KCBS 2/KCAL 9 - CBS Los Angeles News Thread

[SFTV 459]

3 hours ago, Daybreak said:

The promotion on this newscast has been confusing. Will this also air on KCBS during the morning slot as well? Meaning will this be the only newscast for both KCBS and KCAL? 

It’s pretty much what KPIX does with KBCW in the mornings. They will simulcast at 6am on both channels as CBS NEWS Bay Area Morning Edition. Then KBCW will continue from 7-9am

 

KCBS will be the opposite. KCAL will be branded on KCBS instead.

[bogusabc7breakingnews 42]

A look at what’s to come 

[Horizon 217]

46 minutes ago, bogusabc7breakingnews said:

A look at what’s to come 

 

It literally has inspirations from the CBS Mornings set in New York, like the wide display at the top and the line accents.

[CircleSeven 1914]

I know CBS dealt with delays and such, given the magnitude of these changes, I wished they would've had longer window (at least three weeks) to promote these changes on the air, instead of three days before implementation.

 

They could've aired some "coming soon" promos the week before Christmas.

[JTT 27]

Does anyone know why the stations chose Jan 5 for the premiere? 

Jan 9 would be better start date since it's a new work week.  It would be better for their promos, with the 9s.

[MediaZone4K 1239]

The set looks nice and the promo graphics were well done even though they reek of corperate blandness. 

 

This is really someting. An owned and operated station is doing that badly that it's independent sister station will become the chief brand. Personally, I haven't seen this before. For LA watchers, is KCAL that much more popular than KCBS? 

 

How do you feel about the double (live and repeat) broadcast of CBS Mornings?

Edited January 5 by iron_lion

[CalItalian2 163]

43 minutes ago, JTT said:

Does anyone know why the stations chose Jan 5 for the premiere? 

Jan 9 would be better start date since it's a new work week.  It would be better for their promos, with the 9s.

It's the first day of 2023 Nielsen ratings periods for local markets.

 

"9" isn't being used anymore.

Edited January 4 by CalItalian2

[CalItalian2 163]

25 minutes ago, iron_lion said:

The set looks nice and the promo graphic were well done even though theybreek of corperate blandness. 

 

This is really someting. An owned and operated station is doing that badly that it's independent sister station will become the chief brand. Personally, I haven't seen this before. For LA watchers, Is KCAL that much more popular than KCBS? 

 

How do you feel about the double (live and repeat) broadcast of CBS Mornings?

KCBS hasn't been dominant in L.A. in nearly 50 years. Most of the time it's been a weak third. It's been a revolving door of talent & screwy ideas for newscasts like the news wheel. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-16-ca-5894-story.html

 

KCAL was put on the map 25 years ago by Disney. Jerry Dunphy gave it instant credibility. It's been able to maintain much of what was built back in the early days (post KHJ-TV). Pat Harvey, from KCAL, even given the assignment to save CBS 2.

 

CBS Mornings isn't a factor in Los Angeles. 4 am viewer isn't going to be a 7 am viewer, anyway. They're just filling time. They can give away CBS 2 local spots as a bonus for advertisers on KCAL News Mornings.

[Georgie56 2974]

Noticed this URL during the 11am today.

[Daybreak 268]

So KCAL Morning News will be the main morning newscast? Wow that’s crazy to see for a city like LA. The CBS affiliate will not have a morning newscast dedicated solely for that channel. 

[CircleSeven 1914]

3 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Noticed this URL during the 11am today.

Probably doesn't mean much. Both "kcal9.com" and "kcalnews.com" redirects to "cbsnews.com/losangeles".

[RaleighTVBOI1 81]

1 hour ago, Daybreak said:

So KCAL Morning News will be the main morning newscast? Wow that’s crazy to see for a city like LA. The CBS affiliate will not have a morning newscast dedicated solely for that channel. 

It makes sense KCBS has been in the basement since the 80s. It was time for something new. Plus thy still have 6am simulcast.

