WCBS-TV

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WCBS-TV
New York, New York
Branding	CBS 2
Slogan	We Are CBS 2
Channels	2 (VHF) analog, 56 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS
Owner	CBS Corporation
Founded	July 1, 1941 (originally experimental W2XAB 1931-33 and 1940-41)
Call letters meaning	W Columbia Broadcasting System
Former callsigns	WCBW (1941-1946)
Former affiliations	None
Transmitter Power	45 kW/389 m (analog) 349 kW/397 m (digital)
Website	www.wcbstv.com

WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship television station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. Its signal, currently broadcasting from the Empire State Building, covers the three-state New York metropolitan area. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center in midtown Manhattan.

In the few areas of the eastern United States where viewers cannot receive CBS programs over-the-air, WCBS-TV is available on satellite to subscribers of Dish Network and DirecTV, which also provides coverage of the station to Latin America.

[edit] History

WCBS-TV's history dates back to CBS' opening of experimental station W2XAB on July 31, 1931. Its initial broadcast featured New York Mayor Jimmy Walker, Kate Smith and George Gershwin. The station boasted the first regular seven-day broadcasting schedule in American television, broadcasting 28 hours a week. On November 8, 1932, W2XAB broadcast the first television coverage of presidential election returns. The station suspended operations on February 20, 1933; it returned on September 3, 1940 with the first color broadcast in the United States.

On June 24, 1941 W2XAB received a commercial license as WCBW. It went on the air at 2:30 pm on July 1, an hour after rival WNBT (formerly W2XBS and now WNBC), making it the second licensed commercial television station in the United States. Its first broadcast was the first local newscast aired on a commercial station in the country. Regular operations began on October 29, and it received a full license on March 10, 1942. The call letters were changed to WCBS-TV on November 1, 1946. In 1997, it adopted the CBS 2 name along with sister stations KCBS-TV in Los Angeles and WBBM-TV in Chicago, while retaining a unique and distinctive logo. The practice of CBS-owned stations placing the network identity ahead of their local identity would end up being known as the CBS Mandate.

During the September 11, 2001 attacks, channel 2 stayed on the air. Unlike most of the other major New York television stations, it had long maintained a full-powered backup transmitter at the Empire State Building after moving its main transmitter to the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The station was also simulcasted nationally on Viacom (which at the time owned CBS) cable network VH1 that day. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the station lent transmission time to the other stations who had lost their transmitters until they found suitable backup equipment and locations.

[edit] Logos

While CBS was well-known for its precise branding standards in its glory days, WCBS-TV itself did not have a standard logo until 1986. The station simply put the CBS Eye in front of a "2" in whatever font was available.

After the station began calling itself "CBS 2" on-air, the "2" became slightly slanted, with the Eye usually in yellow or gold. The "CBS" font changed from an italicized Helvetica to the proprietary CBS Didot font (used exclusively by CBS Corporation and CBS affiliates) in 2000.

[edit] News operation

Roz Abrams and Jim Rosenfield were seen together on CBS 2 News at 5 and 11 p.m. from June 2005 to April 2006.

Chief meteorologist John Bolaris in the middle of his "Extended Trend" yell. The trend and yell have since been discontinued.

A WCBS "Shame on You" promo. "Shame on You" reporter Arnold Diaz left in December 2005, and the segment has been discontinued. Arnold Diaz can now be seen on WNYW, presenting a similar segment entitled "Shame, Shame, Shame".

WCBS-TV has a very rich tradition in local news, which is not surprising for the station that aired the first newscast on an American television station. Broadcast news pioneer Robert Trout did double duty as a CBS correspondent and as channel 2's main anchor for many years. In 1965, he left for a new assignment in Europe and was succeeded by Jim Jensen. Jensen had only come to WCBS a year earlier, but was already well-known for his coverage of Robert F. Kennedy's 1964 campaign for the United States Senate. His gravelly voice and demeanor were very similar to that of Walter Cronkite, and he was reportedly the model for the character of Jim Dial (played by Charles Kimbrough) on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown. The station was known in the New York area as a hard news station, with lots of investigative reports and features. Like sister station WBBM-TV, which took a similar approach, it was one of the most respected local news operations in the country.

