View source for KCAL-TV

{{Short description|Television station in Los Angeles}}
{{redirect|KHJ-TV|other stations that have used the "KHJ" call sign|KHJ (disambiguation){{!}}KHJ}}
{{about|the Los Angeles television station||KCAL (disambiguation){{!}}KCAL}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = KCAL-TV
| logo = KCAL 9 (2003 black) logo.svg
| logo_upright = .8
| image = KCBSRadfordLot2008.jpg
| location = [[Los Angeles]], California
| country = United States
| branding = KCAL 9; ''CBS LA''
| digital = 9 ([[VHF]])
| virtual = 9
| translators = ''see {{section link||Translators}}''
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''9.1:''' [[Independent station|Independent]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''<ref name="rei">{{cite web |title=Digital TV Market Listing for KCAL |url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KCAL#station |access-date=May 20, 2020 |website=RabbitEars.Info}}</ref>}}
| owner = [[CBS News and Stations]]
| licensee = Los Angeles Television Station KCAL [[LLC]]
| founded = {{Start date|1948|08|25}}
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1948|10|06|p=y|br=y}}
| callsign_meaning = "California"
| sister_stations = [[KCBS-TV]]
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|KFI-TV (1948–1951)|KHJ-TV (1951–1989)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 9 (VHF, 1948–2009)|'''Digital:''' 43 ([[UHF]], 2001–2009)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[DuMont Television Network|DuMont]] (1954–1956)|[[Overmyer Network|United]] (1967)<ref>{{cite news |title=Valley Times May 1, 1967 p. 20 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36176563/the_courierjournal/ |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |date=May 9, 1967 |page=20 |publisher=Valley Times North Hollywood, California}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Los Angeles Times May 3, 1967 p.78 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36179362/the_los_angeles_times/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 3, 1967 |page=78 }}</ref>}}
| erp = 25 kW
| haat = {{convert|977|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 21422
| coordinates = {{coord|34|13|38|N|118|4|3|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/}}
}}
'''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 [[Radford Studio Center]] on Radford Avenue in the [[Studio City]] section of Los Angeles; KCAL-TV's transmitter is located atop [[Mount Wilson (California)|Mount Wilson]].

==History==
===KFI-TV (1948–1951)===
Channel 9 signed on the air as commercial station KFI-TV on August 25, 1948,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110602991/radio-on-review/ |title=Radio on Review |first=Bill |last=Baird |newspaper=Pasadena Independent |location=Pasadena, California |page=18 |date=August 26, 1948 |accessdate=October 2, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=KFI-TV is starting with 6-hour week|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1948/1948-08-23-BC.pdf|access-date=September 16, 2016|work=[[Broadcasting - Telecasting]]|date=August 23, 1948|page=27}}</ref> owned by [[Earle C. Anthony]] alongside [[KFI|KFI radio]] (640 AM).<ref name="bt">{{cite news|title=L.A.'s 'Mt. Millions'|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1948/1948-12-27-BC.pdf|access-date=September 16, 2016|work=Broadcasting - Telecasting|date=December 27, 1948|page=76}}</ref> However, the station was originally licensed as [[experimental television|experimental]] W6XEA about 1940, and in 1944 applied for the call letters KSEE (which are now used by the [[KSEE-TV|NBC affiliate in Fresno, California]]). It is unknown whether any transmissions occurred under either call sign.

The station initially broadcast a limited schedule with six hours weekly, and formally began operations on October 6, 1948, with {{frac|3|1|2}} hours that day. Though KFI had long been affiliated with [[NBC Radio]], KFI-TV did not affiliate with the then-upstart [[NBC Television Network]] as NBC was building its own station, KNBH (channel 4, now [[KNBC]]), which went on the air in January 1949.<ref name="bt"/> KFI general manager William B. Ryan indicated a willingness to affiliate with a network other than NBC or start a mutual regional network.<ref>{{cite news|title=3 1/2-hour broadcast marks KFI-TV bow|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1948/1948-10-11-BC.pdf|work=Broadcasting - Telecasting|date=October 11, 1948|page=34}}</ref> Channel 9 has been an independent station for virtually its entire history, though it carried [[DuMont Television Network|DuMont]] programming from 1954 up until that network's 1956 demise.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-03-22-BC.pdf|title=KHJ-TV DuMont affiliate.|date=March 22, 1954|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|page=9}}</ref>

