KCBS-TV

KCBS-TV, "CBS2 Los Angeles" is CBS owned and operated television station in the Los Angeles area. The station is seen via satellite through Dish Network and DirecTV.

History

KCBS-TV is the second oldest commercially-licensed television station in California, behind KTLA Channel 5. It was created by Don Lee Broadcasting, which owned a chain of radio stations on the Pacific Coast, and was first licensed by the Federal Radio Commission as an experimental television station under the call sign W6XAO in June 1931. On December 23, 1931 it went on the air, and by March 1933 was broadcasting one hour daily except Sundays. The station was the first to use an electrical scanning system with no moving parts, but broadcast only film footage. It went off the air in 1935, and then reappeared using an all-electronic system with a 300-line image for a month-long demonstration in June 1936. By August 1937, W6XAO had programming on the air six days per week. Live programming started in April 1938.

Related Topics:
KTLA - Don Lee Broadcasting - Pacific Coast - Federal Radio Commission - December 23 - 1931

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By 1939, with the image improved to 441 lines, an optimistic estimate of the station's viewership was 1,500 people in a few hundred homes. All of the receiver sets were built by television hobbyists because commercially-made sets were not yet available in Los Angeles. The station's six-day weekly schedule consisted of live talent four nights, and film two nights. 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 1945 when the FCC decided to reserve Channel 1 for low-wattage community television stations.

Related Topics:
FCC - Channel 1 - Community television

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The station was granted a commercial license and became KTSL-TV on May 6, 1948, "TSL" being the initials of Thomas S. Lee, station owner and son of founder Don Lee. It affiliated with the DuMont Television Network later that year.

Related Topics:
May 6 - 1948 - Thomas S. Lee - DuMont Television Network

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On January 1, 1951, CBS gave up its 49 percent stake in KTSL's competitor KTTV and purchased KTSL. CBS programming moved to Channel 2. In November of 1951, KTSL changed its call letters to KNXT, to coincide with CBS' Los Angeles outlet, KNX-AM 1070.

Related Topics:
January 1 - 1951 - KNX-AM 1070

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In 1960, Channel 2 created the nation's first one-hour local newscast, "The Big News," which featured the late Jerry Dunphy, one of Southern California's most beloved news icons (along with legendary weatherman Bill Keene and sportscaster Gil Stratton. This helped make Channel 2 the number-one news station in Los Angeles, much like its sister stations, WBBM-TV in Chicago and WCBS-TV in New York City. Eventually, KNXT expanded to two-and-a-half hours of live local news. However, in the mid 1970s, rival KABC-TV began gaining ratings at KNXT's expense. The station fired Dunphy (who was quickly hired by KABC) and adopted a format similar to KABC's Eyewitness News. It didn't work, and KNXT rapidly fell to last place.

Related Topics:
1960 - Jerry Dunphy - Bill Keene - Gil Stratton - WBBM-TV - Chicago - WCBS-TV - New York City - 1970s - KABC-TV - Eyewitness News

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On April 2, 1984, at noon, KNXT changed its call letters to the present KCBS-TV. In 1997, it adopted the "CBS2" moniker for its on-air image, following the lead of its Chicago and New York sisters. In 2002, KCBS-TV became sister stations with KCAL after the latter was purchased by Viacom.

Related Topics:
April 2 - 1984 - 1997 - 2002 - KCAL - Viacom

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Aside from a brief period in the mid-1990s, when its 6 pm news managed to tie KABC for first place, KCBS has been in last place in the Los Angeles TV ratings for most of the last 30 years, but in recent years the station's 11pm newscast has outdrawn that of UPN affiliate KCOP, which moved from 10pm. Still, that newscast remains in third place, behind KNBC and KABC-TV. In 2001 the station hired Harold Greene, longtime anchor at KABC, as its 6 pm anchor. A year later, he was joined by his former partner at KABC, Laura Diaz. Still, KCBS has yet to be a serious factor in the local ratings.

Related Topics:
UPN - KCOP - KNBC - 2001

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The station's longtime home on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CBS Columbia Square will be vacated, and Viacom has plans to relocate its Los Angeles television stations to a new office complex on the site of its CBS Studio Center in Studio City in 2006, located 5 miles away in the San Fernando Valley. Groundbreaking of the new KCAL/KCBS-TV studios took place on June 17, 2005.

Related Topics:
Sunset Boulevard - Hollywood - CBS Columbia Square - CBS Studio Center - 2006 - June 17 - 2005

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Former callsigns

• 1948–1951: KTSL
• 1951–1984: KNXT
• 1984–present: KCBS-TV