Under Jensen, WCBS-TV surged past WNBC-TV into first place in the news ratings, and stayed there for most of the time until the mid-1980s. WCBS-TV's better-known personalities during this era included anchors Rolland Smith and Carol Martin; meteorologists Frank Field and Irv "Mr. G." Gikofsky; reporters Michelle Marsh, Tony Guida and Arnold Diaz; and sportscaster Warner Wolf. Smith and Field were New York television legends in their own right, while Martin was one of the first African-American female anchors on New York television.

Channel 2 first faced real competition after WABC-TV (channel 7) introduced Eyewitness News to New York. For most of the 1970s, WCBS-TV went back and forth in first place with channel 7. During this time, WCBS-TV's main anchor team of Jensen and Smith went head-to-head with WABC-TV's Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel. In the early 1980s, WABC-TV lost some momentum, but WCBS-TV faced a new challenger when WNBC-TV became the first station to run a successful newscast at 5 p.m. However, channel 2 scored a major coup when it lured Field from WNBC in 1984. For much of the early 1980s, New York's "Big Three" stations went back and forth in first place. During this time, three of the longest-tenured anchor teams in New York--WCBS-TV's Jensen and Smith, WABC-TV's Grimsby and Beutel and WNBC's Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons--went head-to-head with each other.

In 1987, WABC surged past WCBS for the lead, and channel 2's ratings went into rapid decline. One of management's more controversial responses was to take Jensen off the anchor desk in late 1994 and demote him to host of a Sunday morning public-affairs show, Sunday Edition. At the time, Jensen had served as an anchor longer than anyone in New York television history (he has since been passed by WABC-TV's Beutel and WNBC's Scarborough). The move was roundly criticized by many in New York, especially since WCBS-TV had supported him after he went into drug rehabilitation in 1988. Station management came under more fire in 1995 when Jensen was forced to retire shortly after the Westinghouse Electric Corporation announced it was buying CBS. By the end of 1995, channel 2 had crashed into last place for the first time in its history, and has remained there for most of the last decade.

[edit] 1996 "massacre"

On October 2, 1996, the station executed an unprecedented mass firing without any advance warning, citing the need to shake up its news operation. Seven people were fired: anchors John Johnson, Michele Marsh and Tony Guida; sports anchor Bernie Smilovitz; and reporters Reggie Harris, Roseanne Colletti, and Magee Hickey. The firings came after the 6 p.m. newscast. Johnson and Marsh had anchored the 5:00 newscasts and signed off at 6:00 saying, "We'll see you at 11," but never got a chance to say goodbye on the air.

"The massacre," as it has come to be known, was part of a move to boost ratings, although it came at a time when CBS was under pressure to boost revenues, having been acquired by Westinghouse. It was also part of a major reconstruction of the newscast, culminating in the May 1997 rebranding to News 2.

[edit] WCBS-TV news in the 2000s

In 2000, Joel Cheatwood, creator of the 7 News format at WSVN in Miami, came in as news director. At his suggestion, the news department rebranded itself from News 2 to the CBS 2 Information Network, using "content partners" such as U.S. News & World Report and VH1. He also gave the newscasts more of a tabloid feel. While considerably watered down compared to Fox flagship WNYW and to Cheatwood's work at WSVN--and even compared to WHDH-TV in Boston--it was much flashier than had previously been seen on New York's "Big Three" affiliates. It didn't work, and Cheatwood was gone by 2002 in favor of New York veteran news director Dianne Doctor, most recently of WNBC. The station became simply CBS 2, and gradually phased out the tabloid elements. In its place, Doctor introduced a "news for the people" approach similar to that of WNBC.

After Doctor's arrival, WCBS placed a revived emphasis on hard news, while attempting to revive some elements of its glory days. For instance, in 2003 Arnold Diaz rejoined the station to revive "Shame on You," an Emmy-winning series of investigative segments. He had previously worked at the station from 1973 to 1995. In December 2005, Diaz once again departed, this time leaving for WNYW. Another segment was "Eat at Your Own Risk," which highlights unsafe conditions at New York-area restaurants. Ironically, the cafeteria at the CBS Broadcast Center was cited for violations by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Violations included the presence of rats and roaches, as well as food temperature issues ([1] [2] [3]).

Despite this and other attempts at fixes, the ratings did not significantly improve under Doctor's watch. Doctor was criticized for airing "Shame on You" and "Eat at Your Own Risk" segments ahead of major stories. She also came under fire when channel 2 led its 11 p.m. newscast of May 24, 2005 with a story and exclusive video of actor Burt Reynolds slapping a CBS producer, while rivals WABC-TV and WNBC-TV led with an important vote in the U.S. House on stem cell research.