At the [[3rd Primetime Emmy Awards|3rd Emmy Awards]] in January 1951, the station won in the best educational show category for ''KFI-TV University''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110584576/top-tv-awards-nominations-listed-winner/ |title=Top TV Awards Nominations Listed; Winners to Be Announced Tuesday |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=II-16 |date=January 20, 1951 |accessdate=October 2, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1951 |title=Emmys.com list of 1951 Nominees & Winners |publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]]}}</ref>

=== KHJ-TV (1951–1989) ===
Channel 9's engineers threatened to go on [[Strike action|strike]] in 1951 over financial reasons the station had to go through, leading Anthony to sell the station to the [[General Tire and Rubber Company]] in August of that year.<ref>{{cite news |title=KFI-TV Purchased by General Tire |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-kfi-tv-purchased-b/173577625/ |access-date=May 31, 2025 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 9, 1951 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=FCC Gives Approval to KFI-TV Sale |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-fcc-gives-approval/173578222/ |access-date=May 31, 2025 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 11, 1951 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> A few months earlier, General Tire had purchased the [[Don Lee (broadcaster)|Don Lee]] [[Don Lee Network|Broadcasting System]], a regional West Coast radio network (the original Don Lee television station, KTSL (channel 2), was sold separately to CBS; it evolved into future sister [[KCBS-TV]]). Don Lee's flagship station was [[KHJ (AM)|KHJ radio]] (930 AM),{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} and General Tire changed its new television station's call letters to KHJ-TV in September 1951.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1951/BC-1951-09-10.pdf|title=KFI-TV Now KHJ-TV|date=September 10, 1951|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|page=85}}</ref> One former employee referred to the call letters as standing for "kindness, happiness and joy", although the call sign was likely randomly assigned.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last1=Weinstein|first1=Steve|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-01-ca-359-story.html|title=Disney KOs KHJ-TV... Now It's 'KCAL, California 9'|date=December 1, 1989|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 25, 2021|page=F25}}</ref> 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.

In 1955, General Tire purchased [[RKO Radio Pictures]] to give the company's television station group access to RKO's film library. In 1959, General Tire's broadcasting and film divisions were merged as [[RKO General]].

By the mid-1960s, channel 9 offered a standard independent schedule of [[feature film|movies]], off-network reruns, [[children's television series|children's shows]] like ''The Pancake Man'' hosted by [[Hal Smith (actor)|Hal Smith]] (who showed educational shorts like ''[[The Space Explorers]]''), first-run [[broadcast syndication|syndicated programs]], and locally produced programs including local newscasts, [[broadcasting of sports events|sports events]] and [[public affairs (broadcasting)|public affairs]] programs. In the late 1960s, KHJ embarked on a novel, groundbreaking (and inexpensive) experiment, called ''Tempo'', which heavily borrowed from the [[talk radio]] craze on local radio stations. Daytime programming was divided into three blocks running three hours in length, called ''Tempo I'', ''Tempo II'' and ''Tempo III''. The second of the three programs, ''Tempo II'' was perhaps the most active, controversial and innovative. For the first couple of years the hosts were Stan Bohrman and [[Maria Cole]] (the wife of [[Nat King Cole]]). Guests ranged from [[William F. Buckley]] to [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] and the political movers and shakers in Southern California. At one point, Stan even quit the program after what he called censorship on the topic of [[Eldridge Cleaver]]. Bohrman came back to the program and was joined by a new co-host, [[Regis Philbin]]. They became a very popular fixture in Los Angeles television. In fact, in his book about those days, Philbin credits the chemistry with Bohrman and the format of the program as forerunners of much of what would become the [[cable news]] format 20 years later.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}

In the early 1970s, KHJ-TV sought a similar programming strategy to that of crosstown competitor [[KTLA]] (channel 5), which focused more on talk shows, game shows, sports, feature films and off-network drama series. The [[animated cartoon|cartoons]] were phased out (some of them moving to [[KTTV]] and [[KCOP-TV]]), and the station ran fewer off-network sitcoms. It did continue to have a weekday children's show called ''Froozles'', which ran until the late 1980s. It also produced many half-hour public affairs programs, as well as a local talk show called ''Mid-Morning L.A.'' The first hosts were Kathy McKee and [[Sandy Baron]] on the ''Mid Day'' and ''Good Morning L.A.'' talk shows. Both were hired by KHJ's then-station manager Lional Schaen. [[Bob Hilton]], [[Meredith MacRae]], [[Geoff Edwards]] and Regis Philbin also hosted programs on the station well into the 1980s. Edwards and MacRae won [[Emmy Awards]] for their hosting duties during the early 1980s. Some other locally produced public affairs programs included the investigative show ''Camera 9'' and ''The Changing Family'', a program about family and social issues during the 1980s. Despite this, KHJ-TV was perceived as an also ran while KTLA was the leading independent station, even though it had a similar format.

