KCBS-TV: Difference between revisions

{{Use mdy dates|date=OctoberFebruary 20232024}}

| digital = 31 ([[ultra high frequency|UHF]])

| owner = {{ubl|[[CBS News and Stations]]|([[Paramount Global]])}}

| location = [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]]

| airdate = {{Start date and age|1948|05|06|p=y|br=yesy}}

| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 1 ([[very high frequency|VHF]], 1938–1946), 2 (VHF, 1946–2009)|'''Digital:''' 60 (UHF, 1998–2009), 43 (UHF, 2009–2019)}}

| erp = 485 [[kilowatt|kW]]

| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]

'''KCBS-TV''' (channel 2), branded '''CBS Los Angeles''', is a [[television station]] in [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]], United States, serving as the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] [[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]] of the [[CBS]] network. It is [[owned-and-operated station|owned and operated]] by the network's [[CBS News and Stations]] division alongside [[Independent station|independent]] outlet [[KCAL-TV]] (channel 9). The two stations share studios at the [[Radford Studio Center]] on Radford Avenue in the [[Studio City, Los Angeles|Studio City]] section of Los Angeles; KCBS-TV's [[KCBS-TV/FM Tower|transmitter]] is located on the western side of [[Mount Wilson (California)|Mount Wilson]] near Occidental Peak.

Aside from being affiliated with [[CBS News]], since 2017, KCBS-TV has had no connection to [[KCBS (AM)|KCBS radio]] (740 AM) in [[San Francisco]]. The 2017 sale to Entercom (now [[Audacy, Inc.|Audacy]]) of KCBS radio and [[KCBS-FM]] (93.1) in Los Angeles ended almost seven decades of co-ownership among the three stations under CBS.{{efn|The use of the KCBS call sign in San Francisco predates its use in Los Angeles by KCBS-TV and KCBS-FM by more than 30 years.}}

KCBS-TV is the oldest continuously operating television station in the western[[Western United States]].{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} It was signed on by [[Don Lee (broadcaster)|Don Lee Broadcasting]], which owned a chain of radio stations on the Pacific coast, and was first licensed by the [[Federal Radio Commission]] (FRC), forerunner of the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC), as experimental television station W6XAO in June 1931. The station went on the air on December 23, 1931, and by March 1933 was broadcasting programming one hour each day on Mondays through Saturdays. The station used a mechanical camera, which broadcast only film footage in an 80-line image, but used all-electronic receivers as early as 1932. It went off the air in 1935, and then reappeared using an improved mechanical camera producing a 300-line image in June 1936. By August 1937, W6XAO had programming six days each week, with live programming starting in April 1938.

By 1939, the station used a fully electronic system and the image quality was improved to [[441 lines]]. At the time, an optimistic estimate of the station's viewership was 1,500 people. Many of the receiver sets were built by television hobbyists, though commercially made sets were available in Los Angeles. The station's six-day weekly schedule consisted of live talent on four nights, and [[feature film|films]] on two nights. By 1942, there were an estimated 400–500 television sets in the Los Angeles area, with Don Lee Broadcasting placing television receivers at the following public places: [[Wilshire Boulevard|Wilshire]] [[Brown Derby]], Kiefer's Pine Knot Drive-In, [[Vine Street]] Brown Derby, [[Griffith Observatory|Griffith Planetarium]], [[Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows|Miramar Hotel]] ([[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]]), [[The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel|Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel]] and [[The Town House (Los Angeles)|The Town House]] on Wilshire Boulevard.<ref>{{cite periodical |title=KTSL |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Annual/1942/RA-1942-All.pdf#page=911 |periodical=Radio Annual |dateyear=1942 |pages=903, 904}}</ref> During World War II, programming was reduced to three hours, every other Monday. The station's frequency was switched from Channel 1 to Channel 2 in March 1946 when the FCC decided to reserve [[Channel 1 (NTSC-M)|Channel 1]] for low-power [[Public-access television|community television]] stations, before eliminating it completely. The station was granted a commercial license (the second in California, behind [[KTLA]]) as KM2XBD, but calling it KTSL, on May 6, 1948 (and officially changed the call sign to KTSL on October 9, 1950), and was named for Thomas S. Lee, the son of Don Lee. The station became affiliated with the [[DuMont Television Network]] later that year.<ref>"KTSL Los Angeles joins DuMont net." ''Broadcasting&nbsp;— Telecasting'', October 4, 1948, pg. 27. [http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/48-OCR/1948-10-04-BC-0033.pdf]{{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> KTSL also launched Peter Potter's ''[[Jukebox Jury (TV series)|Jukebox Jury]]'' that year, a musical/quiz series that began to be broadcast nationally during the 1953–1954 season on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvparty.com/games2e.html|title=Billy Ingram, "Oddball Game Shows of the '50s"|publisher=tvparty.com|access-date=March 17, 2011}}</ref>

