29, 1929 is a retired Los Angeles television newsman. He hails from Salem, IL and was an anchor at KNTV-TV, KNBC-TV and KCBS-TV for over 40 years, beginning in the late 1950s...
– anchor (1980–1986) - Ann MartinAnn Martin (journalist)Ann Martin is a former award-winning journalist and a news anchor for CBS owned-and-operated KCBS-TV and KCAL television stations in Los Angeles, California. On April 1, 2008, she was informed that her contract will not be renewed. Media reports speculated that her contract expired June 1, 2008...
– (1994–2008) - Ben McCainBen McCainBen McCain is a Los Angeles-based actor, television host, news anchor, reporter, producer, director, writer and one half of The McCain Brothers, a singing and songwriting duo...
reporter (2000) now reporter/host for Time Warner Cable - Butch McCainButch McCainButch McCain is an American actor, broadcaster, writer, producer and one half of the singing songwriting team, The McCain Brothers. Butch has appeared numerous films including MGM's cult classic Bio-Dome, Roger Corman's remake of Humanoids from the Deep, and in Bruce Campbell's My Name Is Bruce,...
reporter (2000) now weeknight weather anchor for KKCO Grand Junction - Dan Miller – anchor/reporter (1986–1987; was at WSMV-TVWSMV-TVWSMV-TV, virtual channel 4, is the NBC-affiliated television station serving the Nashville, Tennessee area. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10. Owned by Meredith Corporation, its transmitter and tower are located adjacent to its studios on Knob Road in west Nashville, south of...
in Nashville from 1969–1986 and from 1995 until his death on April 8, 2009 at age 67) - Jim MoretJim MoretJim Moret is currently the chief correspondent for the syndicated television news magazine Inside Edition. Moret has covered entertainment news and traditional hard news stories for over 25 years...
– entertainment reporter/anchor (1984–1987; now with Inside EditionInside EditionInside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
) - Byron MirandaByron MirandaByron Miranda is an American television journalist. The three-time Regional Emmy Award-winner currently appears as a meteorologist on KNBC in Los Angeles, California.- Personal background :...
- weeknight weather anchor (2002-2005, now with KNBCKNBCKNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
) - José Mota – Angels games
- Johnny MountainJohnny MountainJohnny Mountain is a retired weathercaster for both KABC-TV and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, California. He has been described as "one of the most recognizable faces -- and names -- in local TV news."...
- Weeknight Weather Anchor (2005-2010) - Terry Murphy – anchor/reporter (1980–1984 and 1987–1989)
- Brent MusburgerBrent MusburgerBrent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a...
– anchor/reporter (1971–1977, now with ABC Sports/ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
) - Pat O'Brien – reporter (1978–1981)
- Keith OlbermannKeith OlbermannKeith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
– sports anchor (1988–1991), now at Current TVCurrent TVCurrent TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC.... - Warren OlneyWarren Olney (journalist)Warren Olney IV is an American broadcast journalist. He is the host and executive producer of the nationally syndicated Public Radio International program To the Point as well as the local affairs show Which Way, L.A.?, both of which originate at Santa Monica, California public radio station KCRW...
– anchor/reporter (1969–1975 and 1986–1989) - Ross PalomboRoss PalomboRoss Palombo is an American journalist and television news anchor.-Early life and education:Palombo was born in Chicago, Illinois and was raised in the Northwest suburbs...
– reporter (2006), now at CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main... - Kyra PhillipsKyra PhillipsKyra Phillips is an American news anchor. She is on the weekday edition of CNN Newsroom.-Early life and career:Phillips was born in North Carolina. She grew up in San Diego and graduated from Helix High School. She received her Bachelor's degree in journalism from University of Southern California...
– reporter/anchor (1995–2000, now at CNN Headline News) - Steve Physioc – Angels games (1996–2005)
- Maury PovichMaury PovichMaurice Richard "Maury" Povich is an American TV talk show host who currently hosts his self-titled talk show Maury.-Personal background:...
– anchor (1977–1978) - Jerry ReussJerry ReussJerry Reuss -- pronounced "royce" -- is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, best known for his years with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the United States, who had a 22-year career from to ....
