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KCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Los Angeles, is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California, United States, serving as the West Coast
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...
of the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
network. It is
owned and operated In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
by the network's
CBS News and Stations CBS News and Stations is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of United States, American television stations along with CBS News. , the division owns 28 stations: 15 are the core stati ...
division alongside
KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). The two stations share studios at the ...
(channel 9), an
independent station An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast television network, network. As such, it only broadcasts broadcast syndication, syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered pr ...
. The two outlets share studios at the
Radford Studio Center Radford Studio Center, alternatively CBS Studio Center, is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, United States. The lot has 18 sound stages from , of office spac ...
on Radford Avenue in the
Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...
section of Los Angeles; KCBS-TV's
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is located on the western side of Mount Wilson near Occidental Peak. Aside from being affiliated with
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
, since 2017, KCBS-TV has had no connection to KCBS radio (740 AM) in San Francisco. The 2017 sale to Entercom (now
Audacy Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio Computing platform, platform developed by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a Recommender system, mus ...
) of KCBS radio and
KCBS-FM KCBS-FM (93.1  FM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts an adult hits music format branded "93.1 Jack FM". Unlike most radio stations airing t ...
(93.1) in Los Angeles ended almost seven decades of co-ownership among the three stations under CBS.


History


Early years (1931–1948)

KCBS-TV is the oldest continuously operating television station in the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...
. It was signed on by Don Lee Broadcasting, which owned a chain of radio stations on the Pacific coast, and was first licensed by the
Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...
(FRC), forerunner of the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(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 441-line is the number of scan lines in some early electronic monochrome analog television systems. Systems with this number of lines were used with 25 interlaced frames per second in France from 1937 to 1956, Germany from 1939 to 1943, Italy fr ...
. 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
films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
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
Brown Derby Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chai ...
, Kiefer's Pine Knot Drive-In,
Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, and Melrose Avenue. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine being symbolic of Hollywood itself. The intersection has be ...
Brown Derby, Griffith Planetarium, Miramar Hotel (
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
),
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, also known as Hotel Roosevelt, is a historic hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. History Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was built in 1926, in what is known as t ...
and The Town House on Wilshire Boulevard. 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 for low-power
community television Community television is a form of mass media in which a television station is owned, operated or programmed by a community group to provide television programs of local interest known as local programming. Community television stations are most ...
stations, before eliminating it completely. The station was granted a commercial license (the second in California, behind
KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...
) 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 The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...
later that year. KTSL also launched Peter Potter's '' Jukebox Jury'' that year, a musical/quiz series that began to be broadcast nationally during the 1953–1954 season on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
.


CBS acquisition (1949–1984)

Starting in 1949, CBS had been affiliated with
KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned a ...
(channel 11, now a
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
owned-and-operated station), a station in which the network held a 49% minority ownership stake. Don Lee's broadcasting interests were placed for sale in 1950 following the death of Thomas S. Lee.
General Tire and Rubber Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, d.b.a. General Tire, is an American manufacturer of tires for motor vehicles, and semi trucks. Founded in 1915 in Akron, Ohio by William Francis O'Neil, Winfred E. Fouse, Charles J. Jahant, Robert Iredell, ...
agreed to purchase all of Don Lee's stations, the centerpiece being KHJ radio, but chose to spin off KTSL to CBS. Subsequently, CBS sold its share in KTTV to the station's majority partner, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', and all CBS programming moved to KTSL on January 1, 1951. On October 28, 1951, KTSL changed its callsign to KNXT (presumably meaning "KNX Television") to coincide with CBS' Los Angeles radio outlet, KNX (1070 AM). The station also moved its transmitter from Mount Lee, where it had been based since its experimental days, to Mount Wilson.


As KCBS-TV (1984–present)

