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I think the biggest problem CBS O&Os face today is the nationalization of its local markets. How much is "CBS Colorado" actually covering news from places like Pueblo, Grand Junction, or CO Springs? Genuine question, I don't know. You also have, in my opinion, overlapping brands. Saying you're watching CBS 2 News from CBS News New York is unnecessarily layered and almost totally removes the local aspect. I get what they've tried to do, but I don't think it's been implemented well.

Such a shame for CBS bosses to force Andrea out of the chair, a chair that has been hers since as others mentioned, 2013. Her and Doug (and Craig) were all great together (speaking of which I would hope Craig would stay too). I was thinking recently how nice it would be for Alice Gainer to be a permanent anchor again in some capacity since she lost the news at 9 gig, and she is great whenever she fills in (especially with Dick Brennan). Either way I'm also surprised CBS is allowing both Andrea and Doug to speak the truth about the change, since that will obviously fuel anger and hate towards WCBS (and heck, if enough speak out maybe even reverse that decision)! At least I haven't seen talent shifts at other stations recently where the anchors were allowed to speak so candidly about decisions by the bosses. Either way Andrea has talent and deserves that chair; if not at WCBS she will certainly earn it somewhere else.

Which is why KCNC should really be called CBS News Denver, IMO (and KTVT of the Metroplex should be called CBS News DFW, instead of CBS News Texas).

By 2009, Rob Johnson was anchoring evenings solo, and ratings were rising. That fall, Bill was brought in to shoot some promos and feature some of his cold case investigations. At some point, Walter returned to do his commentaries. In November '09, Rob was off, and the station heavily promoted a one night only reunion of the legends on the 10pm news. It was well-received, and they were installed as 6pm co-anchors by September of 2010. Once their contracts ran out in (I think) February '13, they were "retired." Given a full farewell, but it wasn't really their choice.

For the CBS owned stations, I think comes down to a lack of budget and the resulting lack of identity. CBS O&Os historically have spent less than their ABC and NBC counterparts leaving them with fewer resources. To play catchup stations like WCBS and WBBM have gone through numerous rebrandings. From a corporate standpoint, CBS has undervalued the "presentation" portion of TV news which has been reflected in the way they fund their local stations. They live in the Walter Cronkite era of storytelling. Admirable? Sure. But television is a visual medium and newscasts are built on a relationship with the viewer. I don't feel like CBS has ever truly embraced either of those things. The lack of investment was easier to hide in the 70s and 80s because everyone's presentation was crude. But as technology has evolved, CBS always seems to be playing catch-up. When Jeff Zucker cut NBC budgets in the early 2000s, WNBC went into their "WCBS era" where they lacked identity and money. The NBC O&O group launched Daily Connection which was a "newscast" that featured repurposed content from across NBCU properties. The pieces of the show were assembled in NYC and then fed to stations to be produced with local talent. (Sound similar to the equally generic CBS News Now broadcast from Texas?) Cost efficient? You bet. Compelling tv? Not at all. WNBC eliminated Live at Five in favor of News4You and Extra. When that didn't work, WNBC played musical chairs with timeslots, anchors, and formats for years. WNBC their newsroom into a "Content Center" which was nothing more than a gimmick, like the gimmick WCBS tried in launching the short-lived CBS 2 Information Network. It was during this time when WCBS was able to move up to #2, not because Channel 2 was doing anything particularly compelling but because they offered stability where WNBC didn't. Valari Staab, formerly with the ABC O&O group, has spent over a decade rebuilding the newsgathering resources of the NBC group. New radar technology, studios, increased digital resources, heck even new buildings have been added. CBS meanwhile appears to continue the "more with less" mantra that has been in place for over 40 years. While NBC was rebuilding, the ABC stations, with their well-defined local identities, have steamrolled everyone with a consistent and well-funded product. Meanwhile the FOX O&O group, with seemingly endless hours of local news, generates strong local revenue. What has CBS done? Slapped the last-place 'CBS News' brand onto their local stations. Most of the CBS stations lack the type of true community investment it takes to be a strong player. With audiences for linear TV newscasts continuing to shrink, one could argue it Is way too late for them to catch up.

