KCAL-TV

'KCAL-TV' (Channel 9) is an independent station in Los Angeles, California owned by CBS Corporation. CBS also owns KCBS-TV, another station in the Los Angeles media market. Its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.

Contents

History

Early years

RKO ownership, the licensing scandal, sale to Disney

Recent years: CBS purchase

"UPN 9?"

Programming history

Sports Programming

Logos

Previous owners of Channel 9

Newscasts

Personalities

Current Weekday KCAL 9 AND CBS 2 News Anchors

Weekend News Anchors

Weekday Weather Anchors

Weekend Weather Anchors

Sports Anchors And Game Announcers

Reporters

"Thames on 9"

Quotes

Newscast Titles

Movie Umbrella Titles

Rebroadcasters

See also

External links

History

Early years

Channel 9 went on the air as KFI-TV on August 25, 1948, owned by Earle C. Anthony along with KFI-AM 640. Since KFI-AM had long been affiliated with NBC, KFI-TV served for a brief period as L.A.'s NBC television affiliate, until KNBH (now KNBC) went on the air several months later in 1949. The station then went independent, a status it has retained to this day (though it carried some DuMont programming).
Channel 9's engineers made noises about going on strike in 1951, leading Anthony to sell the station to RKO General. It had bought KHJ-AM-FM a few months earlier, so it changed the TV station's calls to KHJ-TV. KHJ radio had been the flagship of the Don Lee Broadcasting System, a regional West Coast radio network. The Don Lee name was so well respected in California broadcasting that KHJ-TV called itself "Don Lee Television" for a few years in the early 1950s, even though it had never been affiliated with KHJ radio until the 1951 deal. Most of Don Lee's television experiments had been conducted on what is now KCBS-TV--ironically, current sister station to channel 9.

RKO ownership, the licensing scandal, sale to Disney

In 1965, RKO faced a threat to its license for KHJ from a group called Fidelity Television. At first, Fidelity's claim focused on KHJ's programming quality. Later, and more seriously, Fidelity claimed that KHJ was involved in reciprocal trade practices. Fidelity alleged that RKO's parent company, General Tire, forced its retailers to purchase advertising on KHJ and other RKO stations as a condition of their contracts with General Tire. An administrative law judge found in favor of Fidelity, but KHJ appealed. In 1972, the FCC allowed RKO to keep the license for KHJ, but two years later conditioned future renewals on the renewal of sister station WNAC (now WHDH-TV) in Boston. Six years later, the FCC stripped WNAC of its license for numerous reasons, but largely because RKO had misled the FCC about corporate misconduct at General Tire. The decision meant KHJ and sister station WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV) in New York lost their licenses as well. However, an appeals court ruled that the FCC had erred when it tied KHJ's renewal to that of WNAC and ordered new hearings for KHJ and WOR.
The hearings dragged on until 1987. That year, an administrative law judge found RKO unfit to be a broadcast licensee due to numerous cases of dishonesty by RKO, including fraudulent billing and lying about its ratings. The FCC advised RKO that it would almost certainly deny any appeals, and persuaded RKO to sell its stations to avoid the indignity of having their licenses taken away. Finally, in 1989, RKO agreed to sell KHJ to Fidelity Television, the group that originally challenged the license in 1965. Fidelity then sold the license to Disney.
Even though Channel 9's longtime radio cousins had changed their calls to KRTH-AM-FM some years before, Disney wanted to make a clean start. Accordingly, it changed the calls to 'KCAL-TV', and briefly branded the station as "California 9" before settling on "K-CAL 9."
In 1995, Disney purchased Capital Cities/ABC, which owned ABC's West Coast flagship, KABC-TV. Due to FCC regulations at the time, Disney was not allowed to keep both KABC and KCAL. Disney chose to divest KCAL, which was purchased by Young Broadcasting.

Recent years: CBS purchase

As a result of massive debt acquired from purchasing the former NBC affiliate in San Francisco, KRON-TV (which went independent, and now is affiliated with My Network TV), Young Broadcasting put KCAL up for sale in 2002, and the station was purchased by CBS Corporation. KCAL's operations were merged with those of KCBS, and KCAL moved from its longtime headquarters at the Paramount Studios (a Viacom property and former owner of rival KTLA) in Hollywood to the historic CBS Columbia Square, home to KCBS-FM-TV and KNX-AM, located one mile away. In 2004, CBS Corporation announced plans to relocate its Los Angeles television stations to a new studio and office complex on the site of its CBS Studio Center in Studio City in 2006, located 5 miles away in the San Fernando Valley. The move was completed in April, 2007.

