bostonmediaguy

Don't be so sure: "As we've always stated, we have no sacred cows," Ripley said during his company's earnings conference call. (Source)

I would say it's seven with an asterisk. AJ Burnett and Michael Page are producers who occasionally appear on-air. Harvey Leonard is their retired former-Chief who occasionally appears.

WBZ's Saturday morning newscast pre-dates its switch to CBS in January 1995. They have delayed every iteration of CBS' Saturday morning news program since it launched in 1997 (8:00 AM). I believe they actually truncated their morning newscast to accommodate. It was recently pushed back an additional hour (9:00 AM) when the FCC relaxed its E/I programming requirements. In essence, as @Abraham J. Simpson stated, it works better for them.

They have done that for over 20 years!

It appears that they are diverting resources. On September 11, WBTS/Boston will debut "Boston News Daily" at 2pm. The Gracenote description reads, "A look at New England's news, sports, and more." The station airs NBC News Daily at Noon, Access Daily at 1pm and The Kelly Clarkson Show at 3pm.

Was the test a success?

I don't know that there's anything we didn't already know, but here's a release detailing the transition: https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-news-and-stations/releases/?view=108406-cbs-to-transition-eight-company-owned-stations-from-affiliates-of-the-cw-to-independents-on-friday-sept-1

Beginning September 11, WBTS/Boston will cut-back its morning news from a 4am start to a 5am start. Early Today will run from 3:30am-5am.

boston38.com was purchased in 2006.

Yes, during the height of the pandemic, they replaced the 4am-5am hour with a 10am-11am hour.

In the major markets it certainly can. It's two hours of programming. This is not akin to losing a major network affiliation with numerous time periods to fill.

KCAL is doing the same thing. I believe KDKA and WCCO do, too. It has never appeared as though this was a one size fits all approach to the brandings.

CBS and Paramount+ NBC and Peacock Fox and Tubi

Other than pure speculation, is there any evidence to indicate that the KCAL branding is transitional?

Even if @Midnight were to run for thirty minutes, I would imagine CBS might run a rebroadcast of CBS Evening News at 1:07am and not return the time to affiliates.