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It's probably more well known and recognized, but it's a polarizing brand from the political slant. People who watch KUSI news tend to be fiercely loyal to it, not interested in the other stations. They like Dan Plante's rants, Brandon Stone's quirks, they miss Dave Scott's wandering on air. And the other way around, there's a sizable contingent that would refuse to watch anything KUSI related. But Steve Cohen did an interview last year that said some large percentage of households tune into a KUSI newscast any given week or month. From what I heard recently KUSI is very strong at 10 and 11pm, - jockeying for #1, not sure about morning, and guessing evening is muddling along. Would be nice if they could find a way to keep a KUSI identity, but without Steve Cohen as the news director (doubt he's staying around) who will prosecute the hyper-local coverage and angles, and let even longshot local political candidates come on to be heard. The sale price might indicate advertisers stayed away but maybe that's just a function of having no real prime time or sports $$ presence. Living in the market, KSWB is 'just another station' - perfectly fine product that works any number of places, and exists because of lead-ins from sports and network, but at least for me not appointment viewing since the same product is on 3 other stations. I probably won't watch much local news if KUSI drifts to a more traditional coverage format, and goes for less colorful, quirky personalities. But that might not matter to Nexstar or profit margins.

Well they know how to run a strong CW station with lots of news (WGN, KTLA) in markets where there's a strong Fox station. Though not where there's common ownership. I guess Indianapolis would be an example where they have two stations, and two separate news brands and staff, though common facility. Maybe they're happy with how that turned out.

KSWB seemed to operate like a KUSI style without the political leaning, but will miss the hyper local issues coverage from KUSI with local ownership. And will miss the folksy, non corporate personalities. Won't miss the extended coverage of random Trump 'campaign' speeches.

I think the way they're categorizing, 'broadcast' means broadcast networks / channels viewed via any distribution (OTA, cable, stream), and 'cable' literally means 'cable networks' vs using a cable provider. The other surprising thing from this month... The top viewing items for very young women (18-34) are 15-25+ year old reruns, the old syndication business for local TV. https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/with-almost-1-million-video-choices-women-18-34-turn-to-classic-tv/

For KRON - Rich Lieberman noted it earlier this year - point being not they're dominating or consistently beating. Point is that 20 years ago if you asked me I would have said KRON wouldn't exist as a standalone news operation, and be a sub-broadcast of one of the network affiliate operations. Remember all the laughing at MMJs. I was dead wrong about KRON's longevity. And the rise of local elements like more OTA and aging viewers are things I didn't see in my opinion. Here's WSVN https://www.nexttv.com/news/local-news-close-up-south-florida-holds-the-keys-to-successful-local-news and WGN https://wgntv.com/community/news-releases/wgn-tv-finishes-may-sweep-1-or-2-in-10-out-of-11-weekday-newscasts-with-adults-25-54/ I laughed and mocked KUSI before I moved to the San Diego market. Now I get it's more than angry boomers, and for better or worse they lasted a lot longer than I would have thought, and have a remarkably loyal multi-generation following, albeit polarizing, with nonsense like the occasional long running Trump speech or Carl Demaio more than occasionally. It's a truly different product that goes deeper into local policy than any I've seen. I don't know where Nexstar will end up - debt is a wild card. But they've done a great job of increasing the value of their shares during a time people had long written off local broadcast news brands. I doubt investors are banking on Newsnation in much of their cash flow projections. And investors have been very wrong before. I agree broadcast is tough sledding. But I thought that 20 years ago, and am learning from where I was wrong about how things haven't played out as simply as I thought. I'm skeptical re-branding stations that are currently 3 or 4 in their market is going to future proof much in the context of the changes of the last 5-10 years. They can do it all they want, but the work to be done was years prior in building locally relevant and leading brands, or being the dominant network player in the market.

Also think of these three surprising things that give strong local news brands an advantage...and wise operators are leveraging and listening to them along the way - 50% more OTA homes than 10 years ago. Who would have predicted that the drive to digital on demand viewing would result in more over the air households? https://www.nexttv.com/news/nielsen-sees-uptick-in-over-the-air-households - An aging population - news viewing has always skewed older, and the size of the cohort with the time and desire to consume news is rising - Mistrust in national news brands. Whether you like it or not, for decades a sizable minority has felt unheard by the NY-based network news operations. And local brands at least have some dissociation from that for the cohort that cares about it. Awareness and action on that mistrust is higher than it was 10 or 20 years ago for better or worse. On the flip side who would have guessed 20 years ago the evening news on 3 networks plus cable would still be around? Remember in the 90s and 2000s we were lamenting the stations in big markets that lost their affiliate status as dead men walking? KRON beat KTVU at 10pm recently. Who would have thought WHDH even more recently as an example would remain a contender without NBC, let alone lead some ratings after the split? WSVN still means 'news' more than any other english station in Miami. KUSI is a perennial contender in the San Diego market to the chagrin of some WGN leads many time slots The streamers are signing carriage agreements with the locals https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nexstar-reaches-multi-agreement-youtube-110000355.html Fact is we've already seen 25% of cable households cut the cord. Smartphones are ubiquitous as are the socials they feed. The disruption based on the elements we see today is very far along, and what you see today in habits and financials already reflects that. Future change will be things we can't see (who knows what AI does to productivity for example). CBS can brand all it wants, but NBC has played the network/local combo brand punch in O&O markets for years and it's no magic sauce for NBC. Heck the top web search term for them in LA is....KNBC...which hasn't ever been used in their on air news branding. Consumers will do what's easy for them to reach the talent telling stories they want to see, graphics be damned. The company that's most deftly handling change in the industry at scale is in my opinion Nexstar, and in ways I wouldn't have guessed 5 or 10 years ago. But investors already figured that out, perhaps too widely, given Nexstar's valuation today.