Don Lee's broadcasting interests were placed for sale in 1950 following the death of Thomas S. Lee. [[General Tire|General Tire and Rubber]] agreed to purchase all of Don Lee's stations, the centerpiece being [[KHJ (AM)|KHJ radio]], but chose to spin-off KTSL to CBS.<ref>"[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1950/BC-1950-10-30.pdf Don Lee sale; General Tire bid sets record]" ''Broadcasting&nbsp;— Telecasting'', October 30, 1950, pp. 21, 30. </ref> Subsequently, CBS sold its share in KTTV to the station's majority partner, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', and all CBS programming moved to KTSL on January 1, 1951.<ref>"[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1951/BC-1951-01-01.pdf Don Lee sale; General Tire purchase approved.]" ''Broadcasting&nbsp;— Telecasting'', January 1, 1951, pp. 19, 68.</ref> On October 28, 1951, KTSL changed its callsign to KNXT (presumably meaning "KNX Television") to coincide with CBS' Los Angeles radio outlet, [[KNX (AM)|KNX]] (1070 AM). The station also moved its transmitter from Mount Lee, where it had been based since its experimental days, to Mount Wilson.<ref>"[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1951/BC-1951-10-29.pdf KTSL now KNXT; moves to Mt. Wilson]" ''Broadcasting&nbsp;— Telecasting'', October 29, 1951, pg. 81.</ref>

On April 2, 1984, at noon, KNXT changed its call letters to the present KCBS-TV.<ref name=rei/> The former KNXT call letters were later used by an unrelated TV station (now [[KIFR (TV)|KIFR]]) in [[Fresno, California|Fresno]] from 1986 to 2021.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69846507/|title=Seeking a Mass audience: Fresno diocese takes to airwaves tonight|work=Fresno Bee|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69846692/ A8]|date=November 2, 1986|first=Lanny|last=Larson|accessdate=February 10, 2021}}</ref> In 1997, it adopted the "CBS2" moniker for its on-air image, following the lead of sister stations [[WBBM-TV]] in [[Chicago]] and [[WCBS-TV]] in [[New York City]]. For a time during the 1980s and 1990s, KNXT/KCBS-TV had several locally produced programs such as ''2 on the Town'', a local show similar to ''[[Evening Magazine]]'' and [[KABC-TV]]'s ''Eye on L.A.'', and ''KidQuiz'', a Saturday morning children's [[game show]] hosted by longtime weathercaster Maclovio Perez (for a time in the mid-2000s, its sister station KCAL-TV had broadcast a show called ''9 on the Town'').

On April 21, 2007, KCBS and KCAL moved from the historic [[CBS Columbia Square]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] to an all-digital facility at the [[CBS Studio Center]] in [[Studio City, Los Angeles|Studio City]]. With the move, KTLA became the only broadcast station (either in radio or television) in Los Angeles to be based in Hollywood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jan-31-et-braxton31-story.html|title=KCBS, KCAL plan new offices|date=January 31, 2003|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=November 6, 2019}}</ref>

KCBS-TV shutdiscontinued downregular programming on its analog signal, over [[Very high frequency|VHF]] channel 2, and switched to [[Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act|analog nightlight]] service at 1:10&nbsp;p.m. on June 12, 2009, as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]].<ref name="Analog_to_Digital">[http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf List of Digital Full-Power Stations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref> The nightlight service continued to run until July 12, 2009.<ref name="FCC Nightlight">{{cite web|url=https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-291375A1.pdf|title=UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|date=June 12, 2009|access-date=May 25, 2024}}</ref> The station moved its digital signal from its pre-transition [[ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 60, which was among the high band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to UHF channel 43,<ref name="FCCForm387">{{cite web|url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101234344&formid=387&fac_num=9628 |title=CDBS Print |publisher=Fjallfoss.fcc.gov |access-date=February 14, 2011}}</ref> using [[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]] to display KCBS-TV [[virtual channel]] as 2 on digital television receivers.

