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Yes, the non Group W CBS O&Os have been a basket case since the mid 80s or longer. Since then, the only time they came close to being competitive was when Dennis Swanson showed up in the early 2000s. He applied the moves he used for turnarounds at KABC, WLS, and WNBC. Emphasis on high recognition talent, poaching when needed Straightforward, timeless sets and graphics with decisive and authoritative music vs the consultant fad / fashion of the day Community event celebration, get the syndication lead-ins right.

Don't forget the revivals of Roseanne, Murphy Brown and Will and Grace back around 2018 among the old shows revived.

It was more to appeal to advertisers than anything else. Rural folks will save a special day to go into town and not spend as much, whereas city folks can go at any time and get what they want.

Didn't mean for this to turn overly political. I'll humbly say that I liked Norman Lear's shows, I will agree that Sanford was the most funny, and I dont think everything rural had to be purged from CBS' line up. A mix of rural and urban humor would have been a nice balance. Tv shows can make social statements, it's art. The issue to me is when EVERY show gets political, when shows get too preachy, or one political line of thinking is dominant in most shows. For example, I watch South Park if I want biting social satire but when I watch Martin I just want to see a comedian and 4 friends get into light hearted antics. If I watch a razor commercial I just want to be sold on how "amazing" the product is, not given a social commentary on the state of masculinity. The politicizing of everything has turned people off from tv.

That ship has long since sailed (as much as I hate to say it). CBS O&O, NBC O&O, FOX O&O, TENGA, Scripps, Sinclair- they've all long since sent a station's uniqueness, for the most part, out the window. The biggest nail in the coffin was arguably the CBS definitely-not-a-mandate, but the death knell was the FOX O&O box kite standardization. Prior to that, most O&O's were doing their own interpretation of the FOX BOX side-by-side logo with varying color schemes, themes, and graphics. But in the era of hubbing and downsizing, the cookie cutter has come to rule the day.

John Williams has written a new theme for ESPN’s coverage of the CFP national Championship. It will debut Monday night https://variety.com/2023/music/news/john-williams-writes-new-theme-for-espn-college-football-1235480841/

There was a time I felt sad at the decline of tv, therefore overjoyed at the prospect of classic tv reboots. Now that I've seen the stale writing and political heavyhandedness on revivals , it's best they're left in the past. Its like Hollywood is out of ideas or is so dissatisfied by today's world, that they'd rather look to the past for nostalgic comfort.

It all comes down to personal taste. The current O&O look is not great but this isnt much of an upgrade. For me, grand well composed themes like The Enforcer, ABC's Cool Hand Luke, or NBC's the Mission are timless as apposed to techno gumdrop beat sounding pieces like Tega does. Exactly. There is a perception that most mobile viewing takes place on a smartphone as opposed to a tablet, computer, or full blown smart tv. I still dont get the notion of why mobile must = flat. Even the glossy graphics of yesterday still hold up well on small screen phones playing old youtube clips. But again, it all comes down to personal preference.

For me, the death knell was when old shows like "Hawaii Five-O" and "Magnum, P.I." were revived. However good they may be, it indicates to me that the Hollywood creative community is woefully dry on ideas. And all the game, reality (including news), and contest programs (such as "America's Got Talent") are ways to fill prime time as cheaply as possible (come on, do we really need two hours of "20/20" and "Dateline" on Friday nights?). One problem, I think, is that there are too many channels and not enough programming to fill them all. Also, I can't think of a lineup today that excites people like CBS's Saturday-night block in the '70s or NBC's "must-see-TV" Thursday block in the '80s and '90s. Further, it's the very fact that we have computers and online streaming that makes it so hard for television as we've always known it to attract an audience. The simple fact is what is happening is the same thing that happened to old-style "30s and '40s radio when television came in.

Wait until the ABC O&O graphics launch.

In Minneapolis -it was due to WFTC being owned by Clear Channel & KMSP was UPN owned by Chris Craft/United TV. It was ownership of both stations. FOX29 became UPN 29 and KMSP went back to FOX. FOX ended up owning both stations. Then 29 ended up at 9+ No really the same thing with KCBS/KCAL.

Two things screwed everything up: 1) the death of all the vaudeville people; 2) Norman Lear. Before Lear, everything was just entertainment. Norman Lear with all his shows where he tried to make a social statements influenced too many others who seem to want to push their politics on everybody else. (Not to mention that many of us think that Archie Bunker has been partially vindicated after all these years.) But more importantly we've lost all those vaudeville people. Those people knew how to tell jokes and entertain and TV and radio reflected that. They're gone and I don't think the people producing TV today have the well-honed skills that those old timers had.

Agreed. I see it as striking a balance between the new and the old which can be done in certain ways.

Uniformity isnt all bad. It's cool seeing an identical format with different faces when going to another city. But I dont mind a middle ground, uniformity with traces of uniquness. For example, KDKA has the standard CBS get up, only their little twist is the black and gold graphics. Staions could have a standardized set perhaps with individual takes on colors or set per market. Maybe even a different version of the theme. ABC's O&Os have achieved this and they're largely winning. CBS hasn't achieved a winning formula to warrant a standard format acoss stations.