That’s a shame. I thought Andrea was a good anchor, and she and Doug had great chemistry. I’m glad they were allowed to be frank and honest about the whole situation on air, though. That said, they’re fixing something that isn’t broken IMO.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3xiZ0MuMuh/?igsh=Mm9ya24wbDNvaXZi Andrea Grymes made it very clear at the end of this morning’s newscast that this move is not her choice and that she is disappointed. As RealNews18 notes, and confirmed by this Instagram post, she hasn’t made a decision regarding staying at WCBS as a reporter. I was surprised to see Andrea and Doug Williams being so candid on air this was not Andrea’s choice. Andrea has been on weekend mornings since 2013 or so, with the exception of the COVID years where Cindy Hsu anchored solo from 2020 until Andrea returned in 2022.

They haven't had an 11pm talent open in years.

At least it looks better with the new package then it did with the other one. And the team colors are also used by the Pirates and the Penguins, so they do transcend beyond the Steelers to being more of a "Pittsburgh" thing. I like Pittsburgh, But being from Northeast Ohio, you get the idea .

I don’t mean to offend, but I really don’t understand why this bothers people. They’re not my favorite colors either, but we’re talking about Pittsburgh here. Sure, there are better ways to execute the black and gold look, but is it so bad that a station’s visual identity reflects the city it serves?

As for why CBS O&Os are struggling, I just think many of them lost their identity.

I mean, given that those 2 stations are the only CBS O&O’s in their states (Colorado and Texas, respectively), you can’t really blame them.

How is Pittsburgh doing these days? Even though the newscast is pumping out the same garbage that all the other CBS markets are, they're allowed to use the ugly black and yellow to cater to the "Stillers" fans, and probably get a lot more traction by doing so!

Focusing on WCBS, alot of their troubles stem from a mass talent firing and re-branding in 1996. They abandoned the good "Channel 2 News" format which boasted a tabloid feel and commanding news theme ---though the NY Times says it performed behind CH 4 & 7. It was replaced by several rebrands, studio, talent and graphics changes, until they finally stabalized in 2007. 10 years of instability! In the last 5 or so years WCBS has lost some 'flavor' and I'm not sure where they stand in the ratings today. "Channel 2 News" final era (1993-1996) 2 News (1996-1997). The set and graphics were fine. The music, format changes etc though... "CBS News New York" generic pharmacy jingle 2023

And Milwaukee, where WITI Channel 6 became Fox from CBS, so CBS had to go to WDJT Channel 58, also in the boondocks.

Not sure about that.. they run the one at 5pm

It sad how KCBS got dumped on. The 2nd largest market and the CBS affiliate seems to be non existing.

Can't help but to think of the Maury Show when seeing the WMLW logo. - Matt

Imagine that.... Garbage out (more Scrippscasts).... Garbage in (lower revenue).... https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/scripps-q4-station-revenue-drops-12/

A lot of CBS stations especially in the top ten markets had historically have less stability and branding changes regularly while NBC and especially ABC stations have way more stability and reporters/anchors tend to stay at these stations longer so viewers get familiar with them and trust these people more to deliver the news. Most people want a quality newscast over quantity.

Definitely a surprise to hear Andrea clearly indicate that it was not her choice, especially since she seems to be weighing their offer to report during the week. She recently expressed gratitude on social media for being able to only work on weekends so that she could spend time with her young children, so I'd be interested to see if she winds up staying, and if they work out an option where she only works a couple days a week. I wonder if this change had less to do with her performance (she got along very well with Doug and Craig) and more the station's desire to use weekends to better develop a bench for weekday filling in and grooming potential weekday anchors. It sort of sounds like they will be hiring from outside for the job. In recent months, Dave Carlin and Tim McNicholas have been used as fill ins on weekend mornings, but it doesn't seem like they'll be going in this direction.

Here's hoping the new "CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta" will have new graphics too instead of the last package pre-News Central or the International look!

WBBM used to be number one and they went from this To this and audiences returned briefly and then abandoned ship and never came back .