On April 2, 1984, at noon, KNXT changed its call letters to the present KCBS-TV. The former KNXT call letters were later used by an unrelated TV station (now KIFR) in
Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
from 1986 to 2021. In 1997, it adopted the "CBS2" moniker for its on-air image, following the lead of sister stations
WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington St ...
in Chicago and
WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...
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 ''Evening Magazine'' is the name of various news and entertainment-style local television shows in different markets in the United States. Concept On August 9, 1976, Westinghouse (Group W) Broadcasting-owned KPIX in San Francisco debuted a lo ...
'' and
KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...
'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''). In 2002, KCBS-TV became a sister station to KCAL-TV after the latter was purchased by
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...
from
Young Broadcasting Young Broadcasting, LLC was an American media company that owned or operated 12 television stations in 10 markets with a total U.S. television household coverage of 5.9%. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the out ...
. On April 21, 2007, KCBS and KCAL moved from the historic
CBS Columbia Square CBS Columbia Square (also called Columbia Studio) was the home of CBS's Los Angeles radio and television operations from 1938 until 2007. Located at 6121 Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, th ...
in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
to an all-digital facility at the
CBS Studio Center Radford Studio Center, alternatively CBS Studio Center, is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, United States. The lot has 18 sound stages from , of office spac ...
in
Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...
. With the move, KTLA became the only broadcast station (either in radio or television) in Los Angeles to be based in Hollywood. KCBS-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, and switched to analog nightlight service at 1:10 p.m. on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.List of Digital Full-Power Stations
The nightlight service continued to run until July 12, 2009. The station moved its digital signal from its pre-transition
UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
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, using
virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered as digits on a receiver's ...
2. On October 21, 2014, CBS and
Weigel Broadcasting Weigel Broadcasting Co. is an American television broadcasting company based in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV (Channel 26), at 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown, Chicago, Greektown neighborhood. It cur ...
announced the launch of a new
digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
service called
Decades A decade (from , , ) is a period of 10 years. Decades may describe any 10-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement t ...
, scheduled to launch on all CBS-owned stations in the second quarter of 2015, including on KCBS-TV on channel 2.2. On September 3, 2018, Decades was replaced on 2.2 by
Start TV Start TV is an American free-to-air television network owned as a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting and the CBS News and Stations subsidiary of Paramount Global. Predominantly carried on the digital subchannels of its affiliated tele ...
with Decades moving to Weigel's
KAZA-TV KAZA-TV (channel 54) is a television station licensed to Avalon, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area as an owned-and-operated station of the classic television network MeTV. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting alongside Bishop ...
. On December 4, 2019, CBS Corporation and
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...
remerged into ViacomCBS (now
Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...
).


Programming


Sports programming

In 1956,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
began broadcasting
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
games, and with it, the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...
had their games aired on Channel 2. This alliance would continue through the
1993 season The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its calendar advanced 24 hours to th ...
, when
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
took over the rights to broadcast
NFC NFC usually refers to: * Near-field communication, a set of communication protocols for electronic devices * National Football Conference, part of US National Football League NFC may also refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychol ...
games, which led to KTTV being the new home station for one season in
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, before the Rams moved to
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
. With the Rams' return to Los Angeles in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, Channel 2 will air games in which the Rams play host to an 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. 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 Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion 1983 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins and t ...
. The station also gave coverage to
Super Bowl XIV Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1979 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...
, which the Rams were runners-up in, and
Super Bowl XXI Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
, both of which were hosted at the Rose Bowl in nearby
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
. As the first Super Bowl was held at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...
, 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 American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...
), the game was blacked out locally on KNXT and
KNBC KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network ...
(channel 4), due to home-game blackout policies that both leagues had at the time (and carried over into 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 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 San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
and join the Rams in Los Angeles; the newly relocated and rechristened
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...
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, however with the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
affecting the United States, preseason games across the NFL were cancelled and not rescheduled; KCBS ended up broadcasting the Chargers' 2021 preseason games. The station previously televised Charger preseason games from 2002 to 2015. Sports director Jim Hill, a former Charger, was a sportscaster for
CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
during his first stint at KNXT/KCBS-TV, from 1976 to 1987. Hill then left to become sports director at KABC-TV, but returned to KCBS-TV in 1992 and has remained sports director at the station since. Other ex-athletes who are also sportscasters for KCBS and KCAL-TV are
Eric Dickerson Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the SMU Mustangs, earning unanimous ...
,
Jim Everett James Samuel Everett III (born January 3, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for ...
,
James Worthy James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wor ...
and
Eric Karros Eric Peter Karros (born November 4, 1967) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 19 ...
. From
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
to
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
, the station aired
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
games via the ''
NBA on CBS ''NBA on CBS'' is an Television in the United States, American television sports presentation show broadcast by CBS. It aired from October 20, 1973 to June 14, 1990. The branding is used for the presentation of the National Basketball Associatio ...
''; this included eight
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
appearances by the Lakers during their
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
era, where they came out victorious five times. Through CBS' contract with Major League Baseball, select
Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the ...
and
Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
games aired on Channel 2 from 1990 to 1993. Beginning in 20 24, KCBS-TV will air select
USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...
and
UCLA Bruins football The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Bruins play their home games off ...
games as part of the '' Big Ten on CBS''.


News operation

KCBS-TV presently broadcasts 23 hours, 10 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 3 hours, 35 minutes each weekday and Saturdays and 3 hours on Sundays).