– Angels games (1996–1998; now a color analyst for the Dodgers Radio NetworkLos Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
) - Clete RobertsClete RobertsClete Roberts was a pioneer in Los Angeles local broadcast journalism. The urbane, mustachioed newscaster was a fixture on Southern California television screens for over thirty years.-KNXT Channel 2:...
– anchor/reporter (1966–1977; died in 1984) - Willa SandmeyerWilla SandmeyerWilla Sandmeyer is an American television news reporter based in Los Angeles working for the Voice of Prophecy.Willa grew up in the Washington, D.C...
– reporter (1991–1993) - Bill SewardBill SewardBill Seward is an award-winning member of the staff at KNBC-TV, as a sports anchor for the Channel 4 News, with additional appearances on MSNBC, CNBC and “Early Today” on NBC...
– sports anchor (1992–1997, now at KNBCKNBCKNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
) - John SchubeckJohn SchubeckJohn Schubeck was an American television reporter and anchor, and one of the few to anchor newscasts on all three network owned-and-operated stations in one major market....
– anchor (1983–1988) (died in 1997) - Michael ScottMichael ScottMichael Scott, Michael Scot, or Mike Scott may refer to:* Michael Scott , former regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton in the U.S. TV series The Office-Academics:...
- weekend anchor/reporter; KXAS Dallas morning anchor - David SheehanDavid SheehanDavid Sheehan has distinguished himself in the world of broadcasting with a series of trailblazing television firsts. Starting in 1970 on CBS, Sheehan was the first movie/television show reviewer/interviewer on a daily local newscast...
– entertainment reporter (1971–1981 and 1994–2003) - Ralph StoryRalph StoryRalph Story, originally Ralph Bernard Snyder was an American television and radio personality. He was best remembered as the host of The $64,000 Challenge, a spin off of the game show The $64,000 Question, from 1956 until 1958.-Biography:Story was born Ralph Bernard Snyder in Kalamazoo, Michigan...
– anchor/features reporter/host of Ralph Story's Los Angeles (1959–1970 and 1974–1986 ("The Big News" team); died in 2006) - Bill Stout – anchor/reporter/"Perspective" commentator (1954–1960 and 1972–1989 ("The Big News" team); died in 1989)
- Gil Stratton – sports anchor (1954–1976, "The Big News" team; died in 2008)
- Paul SunderlandPaul SunderlandPaul Benedict Sunderland is an American sportscaster based in Los Angeles, California.Over his broadcast career, Sunderland has covered almost every major sport played in Southern California...
– Lakers games (2002–2005) - Ruth Ashton TaylorRuth Ashton TaylorRuth Ashton Taylor is a retired American television and radio newscaster, with a career in broadcasting that spanned over 50 years.She was the first female newscaster on television in Los Angeles and the West Coast....
– anchor/reporter (1951–1958 and 1962–1989) - Tritia ToyotaTritia ToyotaTritia Toyota is a former Los Angeles television news anchor and a current adjunct assistant professor in anthropology, Asian-American studies and the media at the University of California at Los Angeles.- Early life and education :...
– anchor (1985–2000) - Bree WalkerBree WalkerBree Walker is a radio talk show host, actress, and disability-rights activist, who gained fame as the first on-air American television network news anchor with ectrodactyly. Walker worked as a news anchor and/or reporter in San Diego, New York City, and Los Angeles.Walker was born in Oakland,...
– anchor/reporter (1988–1994; now with KTLK-AM) - Colleen WilliamsColleen WilliamsColleen Williams is a news anchor of KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, currently serving on the 5 and 11 p.m. weekday broadcasts. She also reports on occasion for NBC News and MSNBC. Williams is one of the most-recognized anchors in the Los Angeles area, the second-largest media market in the United...
– anchor/reporter (1983–1986, now with KNBCKNBCKNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...
) - Alex WittAlex WittAlex Witt is an anchor for MSNBC. She joined the network in January 1999.-Professional:Alex Witt serves as anchor for "Weekends with Alex Witt" and contributing anchor for msnbc Live. Before joining MSNBC, Witt was a reporter at KCBA from 1990–1992 and WNYW-TV from 1996–1998...
