KCBS 2/KCAL 9 - CBS Los Angeles News Thread

[FiveNews 371]

I'm really liking how the chemistry is coming together with the KCAL Mornings anchor team. Jamie Yuccas is off this week. I think she brings a spark to the 7am block. Social Desk anchor Kristin Smith is filling in for Jamie. She slid right in to Jamie's role and has done a terrific job anchoring. Marci Gonzalez is off today (not a huge fan) and 10am/noon anchor Amy Johnson was filling in. Amy anchors the 10am and noon solo so there is never any co-anchor interaction. The way she connected with Rudabeh was amazing. Truly job well done by KCAL management. Give this team some time to grow a following and I truly believe they will be a force to be reckoned with in the mornings in LA.

[CraigViewer 77]

13 hours ago, FiveNews said:

I'm really liking how the chemistry is coming together with the KCAL Mornings anchor team. Jamie Yuccas is off this week. I think she brings a spark to the 7am block. Social Desk anchor Kristin Smith is filling in for Jamie. She slid right in to Jamie's role and has done a terrific job anchoring. Marci Gonzalez is off today (not a huge fan) and 10am/noon anchor Amy Johnson was filling in. Amy anchors the 10am and noon solo so there is never any co-anchor interaction. The way she connected with Rudabeh was amazing. Truly job well done by KCAL management. Give this team some time to grow a following and I truly believe they will be a force to be reckoned with in the mornings in LA.

As you suggested, Jamie is outgoing; whereas, Rudabeh to me is reserved.  Both of their respective personalities feed off and work well with each other.  Due to Jamie's network commitments at the mothership, and so forth, there will be times when Jamie is away from the CBS Los Angeles anchor desk.  Kristin Smith is a nice fill-in for those occasions (and filling in for Rudabeh, vice-versa) indeed.  I always enjoyed Kristin whenever she anchored and reported for the station's "Sports Central" broadcasts previously, where I felt she was a bit under-utilized.

Time will tell, but it is a good morning program so far!

Edited January 28, 2023 by CraigViewer

[Rusty Muck 4366]

On 1/25/2023 at 11:50 AM, iron_lion said:

I know that the point is to de-emphasize channel numbers because people are watching on multiple platforms.

 

Is it safe to assume however, that television is still the dominant way people consume local news? If so, there should be at least some reference to channel numbers so people know where to find the station. One way might be to include the station's channel number along with the call letters that are usually placed below the station's logo. 

 

Example:     CBS News Los Angeles

                      KCBS-TV | Channel 2 

 

This might be especially useful for higher up double digit channel numbers like WWJ 62 in Detroit. Someone without cable may not know what dial CBS is and might not take the time to flip as far up as 62 on their OTA television. 

I looked at WBMA’s channel lineup with @Weeterslast night. It’s devolved into an absurdly laughable mess since Sinclair twisted arms and bent reality to get the Allbritton deal finalized:

 

Sinclair could make it so much easier on everyone and call the whole enterprise “WBMA ABC” or “ABC Birmingham” or “ABC 58” or “ABC Alabama”… and yet… and yet, people still find a way to watch James Spann on ABC 58/68.2/17.2/40.2… errr… “ABC 33/40” AND are doing so in a market historically dominated by 6 and 13 with a branding that’s been obsolete for nearly nine years.

 

That’s what I mean when I debate the actual importance of channel number branding in the post-DTV switch and early OTT/SVOD eras.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Myron Falwell

[Nick 94]

On 1/26/2023 at 6:56 AM, Myron Falwell said:

Even if it is just that, I highly doubt that you’ll see a branding disparity between OTA and streaming last for long.

 

For one, February sweeps is forthcoming. No better time for the CBS Los Angeles name to be gradually phased in with the KCAL name so OTA viewers can connect the two brands.

I don't know if you'd call this a branding disparity, but there was a difference between OTA and streaming from the time the "CBSN" platform debuted in Los Angeles in mid- 2019.  All newscasts,  for example this KCAL noon show,  put this box over the channel-number bug.

 

Edited January 30, 2023 by Nick

[Nick 94]

On 1/16/2023 at 8:59 PM, Myron Falwell said:

KCAL has a strong news brand and KCBS has been a market laggard since the early 1990s (and again, they were an embarrassment under Applegate before that). It’s a net positive to have the stronger brand used over both stations. KCBS has nothing to lose by ceding their brand over this.

 

Yet again, this is not complicated.

 

I’m an armchair quarterback and I’ll never work in the industry. If I operated a television station it would fail in a matter of days, and I know it.