In 1956, [[NFL on CBS|CBS]] began broadcasting [[National Football League|NFL]] games, and with it, the [[Los Angeles Rams]] had their games aired on Channel 2. This alliance would continue through the [[1993 NFL season|1993 season]], when [[Fox NFL|Fox]] took over the rights to broadcast [[National Football Conference|NFC]] games, which led to KTTV being the new home station for one season in [[1994 Los Angeles Rams season|1994]], before the Rams moved to [[St. Louis]]. With the Rams' return to Los Angeles in [[2016 Los Angeles Rams season|2016]], Channel 2 will air games in which the Rams play host to an [[American Football Conference|AFC]] opponent, and any cross-flexed games aired by CBS; the station previously aired Rams preseason games from 2016 to 2019, and intermittently in past years during the team's first stay in greater Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2016/06/los-angeles-rams-cbs2-preseason-games-kcbs-tv-1201770091/|title = Los Angeles Rams Partner with KCBS-TV to Air Preseason Games|date = June 9, 2016}}</ref> From 1982 to 1993, Channel 2 also aired all home inter-conference games of the Raiders during their time in Los Angeles including their win in [[Super Bowl XVIII]]. The station also gave coverage to [[Super Bowl XIV]], which the Rams were runners-up in, and [[Super Bowl XXI]], both of which were hosted at the [[Rose Bowl (stadium)|Rose Bowl]] in nearby [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]]. As the [[Super Bowl I|first Super Bowl]] was held at the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]], and was televised nationally on both CBS (the exclusive home of the pre-merger NFL at the time) and NBC (the home network of the [[American Football League]]), the game was blacked out locally on KNXT and [[KNBC]] (channel 4), due to [[National Football League television blackout policies|home-game blackout policies that both leagues had at the time]] (and carried over into [[AFL–NFL merger|the leagues' merger in 1970]]) that did not allow home games to be shown locally regardless of whether the game was sold out, and this policy also extended to the host city of the Super Bowl game; starting with the [[1973 NFL season|1973 season]], the blackout rules were relaxed; home games were allowed to be televised in the local market, so long as the game sold out 72 hours in advance (the blackout rules were lifted completely in 2015).

In 2017, the station became the unofficial "home" station of the NFL's Chargers franchise, which announced on January 12, 2017, that it had exercised an option to leave its longtime home of [[San Diego]] and join the Rams in Los Angeles; the newly relocated and rechristened [[Los Angeles Chargers]] are part of the AFC, and therefore most of their games (the vast majority of road games, home games against AFC opponents and select games cross-flexed from Fox) are carried by CBS. Because Los Angeles was previously a secondary market of the Chargers during their time in San Diego, the station was already under requirement to carry the team's road games. KCBS was scheduled to resume carriage of Chargers preseason games starting with the 2020 season,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Chargers and CBS 2 Announce Multi-Year Broadcast & Media Partnership|url=https://www.chargers.com/news/los-angeles-chargers-and-cbs-2-announce-multi-year-broadcast-media-partnership|access-date=October 17, 2020|website=www.chargers.com|language=en-US}}</ref> however with the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]] affecting the United States, preseason games across the NFL were cancelled and not rescheduled; KCBS ended up broadcasting the Chargers' 2021 preseason games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chargers Finalize 2021 Preseason Schedule |url=https://www.chargers.com/news/preseason-schedule-2021 |access-date=March 16, 2022 |website=www.chargers.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The station previously televised Charger preseason games from 2002 to 2015.

From [[1973–74 Los Angeles Lakers season|1973]] to [[1989–90 Los Angeles Lakers season|1990]], the station aired [[Los Angeles Lakers]] games via the ''[[NBA on CBS]]''; this included eight [[NBA Finals]] appearances by the Lakers during their [[Showtime (basketball)|Showtime]] era, where they came out victorious five times. Through [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS' contract with Major League Baseball]], select [[Los Angeles Dodgers|Dodgers]] and [[Los Angeles Angels|Angels]] games aired on Channel 2 from 1990 to 1993.

In 1961, KNXT created one of the nation's first "newshours." It began with 45 minutes of local news, ''The Big News'', which featured [[Jerry Dunphy]], along with legendary weatherman [[Bill Keene]] and sportscaster [[Gil Stratton]]. It aired from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. weeknights, leading into the then-15-minute-long ''[[CBS Evening News]]'', which completed the news hour. Also featured were special assignment reporter Maury Green and "Human Predicament" essayist [[Ralph Story]]. The team and format helped make KNXT the top-rated news station in Los Angeles. At times, a quarter of Los Angeles television sets were tuned to ''The Big News'' and its late-evening companion, ''Eleven O'Clock Report'', the highest ratings ever for a television newscast in the area. The station eventually added reporters such as Howard Gingold and Saul Helpert, among others, and added news bureaus in [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], [[San Francisco]] and Orange County, each with full-time correspondents and camera crews.