You young whippersnappers!!!! Leave us 'traditionalists' alone!!! But seriously...I agree it makes sense to have 'some' form of uniformity (whether it's graphics, music, etc..). However, that uniformity shouldn't come at the expense of, for example, a station's uniqueness. And that is no doubt a huge challenge that CBS has to work through.

Simple takeaway from this week: - KPIX showed us how to rebrand their newscasts the right way - KCAL showed us how to rebrand it in the most throwback, independent, weirdest way possible I mean, for those who worked with KCAL before moving to KCBS, this is a nostalgic moment for them. For the viewers and some here, it's either bad, or could've been better. For me: Well....good thing I don't live in California.

What % of streaming news viewing time is on small devices vs a normal TV screen? I get the sense people equate streaming with mobile device. But at least in my habits, most of my 'streaming' is on a full sized TV as we don't use traditional cable, but one of the streaming packages like Hulu Live or YouTube TV, or Pluto. And these graphics designed for mobile come off flat and sterile on TV screens. Was relieved to read they are going market by market with local-specific research, rather than a completely top down approach. We'll see if the ABC O&Os extend their leads sticking with a more traditional format, but am surprised CBS was able to get Wendy from the ABC stations. Odd she'd take this job as a co-head at CBS when she was the single head for the ABC group - which is bigger at least in leadership of the markets they play.

I can’t imagine an ABC O&O rolling out a cluster like this. Imagine if Disney wasn’t forced to divest KCAL when it bought CapCities. Eyewitness News is a recognizable brand. Eyewitness News on ABC7 and Eyewitness News on KCAL9. What CBS is doing now isn’t that different than their attempt with the Newscentral branding. It’s just CBS never sticks with anything.

Consolidated branding was long overdue. Same personnel, same facility (maybe not the same set, but it is now), same content for the most part. With this relaunch I'm learning that KCAL has always had better name recognition, but it could have easily been "CBS 2 news on KCAL 9" up until this point. KCBS should have (and should now) be running promos similar to the "KCAL 9 is now KCAL News" spots touting "CBS 2 is now CBS Los Angeles". I feel like that aspect is still flying under the radar. I agree that "The Desk" is coming across as a bit overused, but I can see it from the angle that they're "constantly monitoring news, always bringing the latest information, etc." With approximately 95 hours of news to fill in a day, how many times can they run the same flood package, or the same report that McCarthy lost the speaker vote again? This is a market where an entire newscast will be blown out to follow a car chase- this at least brings some variety.

Just pure curiousity on my part... If KCAL9 has higher ratings/profile... why not move the CBS affiliation from Channel 2 to 9? If I remember correctly, didn't FOX do something similar in Minneapolis, moving their network from Channel 29 to 9 because KMSP had a higher ratings and better news legacy as an UPN affiliate.

King Tides do not occur until January 21 & 22, 2023 in California. Can someone please explain why KCAL News is posting this as a story? Google search it. Heal the Bay, for one.

Quite a get for NBC Blackledge is the best in the business

Couple folks in this thread acting like they are personally affected by a TV station changing the name of its newscasts. Chill.

The graphics look very generic: big, white, flat, and boxy. As someone wrote earlier, it looks like a local cable news operation such as NY 1. The enforcer theme should remain, it's iconic and powerful. I hope more local stations don't go the Tegna route with video game sounding themes in an attemt to seem "hip and digital".

Right or wrong on your assessment of NewsNation (you were defintely the former), you were acting like a self-righteous douche canoe then, too. That high horse might be depriving you of some oxygen. Might want to get off.

I understand that you live in the market, so I won’t pretend I understand LA more than you or anyone else here. That said, they’ve already hit rock bottom in terms of ratings, and they needed to try something different. As far as brand sense goes, there’s more brand sense w/ “KCAL News” than there was when they were using two names for the same news operation. I think there’s room for criticizing how they went about it (I pointed out the lack of promotion), but most of the things you mentioned (like the name of the damn helicopter) are things most people don’t care about. And if you’re criticizing them for not telling people where to watch *CBS* Mornings... I can’t help you there. I’m happy to criticize when warranted, and this thing may end up not working out, but saying it’s DOA after one day is a bit much IMO.

Dude no offense, but one rando on Facebook isn’t evidence that the whole thing is a disaster. It’s day 1. Look, they had a rough start this morning, but these things don’t always start smoothly (look at KOTV a few months back.) The assignment desk isn’t perfect, but as I said elsewhere, at least they’re peeling back the curtain on news gathering and trying something no other station is doing. That’s how you stand out. Keep in mind that the alternative was a morning newscast that got 0.0 in the ratings and a network that was airing morning infomercials instead of live programming. I’m happy to point out some flaws, but this is an improvement by every stretch of the imagination, and I think we’re overreacting if we say otherwise.

The meltdown of this forum over this whole thing is just absolutely sad.

So apparently the key to building ratings growth is: new set confusing/mediocre branding more hours of news than anyone else

BET does this alot. Weird timeslots like 4:27 pm to 5:06 pm to accomodate more commercials.