You heard it here from Falwell...April 1, 2024 - the only call letter or channel number used to ID CBS 0&Os will be KCAL. I'll take the over on that - more than one will be using legacy calls and/or channels on-air...based on some available objective facts, vs speculation and spin... In the most digital savvy market....google entity level searches for KPIX are even with total CBS News in the SF market and no material difference the last 5 years https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&geo=US-CA-807&q=%2Fm%2F0658f9,%2Fm%2F01_8w2&hl=en Youtube searches with a similar trend https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&geo=US-CA-807&gprop=youtube&q=%2Fm%2F0658f9,%2Fm%2F01_8w2&hl=en 2 of the top 5 queries related to KPIX use the '5' modifier If you do the search without using the 'entity' level view, just the local phrases KPIX and 'CBS Bay Area,' it's even more pronounced using the call letters https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&geo=US-CA-807&gprop=youtube&q=cbs bay area,kpix&hl=en Transitions and habit changes take time And here is the LA look which reenforces the KCAL story https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&geo=US-CA-803&q=%2Fm%2F03k51f,%2Fm%2F04wv9v,%2Fm%2F01_8w2&hl=en https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&geo=US-CA-803&gprop=youtube&q=%2Fm%2F03k51f,%2Fm%2F04wv9v,%2Fm%2F01_8w2&hl=en And 4 of the top 10 KCAL related queries use the '9' modifier in them I'm sure we'll uncover other interesting observations in other markets that tell their own stories of varying adoption / use of legacy local vs digital or national branding - and it's the variance CBS is studying and using to inform its transition.

Tell CBS - their actions in this rollout are leveraging legacy brand identification elements to help viewers in several markets. Reverting to WBZ.com for the on air to digital cue, going full on KCAL, plusing up the 4 in Miami, using the star 11 in Houston, whatever is going on with that vintage 3 in Philadelphia. Fact is within streaming it’s in many ways identical to the broadcast via cable experience with a live channel guide available. That familiar feature helped accelerate adoption.

Read the statement again, “local brand elements that could be enhanced to make identification with the new product easier. “ Local brand elements to help direct them to the new product. The new product is the CBS product. Some markets aren’t ready and CBS is using legacy elements help them be ready. Whenever that is one year or ten from now. Or maybe some never none of us or them knows. This is not about being special entitled Americans. It’s about the unique complex patchwork used to identified things here for decades in local news. That’s a function of legacy local level ownership and regulations that limited blanket ownership. And a dash of our spread out geography. Plus a sprinkle of retrans that delayed digital cash flow loss.

A daily loyal viewer contributes 7x more minutes watched than a weekly viewer. That daily viewer fanatic is more likely to comment and feel disruption to a routine. I don’t have the numbers but would guess 20% of the individuals who watch in a given week make up 60% or more of the minutes viewed. Wendy’s team understands the impact of loyal viewers and is letting research guide perhaps to a fault. And the reality is many markets aren’t ready for a wholesale public broadcaster in Europe or Canada approach and have local brand elements that could be enhanced to make identification with the new product easier.

Wonder if this was the original plan and the anchors in the corner was temporary until they got lighting or something Great looking interview area, and the main anchor area has nice depth and warmth from the wood accents. They also add a sense of height with the columns extending beyond the frame of the shot. Nice job framing the area above the anchors with the lit headers though I'd love to see the '9 Oklahoma's Own' up there rather on the anchor desk

Watched some clips… The main 2 shot still lacks depth and looks awkward with the frame of the screen and the metal brackets. Weather board looks great with the warm limestone and peacock carving. A lot better than stark white Weather anchor desk side shot looks great too with the weather office in the background, nice depth to it The blue to orange sunset gradient is also refreshing - warm, friendly and not a color scheme you see a lot in broadcast news

Didn’t realize KCBS tried a hybrid KABC and WNBC knockoff set going back in time after the over contemporary ice block desk set. Looks like a design from the late 70s/early 80s but debuted in 87.

Yeah the tight 2 shot looks like a college newscast, the metal accents behind the monitor make it look like a rolling monitor stand in a conference room and the graphic on the screen lacks depth - it all looks too close to the anchors like they're pressed against a wall. Maybe a better landscape shot will help that aspect, and they can rework the monitor accents. The DC stone is a nice nod, though white is tough for TV, and to be honest the layout of the studio and materials feel more like the lobby of a class A office building or museum than a The Other Site. Weather nooks look visually interesting with nice depth, we'll see how that plays out. Surprised they didn't keep this studio larger and put Telemundo in the former News 4 studio, but guess they have other uses in mind.