"UPN 9?"

When CBS Corporation (then Viacom) bought KCAL, many in the broadcasting industry speculated that they would move its UPN network affiliation from Fox-owned KCOP-TV to KCAL, making KCAL a UPN O&O. KCOP's previous owners, Chris-Craft Industries, had until 2000 owned a stake in UPN, and KCOP was considered a UPN O&O, which ended with Fox's buyout of Chris-Craft's TV stations division, United Television. However, CBS Corporation decided to leave KCAL as an independent, as Fox renewed its affiliation agreement for its UPN-affiliated stations. Some said the reason is that Fox used KCOP for leverage to keep UPN on WWOR in New York and WPWR-TV in Chicago because CBS Corporation did not have duopolies in those cities.
This issue became moot in January 2006 due to the announcement of The CW, a broadcast network created from a merger of UPN and The WB. The new network launched in September 2006, with KTLA affiliating with The CW and KCOP with My Network TV, a new network created by Fox (which itself is owned by News Corp). KCAL is still independent, at least for now. And in markets where the Tribune Company owned a WB affiliate through a 25% stake in the defunct network, KCAL is now among a series of independent stations owned by CBS as the original one. The other two stations include former UPN stations KTXA in Dallas-Fort Worth, and WSBK in Boston.
Although KCAL is an independent station, it has aired programming from the CBS network on at least two occasions. On August 30, 2007, it aired an elimination episode of ''Big Brother 8'' and a rerun of '' because KCBS carried a National Football League preseason game between the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers at the same time. In 2005, an episode of ''Big Brother 6'' was bumped to KCAL as KCBS aired an Oakland Raiders preseason game.

Programming history

For many years since the station's launch, the showing of motion pictures originally intended for theatrical release was a prime staple of KHJ's programming. Many of these movies were from RKO's film library; in fact, a major reason General Tire bought RKO in the first place was to give its stations a programming source. The quality of these showings was somewhat reduced by the necessity for editing in order to show paid advertising.
KHJ programmed a similar format as KTLA in the 1960s and 1970s. By the late 1960s, Channel 9 offered a blend of movies from the 1940s through '60s (and '70s by 1975). The station also ran a blend of drama shows, westerns, sitcoms, cartoons, professional sports, older movies, syndicated talk shows, game shows, public-affairs shows, locally produced talk shows, religious shows, and live local news.
By the mid 1970s, the cartoons were gone (moving to KTTV and KCOP), and the station ran far fewer off-network sitcoms. It focused more on talk shows, game shows, older movies, and dramas. It did have a weekday children's show called 'Froozles', which ran until the late 1980s. It also produced a local talk show called 'Mid Morning L.A.', hosted over the years by Bob Hilton, Meredith MacRae, Geoff Edwards and Regis Philbin, which ran well into the 1980s. Edwards and MacRae won Emmy Awards for their hosting duties during the early-1980s. Some other locally produced public affairs shows included the investigate show "Camera 9", and "The Changing Family", a program about family and social issues during the 1980s.
The station abruptly changed formats in the late 1980s, in the wake of its ownership change to Disney. It added a number of cartoons, some of which were from the Walt Disney library. The station also ran other syndicated cartoons, as well as a lot of off-network family sitcoms. For a while it also aired a few first-run syndicated talk shows and movies, as well as dramas.
In the 1970s, KHJ had a 10 p.m. newscast. It was moved to 9 p.m. during the 1980s, and the station later added a half-hour 8 p.m. Newscast during the late 1980s. Some of its most notable personalities included AnchorsJerry Dunphy Pat Harvey, Tom Lawrence, Nathan Roberts, Lonnie Lardner, Linda Edwards, and weathercaster '', and ''Without A Trace''. KCAL is the Southern California home of the annual Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day telethon, which it has carried since 1997.
In February 2007, KCAL premiered KCAL 9 HD, the station's high definition simulcast on Time Warner Cable Channel 409 on its Los Angeles-area systems. For over-the-air viewers, KCAL 9 HD is also available on digital channel 43 (virtual channel 9.1). Currently, KCAL broadcasts all Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers games in High Definition.
On April 21, 2007, KCBS and KCAL-TV moved from historic CBS Columbia Square in Hollywood to an all-digital facility at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City. The move marks many changes at KCBS and KCAL. Both stations began broadcasting all their newscasts, sports shows, and public affairs programming in High Definition, becoming the third and fourth station in Los Angeles to do so; the other being KABC-TV in February 2006, and KTLA in January of 2007. In addition, KCBS and KCAL now operate in a completely tapeless newsroom. This newsroom is named after the late veteran newscaster Jerry Dunphy, who worked at both stations in the past.
With the move, KTLA and KCET are the only stations (either in radio or television) in Los Angeles to broadcast from Hollywood.