Former WNBC Live at Five anchor Jim Rosenfield on his first day on CBS 2 News at 5, just a few weeks after he left WNBC in 2005.

On May 27, 2004, Doctor fired popular sports anchor Warner Wolf, three months before his contract expired, without giving Wolf a chance to say goodbye on air. This incident was widely panned by several newspapers, including the New York Daily News [4]. The move alienated and angered many viewers. Wolf was replaced by the much younger Chris Wragge.

On June 1, 2005 Jim Rosenfield rejoined the station to anchor the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts with Roz Abrams. He'd previously worked at the station from 1998 to 2000 before moving to WNBC (to anchor Live at Five) after a contract dispute with channel 2. Rosenfield replaced Ernie Anastos, who moved to WNYW in July.

On August 22, 2005, WCBS-TV launched its new Doppler radar named "Live Doppler 2 Million". It has one million watts of power, and is live, compared to other dopplers in the market which are delayed by about 15 minutes. "Live Doppler 2 Million" was the punch line of a joke on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live and also was ridiculed on the popular Opie and Anthony radio show. The station renamed the radar in 2006 to "Live Doppler". The station also uses a VIPIR radar. Coincidentally, WCBS transportation reporter Arthur Chi'en was fired from the station three months earlier after mistakenly using expletives live on the air in response to someone from Opie and Anthony disrupting his live report as part of their "Assault on the Media" contest.

On April 14, 2006, Dianne Doctor left WCBS-TV. The station decided to move its news department in a new direction under new general manager Peter Dunn, who axed "Shame on You" and "Eat at Your Own Risk". Doctor reportedly did not agree with the new plans, and opted to leave. The station has since overhauled its graphics and anchor lineup, winning praise from media observers. It is too early to tell whether this will lift WCBS out of last place, however. For the last decade, WNBC and WABC-TV have fought it out for first, while reruns of Seinfeld (on WNYW) and Spanish-language newscasts (on WXTV and WNJU) regularly finish ahead of channel 2's 11 p.m. newscast.

WCBS-TV cooperates with sister station KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the production and broadcast of statewide New Jersey political debates. When the two stations broadcast a statewide office debate, such as for Governor or US Senate, they will pool resources and have anchors or reporters from both stations participate in the debate. Additionally, the two stations cooperate in the gathering of news in New Jersey where their markets overlap; sharing reporters, live trucks, and helicopters.

From 2002 to 2004, the station was the broadcast home of the New York Yankees, with the broadcasts produced by the YES Network. WCBS-TV lost the broadcast rights to WWOR-TV in 2005.

Like other CBS-owned stations, WCBS-TV offers a web only newscast called "CBS 2 at Your Desk", available weekdays at 9 a.m. (anchored by Maurice DuBois or Kate Sullivan). Also, you can see streamlined news casts of the noon, 5 and 6 p.m, and the 11 P.M. newscasts (anchored by Kristine Johnson, Chris Wragge, Dana Tyler, and Jim Rosenfield). There is also a "LoHud Report" edition of "At Your Desk", operated by WCBS-TV and LoHud.com, the website for The Journal News, a Gannett Company-owned newspaper covering Westchester County and other areas of the lower Hudson River valley. The Journal News has a partership with the station where WCBS-TV uses their offices for their Westchester Bureau, and The Journal News gets a 30-second promotion during the 6:00 pm newscast for the next day's top story.

In early September 2006, WCBS-TV's weather department entered into a partnership with The Weather Channel, with meterologists from the cable service often appearing on-air with existing WCBS-TV meterologists. WCBS-TV also receives information from the Weather Channel in addition to using their radars and satellite imagery.

On November 6, 2006, WCBS-TV made a personnel change on its Noon and 5 p.m. newscasts. Former sports director and anchor Chris Wragge became co-anchor of both aforementioned programs, along with newly-hired Kristine Johnson. Wragge and Johnson replaced Roz Abrams and Mary Calvi as anchors of the Noon and 5 p.m. shows; Abrams was released from her contract with the station and Calvi was reassigned to weekends as the sole evening anchor.