''The Big News'' expanded to a full hour in September 1963, leading into the new half-hour-long ''CBS Evening News''.<ref>Cecil Smith, "The TV Scene," ''Los Angeles Times'', August 30, 1963, p. D15.</ref> Color broadcasts of ''The Big News'' and ''Eleven O'Clock Report'' began in August 1966.<ref>Advertisement, ''Los Angeles Times'', August 21, 1966, page L14.</ref> Eventually, KNXT expanded to 2½ hours of local news programming, as well as a late night newscast. KNBC went head-to-head with KNXT with viewers during the 1960s. However, in the mid-1970s, rival KABC-TV began gaining ground in the local news ratings at KNXT's expense. In 1975, KNXT fired Dunphy (who was quickly hired by KABC) and was replaced by Patrick Emory, who had anchored at then-CBS owned-and-operated station KMOX-TV (now [[KMOV]]) in St. Louis.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-xYiuCHHw8&t=180s ABC7 looks back on 50 years of Eyewitness News - how it all started | ABC7] KABC-TV's (abc7) YouTube.com page. February 26, 2019 (Retrieved September 23, 2020)</ref> KNXT then adopted a format similar to KABC-TV's ''[[Eyewitness News]]'' with its "happy talk" between anchors. However, the change went nowhere. Just as most of its fellow CBS-owned stations were dominating their cities' ratings, KNXT rapidly fell into last place.

For most of the period from 1975 to 2006, KNXT/KCBS-TV was not a major competitor in the Los Angeles television ratings among the area's local television newscasts. During the period, Channel 2 had frequently changed newscast titles (from ''The Big News/Eleven O'Clock Report'' to ''Channel 2 News'' in 1973, then to ''Newsroom'' in 1976 and back to ''Channel 2 News'' by 1978) and formats to styles that often became unsuccessful and even controversial. In September 1986, Channel 2 implemented a news-wheel format for its 4–6:30&nbsp;p.m. news block, with each hour of news beginning with a 20-minute newscast, followed by two 20-minute programs devoted to certain topics and themes (for example, there was entertainment and lifestyle news early on and harder news stories later in the program), concluding with a half -hour-long local news report; this format was heavily panned by critics and audiences alike, and was dropped after only a month in favor of standard newscasts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crook |first=David |date=August 12, 1986 |title=CHANNEL 2 NEWS FORMAT DUE FOR MAJOR CHANGES |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-12-ca-18802-story.html |access-date=August 19, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |date=September 14, 1986 |title="THE NEXT GENERATION OF LOCAL NEWS," 4... |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-14-tv-12248-story.html |access-date=August 14, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Valle|first=Victor|date=October 16, 1986|title=CHANNEL 2 WILL RETURN TO HARDER NEWS FORMAT|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-16-ca-5894-story.html|access-date=February 19, 2022|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

As part of the aforementioned changes, from 1986 to 1987, KCBS produced a 7 p.m. newscast, airing ''CBS Evening News'' immediately beforehand at 6:30&nbsp;p.mpm.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> KCBS was also the last station in the Los Angeles area to offer a local early evening newscast at 6:30&nbsp;p.m.pm, when its 6 p.m. newscast ran for an hour during that time period; [[The CW|CW]] affiliate KTLA later launched a newscast in that timeslot in January 2009. KCBS produced late afternoon newscasts at 4 p.m. at various points in time. It was the first in the Southland region with a 4:30&nbsp;p.m. newscast, that was later expanded to an hour.

The late 1980s and early 1990s brought to KCBS the ''[[Action News]]'' format, in which the station's newscast adopted a [[tabloid journalism|tabloid]]-style format; the format grated on the news staff, which circulated a memo that resulted in the firing of [[news director]] [[John LippmannLippman]] in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Braxton |first=Greg |date=May 1, 1993 |title=Lippman Fired by KCBS-TV : Television: The news director's dismissal ends a turbulent period marked by deteriorating newsroom morale, decreasing ratings and declining credibility. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-01-ca-29786-story.html |access-date=August 19, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> LippmannLippman was heavily criticized by many,{{Who|date=May 2016}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Braxton |first=Greg |date=May 3, 1993 |title=Lippman Says He Is a 'Scapegoat' : Television: Former KCBS-TV news director says he was a 'target' of negative publicity. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-03-ca-30690-story.html |access-date=August 19, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> and reportedly had many confrontations with news staff, notably a shoving match between him and anchor Michael Tuck.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Weinstein|first=Steve|date=January 29, 1993|title=Real Action News: Michael Tuck vs. Boss|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-29-ca-2246-story.html?_amp=true|access-date=February 19, 2022|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US}}</ref> The station's ratings quickly declined.