I'm an armchair, backseat-driving commenter as well.  The loud, splashy, and tabloid-like "Action News"  was the creation of GM Steven Gigliotti and ND John Lippman, who came aboard in late 1991.  Among other changes, they dumped Jim Lampley for the more in-your-face Michael Tuck. KCBS won the February 1992 11 p.m. sweep primarily because of the Olympics, but it was all downhill after that, and the management team was canned.

 

Bill Applegate actually restored a little order in 1994-95.  While he retained the "Action News" branding he toned the newscasts down quite a bit.   He hired Linda Alvarez for mornings;   his throwing the CBS checkbook at Ann Martin led Bree Walker out the door, and then went for nostalgia.  He outbid Disney and KCAL to get Jerry Dunphy,  "Big News" stalwart Bob Navarro,  Larry Carroll,  and Dr. George Fischbeck!.   Not that any of this helped the ratings -- it didn't.  In fact things were so dismal that the early-morning news was axed until long after Applegate was shown the door.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2023 by Nick

[Metrodonmartin 42]

2 hours ago, Nick said:

I'm an armchair, backseat-driving commenter as well.  The loud, splashy, and tabloid-like "Action News"  was the creation of GM Steven Gigliotti and ND John Lippman, who came aboard in late 1991.  Among other changes, they dumped Jim Lampley for the more in-your-face Michael Tuck. KCBS won the February 1992 11 p.m. sweep primarily because of the Olympics, but it was all downhill after that, and the management team was canned.

 

Bill Applegate actually restored a little order in 1994-95.  While he retained the "Action News" branding he toned the newscasts down quite a bit.   He hired Linda Alvarez for mornings;   his throwing the CBS checkbook at Ann Martin led Bree Walker out the door, and then went for nostalgia.  He outbid Disney and KCAL to get Jerry Dunphy,  "Big News" stalwart Bob Navarro,  Larry Carroll,  and Dr. George Fischbeck!.   Not that any of this helped the ratings -- it didn't.  In fact things were so dismal that the early-morning news was axed until long after Applegate was shown the door.

 

—————-Good memory!

 

Tuck was already there when Lippman dumped Lamps. They reteamed Walker and Tuck.  (As they were at KGTV in San Diego) and they brought back Chris Conangla from morning and noon exile to anchor with Tritia Toyota at 5.  
 

Dunphy’s deal was up with KCAL and they’d made no move to resign him (Young had recently bought KCAL from Disney) so Dunphy called Larry Perret and Applegate and negotiated his own deal.  He left KCAL and was initially reteamed with Ann Martin at 5 but within a few months was moved to the 4 and anchored at first with Toyota and the with Linda Alvarez. They dropped Dunphy just a little more than a year later. He returned to KCAL about 18-19 months later. 
 

KCBS did move briefly into 2nd place at 11 with Martin and Tuck during the OJ period but quickly fell back into last place by the next book. 
 

They were number 1 at 11 for a year or so in early/mid 2000’s with Magers and Diaz, when CBS prime was super hot.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Metrodonmartin

[CraigViewer 77]

According to Paul Deanno, who was recently hired as a weather anchor by CBS Los Angeles, he will be making his KCAL News debut this coming Wednesday.

Edited February 7, 2023 by CraigViewer

[FiveNews 371]

It will be interesting to see how he fits in. Alex and Olga have done a great job on weather duties. Sad to see Alex back on weekend AMs.

[CraigViewer 77]

Both Alex and Olga were great in that 7am-10am time slot indeed.

 

I wonder if Deanno will only be in the 7am block temporarily until Amber Lee, who was the weather forecaster on CBS2 in the 4:30am-7am slot, returns from maternity leave.

 

With Deanno coming on board, that will be a total of seven weatherpersons (Evelyn Taft; Markina Brown and Alissa Carlson are the others) on KCAL News, which in my view is excessive for a region that is relatively uneventful from a weather perspective year-round in Southern California.

[24994J 5552]

17 minutes ago, CraigViewer said:

I wonder if Deanno will only be in the 7am block temporarily until Amber Lee, who was the weather forecaster on CBS2 in the 4:30am-7am slot, returns from maternity leave.

 

Deanno is on from 7am. That was his spot, as announced several weeks ago, pre-show launch. They're not going from a bunch of placeholders to another placeholder.

[FiveNews 371]

7 hours ago, CraigViewer said:

Both Alex and Olga were great in that 7am-10am time slot indeed.

 

I wonder if Deanno will only be in the 7am block temporarily until Amber Lee, who was the weather forecaster on CBS2 in the 4:30am-7am slot, returns from maternity leave.