Sports Programming

For much of its history, sports have been a part of Channel 9's identity, even more so today. From 1961 to 1963, KHJ-TV was the television home of MLB's then Los Angeles Angels. The team moved to KTLA starting in 1964, when Angels team owner Gene Autry bought KTLA. Channel 9 has been the broadcast home of Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association since 1977, and it has the longest current consecutive station-team broadcast partnership in the NBA. The station began its 30th season of Lakers telecasts starting in the 2006-07 NBA season.
In 1996, KCAL once again became the broadcast TV home of the then-California Angels, now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and added more basketball coverage with the Los Angeles Clippers, in addition to its Lakers telecasts. The station and the Clippers parted ways in 2003. The Clippers eventually signed with KTLA. The Angels departed KCAL after the 2005 season, moving to KCOP.
In 1997, KCAL premiered the first fifteen-minute weekday sports report "Final Quarter." The show was an expansion of the typical five minute sports report seen towards the end of a newscast. Several years later the show was renamed "KCAL 9 Sports News" and with the purchase by CBS Corporation, joined sister-station KCBS-TV and was renamed "Sports Central." The show was recently expanded to a full half-hour on Saturday and Sunday nights. With the termination of the ''Southern California Sports Report'' on Fox Sports Net West/Prime Ticket, this is the only nightly detailed sports highlights show on local television.
KCAL recently became the new over-the-air television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, televising at least 50 games a year. Also, KCAL recently signed a contract extension to continue to carry Lakers games through the end of the current decade, which would give them a 30-plus-year relationship with the NBA team. KCAL carries a minimum of 35 road games per season, with FSN West given the rights to home games. KCAL also carried selected games from the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer until 2005, when the games became cable-exclusive to FSN West.
In addition, KCAL broadcasted selected weekend Anaheim Ducks games since the team's first season in 1993. The Ducks moved their over-the-air broadcasts to KDOC in 2005-06. KCAL was also home to the Los Angeles Kings in the early 1980s and again during the mid-to-late 1990's.
In the summer of 2006, KCBS and KCAL switched local coverage of National Football League preseason games of the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. After the previous eight seasons on KCBS, Raiders preseason games moved to KCAL (which originally carried Raiders preseason games in the mid-1990s), while the Chargers games (which aired on KCAL in 2005) went to KCBS. Both teams' telecasts use production staff and graphics from CBS Sports, although the announcers used for each broadcast are employed by their respective teams. (It is interesting to note also that KCAL simulcast the ESPN and TNT feeds of Sunday night football games in which the Raiders and then-Los Angeles Rams [now St. Louis Rams] played from 1990 to 1993. Such simulcasts are required by the NFL because cable and satellite television do not reach all TV households.)
In 2007, KCAL did not air any preseason games, as it lost the broadcast rights to the Raiders to KTLA.

Logos

Previous owners of Channel 9

★ '1948–1951:' Earle C. Anthony, Inc.

★ '1951–1989:' RKO General Inc.