The station's ratings improved, but Applegate eventually became a casualty of CBS' merger with the [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric Corporation]] in 1996; Applegate had bickered with Westinghouse over the station's syndicated programming not long after he had arrived.{{Citation needed|date=May 2016}} Westinghouse executives never forgot this, and Applegate was one of the first executives to be let go. Channel 2's momentum ground to a halt, and it soon dropped into last place. The ''Action News'' branding was dropped in late 1996 and the station's newscasts were briefly reverted to ''Channel 2 News''; it was later renamed to ''CBS 2 News'' in spring 1997. Dunphy, who was dismissed from KCBS in March 1996 because of the aforementioned CBS merger with Westinghouse, returned to KCAL in November 1997.<ref>[https://variety.com/1997/tv/news/dunphy-back-on-kcal-news-1200324708/ Dunphy back on KCAL news] ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', November 17, 1997 (retrieved February 9, 2021)</ref>

The 2007 move to Studio City marked many changes at KCBS and KCAL-TV, with several news personalities having departed, including David Jackson (who returned to the duopoly after anchoring at KCAL in the early 1990s), Kerry Kilbride, reporter Jay Jackson, Paul Dandridge, Dilva Henry, Linda Alvarez, sports anchor Alan Massengale and Dave Clark (who left for [[KTVU]] in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]]). Both stations also began broadcasting all their local newscasts, sports shows and public affairs programming in [[high-definition television|high definition]], becoming the third and fourth stations in Los Angeles to do so (following KABC-TV in February 2006 and KTLA in January 2007). In addition, KCBS and KCAL-TV now operate in a completely tapeless newsroom. This newsroom is named in honor of the late former anchor of both stations, Jerry Dunphy. The Dunphy Newsroom is also shared with [[CBS News]], operating as its Los Angeles/West Coast bureau.

On September 19, 2009, KCBS and KCAL adopted the uniform ''NewsCentral'' brand (unrelated to the [[News Central (American TV program)|news organization of the same name]] formerly operated by [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]). The newscasts were refocused to cover more community news, including stories from outlying communities. Local news headlines from the [[Los Angeles Newspaper Group]] and other [[MediaNews Group]] newspapers were shown on a news ticker, "street team" submissions of video and photos from viewers were featured, reporters ended stories with ''NewsCentral'' rather than the individual station brands, and microphone flags and news vehicles were branded to show both stations' logos at once (the KCBS and KCAL logos were previously displayed on alternating sides). The newscasts claimed that it produced more local news than any other television station in the United States, with reporters in [[Ventura County]], the [[Inland Empire (California)|Inland Empire]] and [[Orange County, California|Orange County]], and the only Los Angeles television station with two helicopters (subcontracted to Angel City Air, owned by reporter Larry Welk). [[Ed Asner]] introduced the new newscast.<ref>[http://cbs2.com/local/NewsCentral.CBS.2.2.1198316.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929170531/http://cbs2.com/local/NewsCentral.CBS.2.2.1198316.html|date=September 29, 2009}}</ref> CBS denied that the move was made in response to other stations pooling news gathering resources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/354501-CBS_L_A_Duop_Launches_NewsCentral_Branding.php |title=CBS' L.A. Duop Launches 'NewsCentral' Branding&nbsp;– 2009-09-18 15:39:53 &#124; Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=Broadcastingcable.com |access-date=February 14, 2011}}</ref>

Ratings under the new format during the November 2009 [[sweeps]] showed KCBS lagging behind KABC-TV and KNBC in crucial timeslots. On December 10, 2009, Patrick McClenehan resigned after one year as president of KCBS/KCAL and was replaced by Steve Mauldin, who had overseen the CBS-owned duopoly in [[Dallas]]–[[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]]. That week, the ''NewsCentral'' brand was rescinded, restoring the ''CBS 2 News'' and ''KCAL 9 News'' identities. The NewsCentral graphics, microphone flags and logos were retained in the interim, though on-air talent no longer referred to the ''NewsCentral'' brand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3icf90084764d1ef2dd1debeea031c411f|title=Adweek&nbsp;– Breaking News in Advertising, Media and Technology|work=AdWeekAdweek|access-date=May 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217095743/http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3icf90084764d1ef2dd1debeea031c411f|archive-date=December 17, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2009/12/14/daily8.html |title=Report: 'NewsCentral' brand is out at KCBS, KCAL &#124; Los Angeles Business from |publisherwork=bizjournalsThe Business Journals |date=December 14, 2009 |access-date=February 14, 2011}}</ref>