News department history

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 Jerry Dunphy (June 9, 1921 – May 20, 2002) was an American television news anchor in the Los Angeles/Southern California media market. He was best known for his intro "From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California, a good eveni ...
, along with legendary weatherman
Bill Keene Bill Keene (1927 – April 5, 2000) was a television and radio personality who became famous in the Los Angeles, California, market as a traffic and weather announcer. He was particularly known for his colorful, humorous traffic reports which inc ...
and sportscaster
Gil Stratton Gil Stratton Jr. (June 2, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an actor and sportscaster who was born in Brooklyn, New York. He most recently resided in Toluca Lake, California, until his death from congestive heart failure. Early life Stratton wa ...
. It aired from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. weeknights, leading into the then-15-minute-long ''
CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...
'', 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 Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
, 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''. Color broadcasts of ''The Big News'' and ''Eleven O'Clock Report'' began in August 1966. 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 KMOV (channel 4) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power station KDTL-LD (channel 4.6). The two stations share studios on Progress Park ...
) in St. Louis. KNXT then adopted a format similar to KABC-TV's ''
Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action videos, instead of the older ,"man-on-camera" style of newscast, and is most prominently featured in the New York City metropolitan area. Hi ...
'' 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 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. 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 pm. KCBS was also the last station in the Los Angeles area to offer a local early evening newscast at 6:30 pm, when its 6 p.m. newscast ran for an hour during that time period; 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 p.m. newscast, that was later expanded to an hour. The late 1980s and early 1990s brought to KCBS the ''
Action News ''Action News'' is a local television newscast format originating in the United States. First conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it is characterized by a tight format with strict time limits on set packages, a focus on surrounding suburbs, ...
'' format, in which the station's newscast adopted a tabloid-style format; the format grated on the news staff, which circulated a memo that resulted in the firing of
news director A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, ...
John Lippman in 1993. Lippman was criticized, and reportedly had many confrontations with news staff, notably a shoving match between him and anchor Michael Tuck. The station's ratings quickly declined. CBS management, highly embarrassed at KCBS-TV's subpar performance, responded by bringing in Bill Applegate as general manager. Applegate had previously served as general manager at Chicago sister station WBBM-TV, and was employed at that station as a reporter in the early 1970s. While Applegate had been criticized for making WBBM-TV's newscasts flashier than they had been previously, he set about toning down the format of KCBS-TV's newscasts. One of his strategies involved bringing in popular anchors and reporters from other Los Angeles area stations including Jerry Dunphy, who returned to channel 2 two decades after his earlier firing from the station (Dunphy went on to anchor at KABC-TV and KCAL-TV, both of whom achieved high ratings for their newscasts during each of Dunphy's stints). Also joining Dunphy were colleagues Ann Martin, Dr. George Fischbeck, Paul Dandridge and Mark Coogan from KABC-TV, and Larry Carroll (who worked with Dunphy at KABC and KCAL); two KNBC personalities, Linda Alvarez and consumer reporter
David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (January 10, 1939 – April 29, 2025) was an American conservative writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website '' FrontPage Magazine''; and ...
also joined the team. The station's ratings improved, but Applegate eventually became a casualty of CBS' merger with the
Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...
in 1996; Applegate had bickered with Westinghouse over the station's syndicated programming not long after he had arrived. 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. KCBS dropped its 4 p.m. newscast in 1998 in favor of the short-lived syndicated talk program ''
The Howie Mandel Show ''The Howie Mandel Show'' is an American television variety show hosted by comedian Howie Mandel. The series was launched in daytime syndication on June 22, 1998, and ran for approximately a year before it was canceled in April 1999. Background ...
'', which was canceled after its first season, then, in 1999, the ''Women 2 Women'' public affairs show featuring Martin, Catherine Anaya, Pamela Wright and former KNBC newscaster Kelly Lange. After Viacom's purchase of KCAL-TV, KCBS reintroduced the 4 p.m. newscast, but with it now airing exclusively on KCAL. KCBS-TV began another attempt to get out of the ratings basement at the start of the 21st century.
Kent Shocknek Kent Shocknek is an Emmy-award winning American television and film personality who branched into acting toward the end of a successful career as a TV newscaster. Because of the length of his journalism career, duration of his broadcasts, and bre ...
, former anchor of KNBC's '' Today in L.A.'', joined KCBS to become its morning co-anchor in 2000. The station then hired longtime KABC anchor Harold Greene in 2001 as anchor of its 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts. The following year, Greene was joined by his former partner at KABC,
Laura Diaz Laura Diaz (born April 27, 1975) is an American professional golfer. Diaz was born Laura Philo in Scotia, New York. She won the 1995 North and South Women's Amateur at Pinehurst. In 1996 she won the Eastern Women's Amateur Championship and mad ...
. In 2004, Paul Magers, longtime anchor at
KARE Kare or KARE may refer to: * Kare (Žitorađa), a village in Serbia * Kare language, several languages with the name * Kare (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Kare Kauks (born 1961), Estonian singer * Kåre or Kaar ...
in
Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Minnesota River, Minnesota, and St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota), ...
, replaced Greene on the 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts, bumping Greene to the 4 and 6 p.m. programs. The 4 p.m. newscast moved to KCAL-TV with the arrival of ''Dr. Phil'' on KCBS in September 2004. At the beginning of 2005, longtime KABC weatherman Johnny Mountain moved to KCBS, surprising many. At first, it seemed that none of these changes brought KCBS any closer to becoming a factor in the Los Angeles news ratings. However, in April 2006, KCBS grabbed the No. 2 spot at 5 p.m. from KABC due to a strong lead-in from ''Dr. Phil''. KCBS shot past both KABC and KNBC to take first place at 11 p.m. for the first time in 30 years. 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 A duopoly (from Greek , ; and , ) is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market, and most (if not all) of the competition within that market occurs directly between them. Duopoly is the most commonly ...
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 KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division along ...
in
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
). Both stations also began broadcasting all their local newscasts, sports shows and public affairs programming in
high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *Blu-ray Disc, the universal optical High Definition disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tap ...
, 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 CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
, operating as its Los Angeles/West Coast bureau. On April 1, 2008, the
CBS Television Stations CBS News and Stations is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of United States, American television stations along with CBS News. , the division owns 28 stations: 15 are the core stati ...
division enacted some of the biggest budget cuts in television history, as well as staff
layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...
s across all of its stations. As a result of the cuts, roughly 10 to 15 staffers were released by KCBS/KCAL. The 6 p.m. anchors Harold Greene and Ann Martin, who both also anchored KCAL-TV's 4 p.m. newscast, chose to retire from television news (Greene and Martin were slated to have their contracts expire in June of that year and were both considered for layoffs). Additionally, longtime KCBS reporter Jennifer Sabih, and reporters Greg Phillips and Jennifer Davis, were let go by the station.