Broadcast primetime TV is a mix of stale sitcoms, tons of stale and stupid reality shows, the same washed-out crime dramas (i.e., CBS's THREE FBI: "Insert Here" shows, multiple NCIS shows, multiple CSIs) and the same washed-out medical dramas. Then they jump the shark, add relationships to the shows instead of focusing on the premise of the program. The Good Doctor used to be about an autistic savant doctor. Now, it's about his relationships with women and the relationships between other doctors/nurses at the hospital. Grey's Anatomy - same thing. The Goldbergs keeps going even though the 'kids' are now in their early-to-late 20s. I don't know how they do, the show has jumped the shark since the loss of George Segal and Jeff Garlin's departure. Abbott Elementary isn't that bad, on the other hand, and nor is Ghosts on CBS, but sitcoms for the most part have no life to them anymore. And yes, political messaging has destroyed many of these primetime shows. They just can't seem to have an unbiased plot on a drama or sitcom anymore - it has to show activism in some way. Game shows - you can't seem to find any contestant on any primetime or daytime show (except maybe Jeopardy!/Wheel) that isn't on five energy drinks' worth of caffeine. The Price is Right is one of the biggest examples, but even the last few primetime shows (The Wheel, Beat Shazam, Press Your Luck) are like this too... Late night TV shows have also declined to new lows. Same jokes about former President Trump EVERY NIGHT on every single show. We get it, I can't stand him either, but he's no longer POTUS. Surely is there anything else to make fun about? Segments are mundane and cookie-cutter compared to previous hosts (Leno's Headlines, Craig Ferguson, Geoff and Secretariat, Carnac on Johnny Carson). They have little to no creative value to viewers. I love Bill Maher, but I don't watch any other late night show. That ship sailed when Letterman, Ferguson, and Leno retired. Even the soap opera fans are noticing extremely poor writing and the lack of nuance on Y&R, B&B and General Hospital, compared to 20-30 years ago. Days already went to Peacock (to die, probably). It looks as though the rest of the soaps are also on life support. Do NOT get me started on cable TV. What was entertaining (Cubs games and Bozo on WGN, great movies and Night Tracks on TBS, Cartoon Express on USA etc.) has become a wasteland of binge-watching repeats, zillions of commercials (of which Limu Emu gets at least 1/3 of the airtime), and reality shows that keep getting worse by the year. TruTV aired 'Jurassic World' last night. The channel for live, rolling court coverage and analysis is now running not just hours of Impractical Jokers, but also MOVIES. What gives! Nickelodeon = zillions of SpongeBob repeats with oodles of commercials. Food Network = tons of food competitions, very few how-to cooking shows. Where art thou, Essence of Emeril, Barefoot Contessa, etc.? TWC spends all night running Highway Through Hell repeats (and all day on weekends) and once in a while, they will shove those away if there's major tornadoes. The ghosts of Dr. John Hope and Dave Schwartz haunt the studios, I bet. What was Chuck Roberts and Gordon Graham on Headline News 24 hours a day has turned into WEST WING repeats. Oh, and a zillion Forensic Files showings. Might as well call it TNT2 at this point. TLC's constant reality garbage, same with Bravo, USA, MTV, Discovery Channel. GSN's constant Harvey Feud repeats, too! Isn't he on a few other cable channels...TVLand maybe? Honestly, I'd be fine only getting ESPN, ESPN2, and a few other sports networks a la carte. The rest of cable TV is garbage. Yes, that includes CNN/FOX News/MSNBC. Honestly, I stopped watching TV for the most part after the start of the pandemic. And for the most part, except for some sports, and maybe the local news, I haven't come back. I would rather watch a classic movie or Seinfeld repeat than 95% of what's on TV nowadays. RANT OVER.

CBS is moving away from Enforcer for exactly that reason. It’s dated and doesn’t fit the direction of the network/O&Os. It’s been around long enough. It’s time for something refreshing and new. The graphics are modern and clean. They look good on mobile and streaming, which is the future. They’re far better than the current iteration of the O&O graphics. Overall, it appears this is a solid upgrade for the CBS O&Os. Despite some stations keeping calls or channel numbers (for now), I think this is a step in the right direction. I for one am happy to see some of the nostalgia go to the wayside.

When they can't even carry their own content on HBOmax. Just heard that they let all of the Looney Tunes cartoons go away. THEIR OWN CARTOONS.... At some point, they may pull another A.A.P. sale...this was the sale of their pre-1948 content to Associated Artists Productions. Later sold to United Artists, then merged with MGM to form MGM/UA....then Ted Turner bought MGM/UA and resold the studio to Kirk Kerkorian (while keeping all of the content)...and when Turner sold out to Time Warner, voila! The WB (and pre-1986 MGM/UA) is all under Warner Brothers again.

Now that the new format on KCAL is official, there are two questions I've yet to ask: Will KCAL still be able to have its long-running primetime news block (8-11pm)? And if so, will KCAL produce the 5, 6 and 11pm news on KCBS?

It's a low-rent MTV version of AFV, so it shouldn't be.