★ '1989–1995:' Walt Disney Company

★ '1995–2002:' Young Broadcasting

Newscasts

KCAL's newscasts run the gamut in tone. Its 8 p.m. newscast is generally an update on the day's news, which are much of the stories devoted to California and local news, and was previously branded ''California Report.'' Its 9 p.m. newscast is generally the most serious newscast and was branded in previous years as the ''Prime 9 News World Report''. The 9 p.m. newscast prominently features political, business, and international news. The noon newscast, on the other hand, features lighter stories, including features on food, health, and entertainment news. The 4 p.m. newscast is essentially a repurposed KCBS newscast and is done with KCBS anchors Harold Greene and Ann Martin, who did not appear recently elsewhere on KCAL.
The 4 p.m. newscast was moved to KCAL from KCBS to make room for ''Dr. Phil'', which by contract is not allowed to air opposite ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', which in Los Angeles airs on KABC-TV at 3 p.m.. Its 10 p.m. newscast is simply more of an update of the 8 p.m. news, as it competes with KTTV and KTLA, and in the past KCOP, though in recent years, it has been shortened to 30 minutes, in order to make way for ''Sports Central'', the only comprehensive local sports news program in Southern California (since the demise of the ''Southern California Sports Report'' on Fox Sports Net).
Because of the amount of news on the station, KCAL is known as the station showing the most police chases. Often regular news programming is dropped to cover a police chase, and programming following the news is sometimes pre-empted to show the chase's conclusion.

Personalities

Current Weekday KCAL 9 AND CBS 2 News Anchors

★ Laura Diaz - CBS 2 News at 5pm and 11pm

★ David Gonzales - KCAL 9 News at Noon and 2pm

★ Harold Greene - KCAL 9 News at 4pm and CBS 2 News at 6pm

★ Pat Harvey - KCAL 9 News at 8pm and 10pm

★ Mia Lee - KCAL 9 News At Noon, 2pm, and 3pm

★ Sylvia Lopez - KCAL 9 News at 9pm

★ Paul Magers - CBS 2 News at 5pm and 11pm

★ Ann Martin- KCAL 9 News at 4pm and CBS 2 News at 6pm

★ Suzanne Rico - CBS 2 News at 5am and 6am

★ Kent Shocknek - CBS 2 News at 5am, 6am, and 11am

★ Sandra Mitchell - CBS 2 News at 11am

★ Rick Chambers - KCAL 9 News At 8pm.9pm And 10pm

Weekend News Anchors

★ Linda Alvarez - CBS 2 News Weekends at 5pm, 6pm, and 11pm and KCAL 9 News Weekends at 8pm

★ Dave Clark - KCAL 9 News Weekends at 9pm And 10pm

★ Leyna Nguyen - KCAL 9 News Weekends at 9pm And 10pm

★ Glen Walker - CBS 2 News Weekends at 5pm, 6pm and 11pm and KCAL 9 News Weekends at 8pm

Weekday Weather Anchors

★ Henry DiCarlo - Meteorologist, CBS 2 News at 5am And 6am

★ Jackie Johnson - Chief Meteorologist, KCAL 9 News At 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm

★ Johnny Mountain - Chief Meteorologist, CBS 2 News at 5pm, 6pm, and 11pm

★ Josh Rubenstein - Weather Anchor, CBS 2 News at 11am and KCAL 9 News at Noon, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm

Weekend Weather Anchors

★ Kaj Goldberg - Weather Anchor, CBS 2 News Weekends at 5pm, 6pm, and 11pm and KCAL 9 News Weekends at 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm

Sports Anchors And Game Announcers

★ Eric Dickerson - 'NFL This Morning' analyst

★ Steve Hartman - Weekend Sports Anchor and 'Sports Central' Co-Host

★ Jim Hill - Sports director and 'Sports Central' Co-Host,Sports Anchor For CBS 2 News At 6pm And 11pm

★ John Ireland - Sports-(Cub Side Reporter For Laker Games)

★ Eric Karros - Sports- (Pre-Game Reporter For Dodger Games)