=NewsCentral era

= On September 19, 2009, KCBS and KCAL adopted the uniform ''NewsCentral'' brand (unrelated to the news organization of the same name formerly operated by
Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...
). The newscasts were refocused to cover more community news, including stories from outlying communities. Local news headlines from the
Los Angeles Newspaper Group The Southern California News Group (SCNG), formerly the San Gabriel Valley News Group and the Los Angeles News Group, is an umbrella group of local daily newspapers published in the greater Los Angeles area of southern California by Digital Fir ...
and other
MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...
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 Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...
, the
Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...
and Orange County, and the only Los Angeles television station with two helicopters (subcontracted to Angel City Air, owned by reporter Larry Welk).
Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977) and drama '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), making him one of the few ...
introduced the new newscast. CBS denied that the move was made in response to other stations pooling news gathering resources. Ratings under the new format during the November 2009
sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
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 Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
. 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.


=2010–2022

= By spring 2010, the new management had made significant changes to KCBS' news operation. Veteran forecaster Johnny Mountain retired and was replaced by sister KCAL's Jackie Johnson; joining anchor Paul Magers on the lead newscasts was KCAL veteran Pat Harvey. The morning broadcast was also revamped, and the newly renamed ''CBS 2 News'' was given new graphic design and theme music by
Frank Gari Frank Daniel Garofalo (born April 1, 1944), more prominently known as Frank Gari, is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Early life Gari was a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as ...
based on the longstanding ten-note logo originally written by
Dick Marx Richard Henry Marx (April 12, 1924 – August 12, 1997) was an American jazz pianist and arranger. He also composed for film, television, and commercials. Personal life Marx and wife Ruth (née Guildoo) had a son, Richard Marx, pop singer, s ...
and previously used by KCBS on-and-off since the 1970s. The August 3, 2011, edition of the ''CBS Evening News'' with
Scott Pelley Scott Cameron Pelley (born July 28, 1957) is an American author and reporter for CBS News for more than 31 years. Pelley is the author of the 2019 book, ''Truth Worth Telling'', and a correspondent for the CBS News magazine ''60 Minutes''. Pell ...
was produced live from the Dunphy Newsroom, being the first CBS national newscast to originate from the Studio City facility. On January 14, 2012, KCBS (and sister KCAL) began broadcasting morning newscasts on weekends, that compete with those offered by KABC-TV, KNBC and KTLA. The station was one of the last major-market CBS-owned affiliates to schedule local news broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday mornings. In June 2019, CBS News launched a Los Angeles version of its
CBSN CBS News 24/7 (formerly known as CBSN and the CBS News Streaming Network) is an American streaming video news channel operated by the CBS News and Paramount Streaming divisions of Paramount Global. Launched on November 6, 2014, it features block ...
online news network, featuring exclusive programming to the channel, as well as simulcasts of all KCBS and KCAL newscasts, and selected CBS News programs. This is the second cable/streaming news channel targeted to the Los Angeles area currently in operation, besides the cable-based Spectrum News 1 Southern California, which launched in November 2018. The Los Angeles television market's first cable news network was the
Orange County Newschannel The Orange County Newschannel (often branded as OC Newschannel and OCN) was a regional cable news network pioneering a rolling news format, serving Orange County, California south of the Greater Los Angeles area. The channel also pioneered the p ...
, which was in operation from 1990 to 2001, although it was only available and specifically targeted to cable viewers within that county; in OCN's final years, KCBS was a news partner with the channel, with OCN reporters and stories featured on various KCBS newscasts, including a headlines segment on Channel 2's morning newscasts.