[edit] Newscasts

Weekdays

• CBS 2 News This Morning - 5:00-7:00 a.m.
• CBS 2 News at Noon - Noon-12:30 p.m.
• CBS 2 News at 5 - 5:00-6:00 p.m.
• CBS 2 News at 6 - 6:00-6:30 p.m.
• CBS 2 News at 11 - 11:00-11:35 p.m.

Saturdays

• CBS 2 News This Morning Saturday - 6:00-7:00 and 9:00-10:00 a.m.
• CBS 2 News Saturday - 6:00-6:30 p.m and 11:00-11:35 p.m.

Sundays

• CBS 2 News This Morning Sunday - 6:00-9:00 a.m.
• Kirtzman & Kramer (public affairs) - 11:00-11:30 a.m.
• CBS 2 News Sunday - 6:30-7:00 p.m. and 11:00-11:35 p.m.
• Sports Sunday - 11:35 p.m.-Midnight

[edit] Anchors

• Mary Calvi - weekend evenings
• Kirstin Cole - weekend mornings anchor/investigative reporter
• Maurice DuBois - weekday mornings
• Cindy Hsu - weekend mornings anchor/reporter
• Kristine Johnson - weekdays Noon and 5 p.m.
• Jim Rosenfield - weeknights 6 and 11 p.m.
• Kate Sullivan - weekday mornings
• Dana Tyler - weeknights 6 and 11 p.m.
• Chris Wragge - weekdays Noon and 5 p.m.

[edit] Weather

• Jeff Berardelli - weekend mornings
• John Bolaris - chief/weekday meteorologist
• Liz Carothers - weekend evenings
• Audrey Puente - weekday mornings and Noon

[edit] Sports

• Kevin Connors - weekend mornings
• Ducis Rodgers - Morning Sports Anchor
• Sam Ryan - Friday and Saturday evenings

[edit] Reporters

• Tony Aiello (Westchester County)
• Joe Biermann (evening traffic)
• Liz Burke (morning traffic reporter)
• Jess Cagle (entertainment)
• Dave Carlin
• Ti-Hua Chang (investigative)
• Jay Dow (New Jersey)
• Tamsen Fadal
• Deborah Garcia
• Pablo Guzmán
• Erin Hewitt
• Magee Hickey
• Brendan Keefe
• Andrew Kirtzman (politics; co-anchor, Kirtzman & Kramer)
• Marcia Kramer (politics; co-anchor, Kirtzman & Kramer)
• Reid Lamberty
• Brett Larson (technology)
• Claire Leka
• Kerri Lyon (education)
• Dr. David Marks (health and science)
• Jennifer McLogan (Long Island)
• John Metaxas
• Tanya Rivero
• Hazel Sanchez
• John Slattery
• Christine Sloan (New Jersey)
• Andrea Stassou
• Tony Tantillo (food and produce features)
• Scott Weinberger (investigative)
• Lou Young