On July 13, 2022, it was announced that KCAL would introduce a new seven-hour morning newscast to replace that of KCBS, running from 4:00&nbsp;a.m. to 11:00&nbsp;a.mam. As a replacement, KCBS planned to air the live East Coast broadcast of ''[[CBS Mornings]]'' from 4 to 6 a.m&nbsp;am. PT, followed by a simulcast of the 6 a.m. hour of the KCAL morning show, and then the West Coast edition of ''CBS Mornings''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Littleton |first=Cynthia |date=July 12, 2022 |title=L.A. TV News Shakeup: KCAL Adds Morning Block as KCBS Double Pumps 'CBS Mornings' (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/kcal-morning-news-first-kcbs-mornings-1235314324/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> CBS News and Stations president [[Wendy McMahon (television executive)|Wendy McMahon]] referred to the changes as "an audience growth opportunity", citing that KCAL's early morning lineup had largely consisted of paid programming, and that the changes would provide additional options for both local and national news to viewers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CBS Mornings Will Air Live in Los Angeles Beginning This Fall |url=https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/cbs-mornings-will-air-live-in-los-angeles-beginning-this-fall/510943/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=www.adweek.comAdweek |date=July 13, 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>

* [[Ross Becker]] – reporter/anchor (1980–1990); later with [[KAAL-TV]] in [[Austin, Minnesota]] and now CEO TvNewsmentor.com

* [[Peter Daut]] – anchor/reporter (2016–2019); demoted and subsequently fired; now at [[KESQ-TV]] in [[Palm Springs, California|Palm Springs]]

* [[Rich Fields]] – weather anchor (2010–2016); later with [[WTSP]] in [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]

* [[George Fischbeck|Dr. George Fischbeck]] – special correspondent (1994–1997); deceased

* [[Louisa Hodge]] – meteorologist; general assignment reporter

* [[Dan Miller (journalist)|Dan Miller]] – anchor/reporter (1986–1987); previously and later at [[WSMV-TV]]/[[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]]; deceased

* [[DeMarco Morgan]] – anchor (now with [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]])

* [[Brent Musburger]] – anchor/sportscaster/reporter (1978–1981); now broadcasting for [[Vegas Stats & Information Network|VSiN]] and the [[Las Vegas Raiders]]

* [[Mike Parker (reporter)|Mike Parker]] – investigative reporter (1977–1980); later at [[WBBM-TV]] in [[Chicago]]; now deceased

* [[Kyra Phillips]] – reporter/anchor (1995–2000); later at [[HLN (TV network)|HLN]]; now with [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] in Washington, DC

* [[Maury Povich]] – anchor (1977–78); nowhost syndicatedof ''[[Maury (talk show)|Maury]]'' hostfrom 1991 to his retirement in 2022

* [[Rob Schmitt]]  – anchor (2011–2013); now at [[Fox News]]

* [[Bill Stout (journalist)|Bill Stout]] – anchor/reporter/"Perspective" commentator (1954–1960, 1972–1989); deceased

* [[Ruth Ashton Taylor]] – anchor/reporter (1951–1958, 1962–1989); now retireddeceased

* [[Tritia Toyota]] – anchor (1985–1999); now an Asian-American professor at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]

! scope = "row" | 2.1

| [[1080i]] || rowspan=4| [[16:9 aspect ratio|16:9]] || KCBS-HD || Main KCBS-TV programming / [[CBS]]

! scope = "row" | 2.2

! scope = "row" | 2.3

! scope = "row" | 2.4

* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|28569|3=K22NA-D}}''' [[Inyokern, California|Inyokern]]

* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14697|3=K25QB-D}}''' [[Lucerne Valley, California|Lucerne Valley]]

* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|11530|3=K30GU-D}}''' [[Morongo Valley, California|Morongo Valley]]

* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14136|3=K10IX-D}}''' [[Newberry Springs, California|Newberry Springs]]

* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|43809|3=K15FC-D}}''' [[Twentynine Palms, California|Twentynine Palms]]