★ Gary Miller - Sports-Also Host Of LTV And Dodgers Pre Game

★ James Worthy - LTV Co-Host

★ Vin Scully-Dodger Games-Home Games And NL West Games

★ Charlie Steiner-Dodger Road Games Outside The NL West

★ Steve Lyons-Dodger Road Games-Outside The NL West

★ Joel Meyers-Lakers Play By Play Announer

★ Stu Luntz

Reporters

★ Dave Bryan - Political Reporter

★ Stacey Butler - Reporter

★ Sharon Tay-Freelance Reporter

★ Mark Coogan - Reporter

★ Jennifer Davis - Reporter

★ Juan Fernandez (TV reporter) - reporter

★ Jaime Garza - Reporter

★ Michele Gile - Orange County Reporter

★ David Goldstein - Investigative Reporter

★ Vera Jimenez - Traffic Reporter

★ Dave Lopez - Orange County Reporter

★ Dave Malkoff - Reporter

★ Mary Beth McDade - Reporter

★ Christina McLarty - Entertainment Reporter

★ Randy Paige - Consumer Investigative Reporter

★ Greg Phillips - Inland Empire Reporter

★ Jennifer Sabih - Reporter

★ Lisa Sigell - Reporter

★ Larry Welk - NewsChopper 2 Pilot / Reporter
'CBS2.com'

★ Mark Liu - Webcaster / Assignment Editor / Blogger

★ Jen McBride - Webcaster / Web Producer . Former Anchors

★ Jerry Dunphy-(1990-1994},(1997-2002} (Died In 2002)

★ David Jackson-Orignal News Anchor (1990s),And (2004-2006)

★ Kerry Kilbride-(1990-2006)

★ Alan Mendelson

★ Byron Miranda Now at KTVU-TV in San Francisco

★ Lisa Joyner - entertainment reporter Now With Tv Guide Channel

★ Tawny Little

★ Linda Breakstone - reporter (1994-2005)

★ David Sheehan - entertainment reporter (1971-81 and 1994-2003)

★ Jane Velez-Mitchell - reporter (1990-2002)

★ Joel Connable

★ Sharon Ito, (1990-1993 as a reporter, now at KXTV in Sacramento, Ca

★ Carl Bell-Now Weather Anchor For Today In LA Weekends On KNBC-TV

★ Dilva Henry - health reporter

★ Paul Dandridge-reporter

★ Joe Fowler- Sports-Orignal Sports Anchor Of PRIME 9 News

★ Gary Cruz- Sports-(Now The Weekend Sports Anchor For KPHO-TV

★ Tricia Kean - reporter (2000-2003, now at KTNV in Las Vegas)

★ Alan Massengale - Sports

★ Darrin Horton

★ Rex Hudler Now With KCOP-TV

★ Steve Physioc Now With KCOP-TV

★ Jerry Reuss Now Wirh KFMB

★ Rick Monday

★ Felicia Jeter - anchor/reporter (c1981), later worked at KHOU-TV

"Thames on 9"

From June 11 to June 15, 1978, KHJ aired "Thames on 9," in which the entire night's lineup of programs was turned over to Great Britain's Thames Television. Shows included ''Man About the House'', a forerunner of ''Three's Company'', and ''The Benny Hill Show''.
A similar stunt had run two years earlier in the New York area on WOR, which was KHJ's sister station.

Quotes

★ ''"The chances of winning the Mega Millions are a gajillion to one but some people feel they will be that one"'' --Ann Martin, 8 November 2005

★ ''"If news is a minute old, it's old news"'' — David Jackson, 2005 (on a series of channel promotions)

Newscast Titles

★ ''The Channel 9 News'' (1970s-1980s)

★ ''The Ten O'Clock News'' (1970s-early 1980s)

★ ''The Nine O'Clock News'' (1983-1989)

★ ''Prime 9 News'' (1990-1995)

★ ''KCAL 9 News'' (1995-present)

Movie Umbrella Titles

★ ''The Million Dollar Movie'' (1967-1989)

★ ''Saturday Night Showcase'' (1970s-1980s)

★ ''3:30 Movie'' (1981-1986)

★ ''Frandsen's Feature'' hosted by Tom Frandsen (1960s-early 1980s)

★ ''Fright Night'' (1967-1984)

★ ''Elvira's Movie Macabre'' (Fall 1981-1991)

★ ''Channel 9 Evening Movie'' (1980s)

★ ''California 9 Cinema'' (1990-1995)

★ ''K-CAL 9 Cinema'' (1995-present)

Rebroadcasters

KCAL is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

★ 'K34EU' Morongo Valley

★ 'K41CY' Daggett

★ 'K54AD' Lucerne Valley

★ 'K09MG' Ridgecrest

★ 'K45GQ' Ridgecrest

★ 'K14JT' Joshua Tree

See also

★ RKO General

External links

★ Official CBS2/KCAL9 Website

★ Photos of KCAL's set

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