=2022–present

= 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 to 11 am. As a replacement, KCBS planned to air the live East Coast broadcast of ''
CBS Mornings ''CBS Mornings'' is an American morning television program which is broadcast on CBS. The program debuted on September 7, 2021, and airs live every weekday from 7:00a.m. to 9:00a.m., EST. It is hosted by Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, Nate Burleson, ...
'' from 4 to 6 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''. CBS News and Stations president 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. Concurrently, it was also revealed that CBS planned to promote KCAL as the main local news outlet of its Los Angeles duopoly; when ''KCAL News Mornings'' premiered on January 5, 2023, news programming across both stations was rebranded as ''KCAL News'', as part of a rebranding of all CBS-owned stations to align themselves with the network's current corporate identity.


Notable current on-air staff

*
Paul Deanno Paul Deanno is a Meteorologist for KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, CA. Previously, Deanno worked as the Chief Meteorologist for KPIX-TV in San Francisco and also worked as a meteorologist at WMAQ-TV in Chicago, WTVJ in Miami, KOMO-TV in Seattl ...
– meteorologist *
Pat Harvey Pat Harvey (born November 13, 1955) is an American broadcast journalist. She joined KCAL 9 in Los Angeles in 1989, and in 2010 began co-anchoring for KCAL sister station KCBS news at 5, 6 & 11 PM. She is the longest-running anchor in prime ti ...
– anchor * Jim Hill – sports anchor and director