Spring of 2024 - guessing the set will finish before the newsroom

That was an interesting one where they shoehorned to something more traditional a few years after launch. Guess the audience / focus groups thought it was too sterile Those vertical panels, the wood and broad landscape shots were a nice distinctive look for the market, curious to see if any of those cues stay

KRON NewsCenter 4 at 11 Nov 10, 1988. They had just introduced the '4' logo that's been used through present day, but wouldn't get around to updating the lower thirds for almost a year.

KRON Daybreak 8:25am TODAY cut-in December 1986

KPIX 1981 newsroom promo KRON June 1984 preshow

Yes less than a year is unlikely and they even redirected the @CBSLA youtube to @KCAL. They pulled out the likeness of Jerry Dunphy not Cronkite and Rather for the launch. I think KCAL is a part of LA insider lexicon like “LAX.” It’s also unique as a two syllable brand. Much easier to repeat to others when talking than say KTLA or CBS LA (over twice as many syllables). We’re all human and those factors are first principles.

More like engaged vs married. Wendy isn’t playing along in the #2 market and their likely largest audience market LA. Full on KCAL branding as the lead horse, marginalizing CBS. And interesting the KCAL set is the most traditional- big desk - and format / talent most consistent vs the throw spaghetti at KPIX. It looks and acts like a lot like a WABC or KABC, and gets to play at 10 for the audience that likes that authoritative feel. https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/kcal-news-rebrand-cbs2-los-angeles-1235479093/amp/ She knows CBS News isn’t the brand its inflated egos think it is…not taking that gamble in LA wiping out KCBS.

Retrans is the difference. We have a much more developed pay for home video entertainment ecosystem than any comparable country. It's prolonged the life of marginal 3rd / 4th / 5th place broadcast players for 10-15 years beyond its otherwise shelf life and insulated the industry for better or worse. Another question is what's the viability of national CBS News itself if that dries up. Weakest hand at the table. Does it get picked up by a non-profit motive owner? It will be a while - retrans is contract based so there are lag effects, but it is the underlying cash that's propping the current size of the industry.

https://katytrailweekly.com/what-has-happened-to-the-dallas-news-leader-p5241-182.htm Local TV news has been a decaying cash cow business for a few decades now. First 20 channels of cable, then 100, then the text internet, now the broadband everywhere video internet (which at least plays more toward the video strength of a local TV news product). I'd argue those market leaders were more distinctive over the years because of their consistency as a point of distinction. CBS was an also ran of local stations well before Dunn and Friend, aside from a brief renaissance under Swanson and what WCCO pulled off vs KARE as TEGNA messed up its cash cow via unappealing innovation. Of course innovation happens. But CBS isn't creating any meaningful proprietary technology here like Google did in 1999 or Chat GPT, or any real tech company. They're simply changing the window dressing of the presentation to adapt to additional storefronts of distribution - something any station can do rather quickly for the parts that might ultimately stick, and avoid for those that fall flat. In other words a free market test for others like TEGNA was post 2013.

And Tegna is an example of product change gone too far, costing market leadership of the Belo stations like WFAA. The WABC/WPVIs (WFAA before TEGNA) bring in more cash than any competing stations in their markets by a large margin. As a viewer their differentiation seems to be a consistent on air product while other weaker stations more regularly toy with formats. Like all market cash cow leaders in business they face the innovators' dilemma of having a cash cow at risk, and the more radical product change tends to be done naturally by new entrants or the less competitive players with less at risk. Just like the WSVN example. News in any form has always skewed older. Trying to please the 18-25 and even the 25-34 group with news is the fools game played by many losing stations during the days when formats changed every 2 years in the 80s and 90s. People age into news as a habit as their responsibilities in life grow and they spend more time at home. The ABC O&Os whether they knew it or not over the 80s to today did a good job of providing consistency for regular news viewers, the habit seekers who tend to be older. Easy to read and digest like an early dinner special. I do find it fascinating no digital first, digital only news production outlet has scaled nationally here. Buzzfeed...no. Vice...no. Huff Post...no. Yahoo news, Apple news, or the AOL news pages are the closest equivalent but they just aggregate legacy sources. CBS is making a grand experiment, and it's just that - an experiment. It might be a home run. It might fall completely flat. But the market dictates they should be the first mover of this kind of product risk as those with much less to lose. This isn't a situation where more $$ invested necessarily is the differentiation, but the way the limited pool of $$ is allocated and used to shape the product.

Which has nothing to do with interest rates. The position of weakness isn't the branding convention. It's being the 3rd or 4th player in very competitive markets and having a management scandal on top forcing them to take more risks on the format of the product, and also giving them 'less to lose' than incumbents who have more at risk if the experiment has unintended negative consequences. Incumbents with more to lose tend to iterate their way into change. And yes Pluto is a factor of the CBS decision making - they got something right with a service that was as 'cable like' in interface for people who are used to broadcast/cable, and giving them broadcast like libraries, vs being a splashy "everything is change" approach.