[Tyler 150]

2 hours ago, Daybreak said:

So KCAL Morning News will be the main morning newscast? Wow that’s crazy to see for a city like LA. The CBS affiliate will not have a morning newscast dedicated solely for that channel. 

Off topic, but I think over time this trend will catch on around the country. The big 3 won’t have near the relevance they do now in the decades to come. In fact, I’d already argue they have less relevance than decades ago. 

[FiveNews 309]

2 hours ago, Daybreak said:

So KCAL Morning News will be the main morning newscast? Wow that’s crazy to see for a city like LA. The CBS affiliate will not have a morning newscast dedicated solely for that channel. 

KCAL Mornings* will be the main morning newscast.

[TVNewsLover 703]

Still think it’s silly to run CBS Mornings (east coast feed) on KCBS 4am-6am. Just simulcast the local newscast on both channels from 4am-7am and then exclusively on KCAL from 7am and on. That’s the best way to build ratings for it.

 

The argument that KCBS is in the basement ratings wise and that’s why we are moving the newscast to KCAL doesn’t quite hold. What’s switching channels going to magically do for ratings?

[Tyler 150]

17 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

Still think it’s silly to run CBS Mornings (east coast feed) on KCBS 4am-6am. Just simulcast the local newscast on both channels from 4am-7am and then exclusively on KCAL from 7am and on. That’s the best way to build ratings for it.

I agree 100%

[CalItalian2 163]

1 hour ago, FiveNews said:

KCAL Mornings* will be the main morning newscast.

KCAL News Mornings

23 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

Still think it’s silly to run CBS Mornings (east coast feed) on KCBS 4am-6am. Just simulcast the local newscast on both channels from 4am-7am and then exclusively on KCAL from 7am and on. That’s the best way to build ratings for it.

 

The argument that KCBS is in the basement ratings wise and that’s why we are moving the newscast to KCAL doesn’t quite hold. What’s switching channels going to magically do for ratings?

I suggest you look at KCAL's ratings & CBS 2's ratings before making statements.

 

KCAL is perceived differently in the community despite its duploy. If you lived in Los Angeles, you'd understand.

[MediaZone4K 1239]

Overall, it looks like KCBS has exhausted every trick in the book to remain relevant. Let's see if this works out.

Edited January 5 by iron_lion

[MorningNews 1224]

2 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

Still think it’s silly to run CBS Mornings (east coast feed) on KCBS 4am-6am. Just simulcast the local newscast on both channels from 4am-7am and then exclusively on KCAL from 7am and on. That’s the best way to build ratings for it.

 

The argument that KCBS is in the basement ratings wise and that’s why we are moving the newscast to KCAL doesn’t quite hold. What’s switching channels going to magically do for ratings?

This is my confusion as well. Did KCAL have a morning product before this? If not, then it’s hardly a cost-cutting initiative either. The real struggle is how saturated that market is for the AM - KTLA, KABC, KNBC, KTTV all have established local morning institutions even if some are weaker than others. That doesn’t even include the national competition.

[Georgie56 2974]

This is KCAL’s first-ever attempt to join the weekday morning fray. 

[TVNewsLover 703]

2 hours ago, CalItalian2 said:

KCAL News Mornings

I suggest you look at KCAL's ratings & CBS 2's ratings before making statements.

 

KCAL is perceived differently in the community despite its duploy. If you lived in Los Angeles, you'd understand.

Enlighten me. What are KCAL’s ratings for news in the morning? That’s right, there is no news. The two stations don’t have a different product - it’s the same people and same product. Why not simulcast to get more eyeballs watching?

[C Block 1463]

41 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

This is my confusion as well. Did KCAL have a morning product before this? If not, then it’s hardly a cost-cutting initiative either. The real struggle is how saturated that market is for the AM - KTLA, KABC, KNBC, KTTV all have established local morning institutions even if some are weaker than others. That doesn’t even include the national competition.

 

It's not about cost-cutting, it's about more effectively using the power of owning two stations. By putting different and better programming on both stations, they can sell ads on both stations. Right now, they're trying to sell ads on a newscast nobody watches on one station, and infomercials on another.