Notable former on-air staff

*
Ross Becker Ross Becker is a journalist who primarily works in television, radio, and digital. He is the president and CEO of TvNewsmentor.com, dedicated to growing and mentoring talent. He is also the founding partner of Top News Talent, LLC, a coaching, tra ...
 – reporter/anchor (1980–1990) *
Joseph Benti Joseph Benti is an American former television news correspondent for CBS News who also served as anchor of the CBS Morning News from 1966 until 1970. Based in Los Angeles for most of his career, Benti later worked as a local anchor for KABC-TV and ...
 – anchor (late 1970s) * Jim Castillo – weather anchor (2001–2002) *
Bob Chandler Robert Donald Chandler (April 24, 1949 – January 27, 1995) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. Early life Born in Long Beach, California, Chandler was ...
 – ''2 On the Town'' host (1984–1987) *
Sophia Choi Sophia Choi (born March 5, 1971) is an American news broadcaster at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. Biography Sophia Choi was born in Daegu, Korea. She moved to the U.S. at the age of seven, and attended Hollywood Elementary School in Hollywood, M ...
*
Connie Chung Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich (née Chung; born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist who has been a news anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks American Broadcasting Company, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her m ...
 – anchor/reporter (1976–1983) *
Joel Connable Joel Connable (February 5, 1973 – November 6, 2012) was an American television host, news anchor, and reporter for KOMO-TV in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. He also worked as a travel journalist, running a travel website and a com ...
* Tony Cox – anchor/reporter (1982–1985) *
Ann Curry Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American journalist, who has been a reporter for more than 45 years, focused on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters. Curry has reported from the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palest ...
 – reporter (1984–1990) *
Peter Daut Peter Daut (born September 18, 1983) is an American journalist who has been an anchor and investigative reporter at KESQ-TV in Palm Springs, California, since February 2020. He was born in Torrance, California, grew up in Placentia and graduat ...
 – anchor/reporter (2016–2019) *
Laura Diaz Laura Diaz (born April 27, 1975) is an American professional golfer. Diaz was born Laura Philo in Scotia, New York. She won the 1995 North and South Women's Amateur at Pinehurst. In 1996 she won the Eastern Women's Amateur Championship and mad ...
 – anchor/reporter (2002–2011) * Linda Douglass – political reporter (1983–1985) *
Jerry Dunphy Jerry Dunphy (June 9, 1921 – May 20, 2002) was an American television news anchor in the Los Angeles/Southern California media market. He was best known for his intro "From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California, a good eveni ...
 – anchor (1960–1975, 1995–1996) *
Steve Edwards Steve, Steven or Stephen Edwards may refer to: *Steve Edwards (American football) (born 1979), American football player for the Arizona Rattlers *Steve Edwards (field hockey) (born 1986), New Zealand Olympic field hockey player * Steve Edwards (phy ...
 – weather forecaster/''Two on the Town'' host/entertainment reporter (1978–1981) *
Rich Fields Richard Wayne Fields (born November 30, 1960) is an American media personality, author, motivational speaker, former game show announcer and meteorologist. He is best known as the announcer for the American version of ''The Price Is Right'' with ...
– weather anchor (2010–2016) *
Roy Firestone Roy Firestone (born December 8, 1953) is an American sports commentator and journalist. Firestone is a graduate of Miami Beach High School and the University of Miami. Television career Firestone began his career as a sports anchor and report ...
 – sports anchor/reporter (1977–1985) * Jim Forbes – investigative reporter (1985–1989) * Dr. George Fischbeck – special correspondent (1994–1997) * Gary Franklin – entertainment reporter (1981–1986) * David Garcia – anchor/reporter (1983–1986) *
Carlos Granda Carlos Granda is a reporter for KABC-TV News in Los Angeles. Background Carlos Granda holds a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Florida. He became interested in journalism after w ...
 – now at
KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...
* Harold Greene – anchor (2001–2008) * Drew Griffin – reporter/anchor (1994–2004) * Joel Grover – reporter (1996–2002) * John Hart – reporter (1962–1965) *
Steve Hartman Stephen Robert Hartman (born April 14, 1963) is an American broadcast journalist. Hartman earned a degree in broadcast journalism at Bowling Green State University, graduating in 1985. Hartman lives with his wife, Andrea, and his three childr ...
 – feature reporter (1994–1998) *
Steve Hartman (sportscaster) Steven Ward Hartman (born July 4, 1958 in Hollywood, California) is the host of multiple national shows for the Fox Sports Radio Network. In addition, he is a sports anchor/reporter on KTLA television in Los Angeles.Sandra "Sandy" Hill – (1974–1976, 1982–1986) * Louisa Hodge – meteorologist; general assignment reporter *
Lester Holt Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist who was the news anchor for the weekday edition of ''NBC Nightly News,'' NBC Nightly News Kids Edition, and is currently news anchor for '' Dateline NBC''. On June 18, 2015, Ho ...
 – reporter (1982–1983) *
David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (January 10, 1939 – April 29, 2025) was an American conservative writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website '' FrontPage Magazine''; and ...
 – consumer reporter (1993–1998) *
Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...
 – features reporter (1981–1987) * Jackie Johnson – meteorologist * Ken Jones – anchor/reporter (1976–1982) *
Lisa Joyner Lisa Marie Joyner (born December 31, 1966) is an American entertainment reporter and television host. Life and career Joyner has reported on celebrity news in the Los Angeles area for KTTV and KCBS-TV. She first gained national recognition for h ...
 – entertainment reporter (2002–2006) * David Kaye – station announcer (2003–2010) *
Bill Keene Bill Keene (1927 – April 5, 2000) was a television and radio personality who became famous in the Los Angeles, California, market as a traffic and weather announcer. He was particularly known for his colorful, humorous traffic reports which inc ...
 – weather anchor/''Keene at Noon'' host/traffic reporter (1954–1972, 1987–1993) *
Steve Kmetko Stephen James Kmetko (born February 16, 1953) is an American Broadcast journalism, broadcast and entertainment journalist. First working as a news anchor and reporter in the US Midwest, Kmetko moved to Los Angeles, California, and embarked on a 3 ...
 – reporter/entertainment critic (1980–1992) *
Jim Lampley James Lampley (born April 8, 1949) is an American sportscaster, news anchor, film producer, and restaurant owner. He is best known as a blow-by-blow announcer on ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' for 30 years. He covered a record 14 Olympic ...
 – news and sports anchor (1987–1992) * Kelly Lange – ''Women 2 Women'' host (1999–2001) *
Harvey Levin Harvey Robert Levin (born September 2, 1950) is an American television producer, legal analyst, journalist, and lawyer. He founded the celebrity news website TMZ in 2005, and later briefly served as the host of ''OBJECTified'' (2016–present), ...