[edit] Former personalities, anchors, and reporters

• Roz Abrams - anchor (2004-2006)
• Dana Adams - weekend anchor/reporter (1998-2000)
• Vanessa Alfano - traffic reporter (left in 2006 after huge shakeup)
• Craig Allen - weekend/substitute meteorologist (1990-2006)
• Morry Alter - features reporter (1983-2006)
• Ernie Anastos - anchor (1989-1994 and 2001-2005; now at WNYW)
• Gordon Barnes - meteorologist (1960s-1972)
• Chris Borgen - reporter/anchor (1966-1995; deceased)
• Steve Bosh - anchor (1975-1976; now at KUSI-TV in San Diego)
• Mario Bosquez - anchor (2003-2006)
• Jim Bouton - sports anchor (1973-1975)
• Maureen Bunyan - anchor/reporter during the early 1970s (now at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.)
• Stephen Clark - anchor (1997-2001; now at WXYZ-TV in Detroit)
• Mark Danon - meteorologist (1997-2000; now at KRON-TV in San Francisco)
• Vince DeMentri - reporter/anchor (1994-2002; now at WCAU in Philadephia)
• Tom Dunn - reporter/anchor (1964-1968; deceased)
• Kendra Farn - co-anchor of News 2 This Morning/reporter (1996-2001; now at WNBC)
• Dr. Frank Field - meteorologist (1984-1995)
• Storm Field (son of Frank Field) - meteorologist (1992-1996, now at WWOR-TV)
• Ira Joe Fisher - meteorologist (1995-2002; now at CBS's The Saturday Early Show)
• Shon Gables - co-anchor of CBS 2 News This Morning (2003-2006)
• Frank Gifford - sports anchor (1966-1971)
• Irv "Mr. G" Gikofsky - meteorologist (1977-1993; now at WPIX)
• J.J. Gonzalez - reporter (1967-1995)
• Amanda Grove - anchor/reporter (1999-2001)
• Reggie Harris - reporter/anchor (1987-1996; deceased)
• Lisa Hill - anchor (1997 - 2002)
• Sukanya Krishnan - reporter (1997-2001; now at WPIX)
• Carol Iovanna - anchor (1990-1994; now at Fox News Channel)
• Jim Jensen - reporter/anchor (1964-1995; deceased)
• John Johnson - anchor (1995-1996)
• Lynda Lopez - reporter/anchor (2003-2006; now at WWOR-TV)
• Dave Marash - reporter/anchor (1973-1978 and 1981-1982)
• Sal Marchiano - sports anchor (1967-1970 and 1979-1980; now at WPIX)
• Michele Marsh - anchor (1979-1996)
• Carol Martin - reporter/anchor (1976-1994)
• Todd McDermott- anchor (2000-2004; now at WUSA in Washington, D.C.)
• Vic Miles - reporter/anchor (early 1970s-1995)
• Mary Murphy - reporter (1986-1993; now at WPIX)
• Randall Pinkston - reporter/anchor during the 1980s and 1990s (now at CBS News)
• Dave Price - meteorologist, CBS 2 News This Morning (2003-2006; now at CBS's The Early Show, weekdays)
• Michael Pomeranz - anchor (2000-2005; now at KARE in Minneapolis)
• Angela Rae - anchor (2000-2003; now at upn33 in Florida)
• John Roberts - reporter/anchor during the 1990s (now at CNN)
• Jim Ryan - anchor, CBS 2 News This Morning (2005-2006)
• Marilyn Salenger - reporter/anchor during the late 1970s
• Rolland Smith - anchor (1970-1986)
• John Tesh - reporter/anchor during the late 1970s
• Robert Trout - anchor (1952-1965)
• Earl Ubell - health and science reporter (1966-1972 and 1979-1995)
• Meredith Vieira - reporter (1979-1982; co-host of NBC's The Today Show)
• Brian Williams - anchor (1987-1993, anchor of NBC Nightly News)
• Joe Witte - meteorologist during the 1970s (now at WJLA-TV)
• Warner Wolf - sports anchor (1980-1992 and 1997-2004; now at WABC/WEPN radio)

[edit] Newscast titles

• News of the Night (1950s)
• The Six O'Clock Report/The Eleven O'Clock Report (1960–1964)
• Channel 2 News (1964–1996)
• 2 News (1996–1997)
• News 2 (1997–2000)
• The News on the CBS 2 Information Network/ CBS 2 Nightcast (2000–2002)
• CBS 2 News (2002–present)

[edit] Trivia

• Meteorologist Audrey Puente is the granddaughter of the Latin bandleader Tito Puente.
• Former anchorwoman Roz Abrams appeared as herself in the 2005 film War of the Worlds.
• Anchorwoman Dana Tyler appeared as herself in the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in which Robert gets gored by a bull.
• Former sports anchor Warner Wolf appeared as himself while at channel 2 as sports anchor in the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. He has also appeared as an extra in other movies.
• WCBS-TV is one of many CBS stations to air the soap opera Guiding Light at 10 a.m. (Eastern) instead of the network-scheduled time of 3 p.m. (Eastern). The episodes were aired on a one-day tape delay until CBS decided to do a second feed for the stations choosing to air the program in the morning timeslot.

[edit] See also

• WCBS (AM), aka "WCBS Newsradio" (880 kHz.)
• WCBS-FM, aka "Jack-FM" (101.1 MHz.)
• Oldest television station

[edit] References

• With Wolf, Ch. 2 sends wrong signal (5-28-2004). New York Daily News.
• Rosenfield's back at Ch. 2 (6-1-2005). New York Daily News.
• Ch. 2 taps Johnson, Wragge as anchors (10-16-2006). New York Daily News.

[edit] External links

• WCBS-TV Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WCBS-TV
• Aerial photo of WCBS-TV transmitter from Google Local

Coordinates: 40° 44' 54" N 73° 59' 10" W