 

There's no guarantee that people will start watching right away, but there will now be more reason for viewers to linger on both of the stations CBS owns, and it's at least a more compelling sell to potential advertisers. 

[nycnewsjunkie 1257]

8 hours ago, C Block said:

It's not about cost-cutting, it's about more effectively using the power of owning two stations. By putting different and better programming on both stations, they can sell ads on both stations. Right now, they're trying to sell ads on a newscast nobody watches on one station, and infomercials on another.

 

There's no guarantee that people will start watching right away, but there will now be more reason for viewers to linger on both of the stations CBS owns, and it's at least a more compelling sell to potential advertisers. 

I think the more confusing thing (at least for me) is why they aren’t calling it “CBS News Los Angeles.” I get that KCAL gets viewers and KCBS doesn’t, but when the whole point is to unify the branding and put CBS News at the forefront, this doesn’t exactly help. You’d think they’d at least do what KPIX is doing and cobrand the newscasts, but they’re not even doing that. I haven’t seen any mentions of CBS News Los Angeles outside of the website and references to the streaming channel. It’s all “KCAL News.”

 

On the last CBS2 Morning News, they introduced the entire KCAL morning team. At one point, one of the anchors said something to the extent of “it’s a little confusing, we’re trying to get used to it ourselves.” When even the on-air talent is confused by the arrangement, and most viewers won’t find out until tomorrow because of a lack of promotion, I don’t think they’re setting themselves up for success. I like the overall strategy given the ratings mess at KCBS, but I don’t like the implementation so far.

 

 

Edited January 5 by nycnewsjunkie

[twotrey 4]

54 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

This is KCAL’s first-ever attempt to join the weekday morning fray. 

 

It may be its first attempt one of these multi-hour morning shows, but KCAL did have a half-hour 6am weekday morning newscast that ran for about a year or so during the Disney era, whose March 1990 premiere was on the same day as launch of the flagship 8-11pm Prime 9 News block. The morning newscast, anchored by Paula Lopez and Jim Murphy (the latter later replaced when Kerry Kilbride arrived) was titled "First 9 News." If that name sounds familiar, KCAL used it again a couple of years after the 6am show was dropped, but this time for their half-hour 6:30pm local newscast alternative (anchored by the Dunphy + Harvey duo) to the national network shows. It was also short-lived, morphing into an hour-long 7pm show retitled "9 News Live at 7," anchored by Harvey + David Jackson, which also didn't last very long.

 

Re: the intro clip, I noticed beginning on Monday's 8pm show on KCAL, the main anchors have been regularly been throwing it to the assignment editor in the newsroom, which I'm not sure I quite like, but we'll see how this new wrinkle/angle evolves.

[Horizon 217]

18 minutes ago, nycnewsjunkie said:

I think the more confusing thing (at least for me) is why they aren’t calling it “CBS News Los Angeles.” I get that KCAL gets viewers and KCBS doesn’t, but when the whole point is to unify the branding and put CBS News at the forefront, this doesn’t exactly help. You’d think they’d at least do what KPIX is doing and cobrand the newscasts, but they’re not even doing that. I haven’t seen any mentions of CBS News Los Angeles outside of the website and references to the streaming channel. It’s all “KCAL News.”

 

On the last CBS2 Morning News, they introduced the entire KCAL morning team. At one point, one of the anchors said something to the extent of “it’s a little confusing, we’re trying to get used to it ourselves.” When even the on-air talent is confused by the arrangement, and most viewers won’t find out until tomorrow because of lack of promotion, I don’t think they’re setting themselves up for success. I like the overall strategy given the ratings mess at KCBS, but I don’t like the implementation so far.

 

 

 

Crossposting my comments from CBS O&O Graphics topic:

 

This is what you call: "How To Act Like an Independent Station, Though You're Still Affiliated," not to mention...O&O.

 

My comments best fitted here. My bad.

Edited January 5 by NewEgg00