 

With Deanno coming on board, that will be a total of seven weatherpersons (Evelyn Taft; Markina Brown and Alissa Carlson are the others) on KCAL News, which in my view is excessive for a region that is relatively uneventful from a weather perspective year-round in Southern California.

Alissa is freelance. She lives in the Bakersfield area. She was previoulsly a met at one of the Bakersfield stations.

 

My assumption for permanent KCAL WX lineups are:

4-7am: Amber Lee (after maternity leave)

7-10 and 11am: Paul Deanno

12pm/4pm: rotation of Alex, Olga, Markina and Mary Yoon

5-6pm KCBS: Evelyn Taft

8-10 KCAL: Evelyn Taft

11pm: Evelyn Taft

[JTT 111]

Since Amber Lee went on maternity leave, is that why the station hired Mary Yoon?  If that's true, once Amber comes back, what will happen to Mary?

[CraigViewer 77]

19 hours ago, 24994J said:

 

Deanno is on from 7am. That was his spot, as announced several weeks ago, pre-show launch. They're not going from a bunch of placeholders to another placeholder.

Yes, very true.  I must have misread, because I thought that I had heard originally weeks ago that Deanno was only going to be on the 11am show.

Edited February 8, 2023 by CraigViewer

[FiveNews 371]

5 hours ago, JTT said:

Since Amber Lee went on maternity leave, is that why the station hired Mary Yoon?  If that's true, once Amber comes back, what will happen to Mary?

Mary was hired for weekends. My assumption is the odd ones out will be Carlson and Markina Brown.

[FiveNews 371]

https://www.tmz.com/2023/03/18/cbs-los-angeles-kcal-meteorologist-alissa-carlson-faints-tv/

[TheNewsTV 251]

The old KCBS set being used for Sports Central.

[Action Newsroom 1263]

24 minutes ago, TheNewsTV said:

The old KCBS set being used for Sports Central.

Great to see the old set back in use, and in almost* the same condition.

(*the EYE2 logo is covered for obvious reasons).

[JTT 111]

What's covering the eye 2?

[ABC 7 Denver 1712]

1 hour ago, JTT said:

What's covering the eye 2?

 

A piece of metal.

[Nick 94]

On 1/30/2023 at 3:14 PM, Metrodonmartin said:

 

—————-Good memory!

 

Tuck was already there when Lippman dumped Lamps. They reteamed Walker and Tuck.  (As they were at KGTV in San Diego) and they brought back Chris Conangla from morning and noon exile to anchor with Tritia Toyota at 5.  
 

Dunphy’s deal was up with KCAL and they’d made no move to resign him (Young had recently bought KCAL from Disney) so Dunphy called Larry Perret and Applegate and negotiated his own deal.  He left KCAL and was initially reteamed with Ann Martin at 5 but within a few months was moved to the 4 and anchored at first with Toyota and the with Linda Alvarez. They dropped Dunphy just a little more than a year later. He returned to KCAL about 18-19 months later. 
 

KCBS did move briefly into 2nd place at 11 with Martin and Tuck during the OJ period but quickly fell back into last place by the next book. 
 

They were number 1 at 11 for a year or so in early/mid 2000’s with Magers and Diaz, when CBS prime was super hot.

Thanks!  And I think Paul Magers is the only male anchor since Dunphy in the early 1970s to anchor a  station newscast that was top-rated, however briefly it was number one, and  however it was tied to CBS' prime-time popularity. 

 

And I remember Tuck's doing those "Perspective" commentaries before becoming the main anchor,  and he could give public figures a good dressing down, from Daryl Gates to George H.W. Bush.    Almost an anachronism for an anchor then, and out of the question now,

 

 

[Metrodonmartin 42]

Truth about Magers. As for Tuck, agreed on the commentaries.  He also did them in San Diego while at KGTV. He went after local government/officials etc.  too.  Some group had t-shirts made that read- Tuck Sucks and that’s my perspective!  
RIP Mike Tuck. 

[JTT 111]

What was the reason for Tuck and Magers leaving the station?

[FiveNews 371]

Paul left due to a battle with alcohol. Can't recall why Tuck left, I believe it was $$. He ended up having a pretty legit career finale down at KFMB San Diego.

 

 

[JTT 111]

I am assuming that Alissa will take some time off since she fainted.  Who will fill in for her?  Why did Mary leave kttv?  I think she's better suited for Ktla or Knbc.

[MD TV 253]

Isn't Amber Lee due back soon from maternity leave?