 – legal analyst (1987–1997) *
Dorothy Lucey Dorothy Lucey (born November 19, 1958) is an American entertainment reporter who formerly co-hosted '' Good Day L.A.'', the morning news program on Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV for 17 years. Career Lucey graduated from George Washington Unive ...
 – anchor/reporter (1987–1992) *
Paul Magers Paul Magers (born May 15, 1954) is an American former news anchor and reporter, most recently at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, California. Magers was born in Santa Maria, California, and spent the majority of his childhood in Ellensburg, Washington. He ...
 – anchor (2004–2017) *
Dave Malkoff Dave Malkoff (born March 1, 1976) is an American television journalist with CBS News. He has covered some of the most destructive hurricanes in US history. He has hosted more than a dozen documentaries that air on the network under the title "Th ...
 – reporter (2007–2010) * Mario Machado – consumer affairs reporter/''Noontime'' host (1969–1977) *
Rory Markas Rory Markas (December 20, 1955 – January 4, 2010) was an American sportscaster best known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's play-by-play broadcaster for eight seasons and as the radio voice of the University of Southern California men's ba ...
 – sports anchor (1990–1996) *
Jess Marlow Myron Jess Marlow (November 29, 1929 – August 3, 2014) was an American journalist. He was best known for his work on television in Los Angeles, California, where he spent the bulk of his career. Early career Marlow began his television care ...
 – anchor (1980–1986) * Ann Martin – (1994–2008) * Ben McCain – reporter (2000) *
Butch McCain Butch McCain is an American actor, an award winning broadcaster, producer and one-half of the singing-songwriting team, The McCain Brothers. Butch appeared as TV reporter Joachim West in MGM's Bio-Dome, the character, Creel, in Roger Corman's r ...
 – reporter (2000) * Gary Miller – sports anchor (2005–2017) * Dan Miller – anchor/reporter (1986–1987) * Jim Moret – entertainment reporter/anchor (1984–1987) * Byron Miranda – weeknight weather anchor (2002–2005) * DeMarco Morgan – anchor * Johnny Mountain – weeknight weather anchor (2005–2010) * Terry Murphy – anchor/reporter (1980–1984, 1987–1989) *
Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was the original host of their ...
 – anchor/sportscaster/reporter (1978–1981) * Pat O'Brien – anchor/reporter (1978–1981, 1986–1987) * Kevin O'Connell – weather anchor *
Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ra ...
 – sports anchor (1988–1991) *
Warren Olney Warren Olney, Sr. (March 11, 1841 – June 2, 1921) was an American lawyer, conservationist, and politician, in California. He was a founding member, alongside John Muir and the young botany professor, Willis Linn Jepson of the University of ...
 – anchor/reporter (1969–1975, 1986–1989) * Mike Parker – investigative reporter (1977–1980) *
Kyra Phillips Kyra Phillips (born August 8, 1968) is a correspondent for ABC News. Early life and career Phillips was born in Illinois, and grew up in the city of Jacksonville. In the fourth grade, she moved to San Diego, California, where her parents became ...
 – reporter/anchor (1995–2000) *
Maury Povich Maurice Richard Povich (born January 17, 1939) is an American former television personality, best known for hosting the tabloid talk show '' Maury'' which aired from 1991 to 2022. Povich began his career as a radio reporter, initially at WWDC an ...
 – anchor (1977–1978) *
Clete Roberts Clete Roberts (February 1, 1912 – September 30, 1984) was an American broadcast journalist. He began his career in radio news, then transitioned to television, working for stations in California. In later years, he portrayed himself and f ...
 – anchor/reporter (1954–1959, 1966–1973) *
Rob Schmitt Robert Stephen Schmitt (born August 13, 1983) is an American conservative news anchor and political commentator who previously served as a co-host on ''Fox & Friends First''. He stopped appearing on the network in August 2020 and currently hosts ...
 – anchor (2011–2013) *
John Schubeck John Schubeck (March 18, 1936 – September 26, 1997) was an American television reporter and anchor, and one of the few to anchor newscasts on all three network owned-and-operated stations in one major market. Schubeck was born in Detroit, Mic ...
 – anchor (1983–1988) *
David Sheehan David Sheehan (March 31, 1938 – December 1, 2020) was an American broadcaster, interviewer, host and reporter. Starting in 1970 on CBS, Sheehan was a reviewer and interviewer covering movies and television on a daily local newscast. He went on t ...
 – entertainment reporter (1971–1981, 1994–2003) *
Kent Shocknek Kent Shocknek is an Emmy-award winning American television and film personality who branched into acting toward the end of a successful career as a TV newscaster. Because of the length of his journalism career, duration of his broadcasts, and bre ...
 – anchor (2001–2013) * Ralph Story – anchor/features reporter/host of ''Ralph Story's Los Angeles'' (1959–1970, 1978–1985) *
Bill Stout William Job "Bill" Stout (September 4, 1927 – December 1, 1989) was an American journalist and sometime actor, known for his radio and television broadcasting career with CBS News. Early life and education Stout was born William Job Stout in C ...
 – anchor/reporter/"Perspective" commentator (1954–1960, 1972–1989) *
Gil Stratton Gil Stratton Jr. (June 2, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an actor and sportscaster who was born in Brooklyn, New York. He most recently resided in Toluca Lake, California, until his death from congestive heart failure. Early life Stratton wa ...
 – sports anchor (1954–1966, 1969–1990) *
Sharon Tay Sharon Tay (born October 15) is a retired American television news anchor reporter. She was anchor of the '' KTLA Morning News'' and with KCBS-TV/KCAL-TV, and did entertainment news reporting with MSNBC. Sharon Tay Bio">KCBS/KCAL >> Sharon Tay B ...
 – anchor (2007–2020) * Ruth Ashton Taylor – anchor/reporter (1951–1958, 1962–1989) * Tritia Toyota – anchor (1985–1999) *
Michael Tuck Michael Tuck (born 24 June 1953) is a seven-time premiership-winning player, Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) / Australian Football League (AFL). His 426 career games was a VFL ...
 – anchor/"Perspective" commentator (1990–1999) *
Bob Tur Hanna Zoey Tur (born Robert Albert Tur, June 8, 1960) is an American broadcast reporter and commercial pilot who operated the freelance news company Los Angeles News Service with fellow reporter and then-wife Marika Gerrard. Early life and e ...
 – helicopter pilot/reporter *
Charlie Van Dyke Charlie may refer to: Film and television * ''Charlie'' (2015 Malayalam film), an Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Charlie'' (2015 Kannada film), an Indian Kannada-language film * ''Charlie'' (TV series), a 2015 political drama series based ...
 – station announcer (1987–1993) * Sibila Vargas – anchor (2010–2013) * Bree Walker – anchor/reporter (1988–1994) *
Colleen Williams Colleen Ann Williams (born March 6, 1955) is an American Journalism, journalist. She is a news anchor of KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, currently serving on the 5 and 11 p.m. weekday broadcasts. She also reports on occasion for NBC News and MSN ...
 – anchor/reporter (1983–1986) * Alex Witt – (1990–1992) *
Paula Zahn Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series '' On the Case with Paula Zahn' ...
 – anchor/reporter (1986–1987)