– (1990–1992, now with MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
) - Paula Zahn – anchor/reporter (1986–1987)
Station general managers
- Merle Jones – January 1-July 16, 1951
- Wilbur Edwards – September 3, 1951-October 22, 1952
- James Aubrey – October 22, 1952-July 15, 1956
- Clark B. George – June 25, 1956-December 31, 1959
- Robert D. Wood – January 1, 1960-December 3, 1966
- Ray L. Beindorf – December 5, 1966-July 9, 1971
- William C. O'Donnell – July 12, 1971-January 3, 1973
- W. Russell Barry – January 15, 1973-March 5, 1976
- Christopher P. Desmond – March 8, 1976-November 25, 1977
- Van Gordon Sauter – November 28, 1977-July 11, 1980
- Edward M. Joyce – July 21, 1980-February 9, 1981
- James S. Bennett – February 9, 1981-March 15, 1985
- Paul Franklin Gardner – March 18, 1985-October 6, 1986
- Thomas Van Amburg – October 13, 1986-April 22, 1987
- Robert Hyland, III – April 22, 1987-May 24, 1991
- Steven Gigliotti – May 24, 1991-June 18, 1993
- Bill Applegate – June 18, 1993-December 4, 1995
- John McKay – December 4, 1995–June 1996 (acting GM, around time CBS was acquired by Westinghouse)
- John Culliton – June 1996-September 23, 1998
- Larry Perret and Jerry Eaton – September 23, 1998-July 6, 1999 (acting GM's, around time Westinghouse was acquired by Viacom)
- John Severino – July 6, 1999-August 12, 2001 (served as president of CBS Television StationsCBS Television StationsThe CBS Television Stations are a group of television stations owned by CBS Corporation. As of 2009, CBS Corporation owns 28 stations, broken down as follows: 14 are the key stations of the CBS Television Network ; nine are aligned with the CW Television Network, which is co-owned by CBS with Time...
) - David Woodcock – August 13, 2001-May 15, 2002
- Don Corsini – May 15, 2002-December 10, 20082
- Patrick McClenahan – December 10, 2008-December 10, 2009 2
- Steve Mauldin – December 10, 2009 – present 2
2 Denotes general manager for both KCBS and KCAL
Rebroadcasters
KCBS is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:- K07IH BakerBaker, CaliforniaBaker is a census-designated place located in San Bernardino County, California, USA. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 735.Baker was founded as a station on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad in 1908,...
- K02HY RidgecrestRidgecrest, CaliforniaRidgecrest, formerly known as Crumville, was incorporated as a city in 1913. It is located in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, California, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake . Ridgecrest is the only incorporated city along US 395 in Kern County...
- K33ID-D RidgecrestRidgecrest, CaliforniaRidgecrest, formerly known as Crumville, was incorporated as a city in 1913. It is located in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, California, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake . Ridgecrest is the only incorporated city along US 395 in Kern County...
- K15CA Lucerne ValleyLucerne Valley, CaliforniaLucerne Valley is a census-designated place located in the Mojave Desert of western San Bernardino County, California. It lies east of the Victor Valley, whose population nexus includes Victorville, Apple Valley, and Hesperia...
- K49DC Twentynine PalmsTwentynine Palms, CaliforniaTwentynine Palms is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It was previously called Twenty-Nine Palms...
- K16AA Morongo ValleyMorongo Valley, CaliforniaMorongo Valley is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 3,552 at the 2010 census, up from 1,929 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
- K17GJ Joshua TreeJoshua Tree, CaliforniaJoshua Tree is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 7,414 at the 2010 census, up from 4,207 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Joshua Tree is located in the Mojave Desert at ....
- K21AC VictorvilleVictorville, CaliforniaVictorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of southwestern San Bernardino County, California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,903, up from 64,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
- K10IX Newberry SpringsNewberry Springs, CaliforniaNewberry Springs is an unincorporated area in the western Mojave Desert of Southern California, located at the foot of the Newberry Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, USA...