KCBS makes news with a late comeback
For decades at KCBS-TV Channel 2, if there was champagne on ice and the big boss was working the room, it probably meant one of two things -- a mistaken delivery or someone had just been fired.
But earlier this month, both elements -- chilled bubbly and CBS President and CEO Les Moonves -- were present at the KCBS broadcast center in Hollywood. The heady mix marked an extraordinary celebration in the once-downtrodden newsroom: The affiliate had recently been crowned ratings champion of the local late-night newscast for the first time in more than three decades.
The surprise visit by the CBS chief rallied the troops more than a news chopper exclusive of a freeway car chase at rush hour and helped honor the end of a decades-long losing streak that perhaps only the Los Angeles Clippers could understand.
"His visit to the newsroom was a huge psychological paycheck," said local news veteran Laura Diaz, who co-anchors the 11 p.m. news with relative newcomer Paul Magers. "There are people who've worked here for decades and have never experienced being No. 1
The last time the station reveled in first-place glory for its 11 p.m. newscast was in the early 1970s when Jerry Dunphy and "The Big News" commanded the local airwaves. The top ratings are more a reflection of CBS' strong nighttime programming -- particularly with older adults, a prime audience for evening newscasts -- and the personal appeal of its revamped news team than any truly distinctive journalism that separates it from its closest rivals, according to analysts.
"It was the shaking of a curse," said Johnny Mountain, KCBS' gregarious weatherman who came aboard only 13 months ago after years at KABC-TV Channel 7. "You don't want to use the word 'euphoric' -- I can't spell that word -- but people here are on cloud nine."
For decades, Southern California's 11 p.m. newscasts had been dominated by KNBC-TV Channel 4 and KABC, with the former typically finishing No. 1 in the coveted time period in recent years. But the May sweeps anointed KCBS the winner this time. KCBS attracted an average of 396,000 viewers each night, just outdistancing its closest competitors KNBC with 391,000 and KABC with 382,000.
The KCBS numbers mark a reversal of fortune from four years ago, when its 11 p.m. newscast drew just 230,000 average nightly viewers -- fewer than half of KABC's 467,000 and just over a third of KNBC's monster number of 616,000.