Technical information


Subchannels

The station's signal is
multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...
:


Translators

* Inyokern *
Lucerne Valley Lucerne Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) and valley landform in the southern Mojave Desert, in western San Bernardino County, California. Geography The geographic valley is defined by the surrounding Granite Mountains, Ord Mountains ...
*
Morongo Valley Morongo Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) on State Route 62 in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 3,552 at the 2010 census, up from 1,929 at the 2000 census. The town is bordered by Yucca Valley, Californ ...
*
Newberry Springs Newberry Springs is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in the western Mojave Desert of Southern California, located at the foot of the Newberry Mountains (California), Newberry Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, San B ...
* Twentynine Palms


See also

*
KNX (AM) KNX () is a commercial AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It simulcasts an all news radio format with sister station 97.1 KNX-FM, both owned by Audacy, Inc. KNX is one of the oldest stations in the United States, having received its f ...
*
KCBS-FM KCBS-FM (93.1  FM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts an adult hits music format branded "93.1 Jack FM". Unlike most radio stations airing t ...
*
KCBS-TV/FM Tower KCBS-TV/FM Tower (formerly the KNXT/KNX-FM Tower) is a 296.4 meter (972 ft) high guyed radio/television tower on Mount Wilson above Los Angeles (near the Mount Wilson Observatory) at 123 CBS Lane.FCC Antenna Structure RegistrationApplication ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Photos of KCBS's news set

KCBS-TV logos and screenshots from 1950s to the present day

FCC History Cards for KCBS-TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kcbs-Tv 1948 establishments in California CBS affiliates CBS News and Stations Dabl affiliates NFL primary television stations Start TV affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1948
CBS-TV CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...