Meanwhile, a behind-the-scenes battle was underway with serious implications for the station's future—and that of its owner. In 1965, RKO General faced a threat to its license for KHJ-TV from a group called Fidelity Television.<ref name="FCC TV Table">{{cite web |date=February 5, 1991 |title=Petition for Rulemaking |url=http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs//document/view.action?id=1004990001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929143429/https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1004990001.pdf |archive-date=September 29, 2017 |access-date=July 20, 2015 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |format=PDF}}</ref> At first, Fidelity's claim focused on channel 9's programming quality. Later, Fidelity levied a more serious claim that KHJ-TV was involved in reciprocal trade practices. Fidelity alleged that RKO's parent company, General Tire, forced its retailers to purchase advertising on KHJ-TV and other RKO-owned stations as a condition of their contracts with General Tire. An administrative law judge found in favor of Fidelity, but RKO appealed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} In 1972, the FCC allowed RKO to keep the license for KHJ-TV, but two years later conditioned future renewals on the renewal of sister station [[WNAC-TV (defunct)|WNAC-TV]] in [[Boston]].<ref name="Fidelity TV v. FCC">{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/515/f2d/684/fidelity-television-inc-v-federal-communications-commission|title=515 F. 2d 684 - Fidelity Television Inc v. Federal Communications Commission|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|date=June 30, 1975|volume=F2d|issue=515|page=684|access-date=July 20, 2015|last1=Circuit|first1=District of Columbia}}</ref>

Six years later, the FCC stripped WNAC-TV of its license for numerous reasons, but largely because RKO had misled the commission about corporate misconduct at General Tire. The decision was affirmed after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in April 1982.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-04-26.pdf|title=It's all over for RKO's WNAC-TV.|date=April 26, 1982|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 6, 2020|pages=27–28}}</ref> The FCC awarded a replacement license for channel 7 in Boston to New England Television, a merger of two competing groups for a new channel 7. RKO General sold off WNAC-TV's non-license assets to New England Television,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-04-26.pdf|title=The heirs presumptive for Boston ch. 7|date=April 26, 1982|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 6, 2020|pages=28–29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/82-OCR/1982-05-10-BC-OCR-Page-0128.pdf|title=In brief.|date=May 10, 1982|periodical=Broadcasting|access-date=April 15, 2019|page=128}}</ref> who used them to launch WNEV-TV (now [[WHDH (TV)|WHDH]]) in place of WNAC-TV that May 21.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Jack|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/437223949|title=At Channel 7, an era ends, an era begins.|date=May 21, 1982|periodical=The Boston Globe|access-date=April 15, 2019|page=25}}</ref><ref name="Broadcasting3">{{cite news|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/82-OCR/BC-1982-05-24-Page-0041.pdf|title=Overnight in Boston: WNAC-TV turns into WNEV|date=May 24, 1982|work=Broadcasting|access-date=July 19, 2011|location=Washington, D.C.|page=41}}</ref> The WNAC-TV decision also meant KHJ-TV and sister station WOR-TV in New York City had lost their licenses, but an appeals court ruled that the FCC erred when it tied channel 9's renewal to that of WNAC-TV and ordered new hearings for KHJ-TV and WOR-TV.<ref name=":0" />

The hearings dragged on for five years; as a result of this, the station was forced to air an unusually large amount of public-affairs programming; a combination of this and the station's cash reserves being drained by RKO's legal battles led to decreased ratings (and the station's perception as an "also-ran").<ref name="lat" /> For a time, KHJ-TV's large slate of sports programming was virtually the only thing keeping the station afloat.

On August 11, 1987, FCC [[administrative law judge]] Edward Kuhlmann found RKO General unfit to be a broadcast licensee due to numerous cases of dishonesty on both its part and that of parent company [[GenCorp]] (the renamed General Tire), including fraudulent billing and lying about its ratings.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965303,00.html|title=Turning Off RKO's Licenses: A harsh ruling from the FCC|date=August 24, 1987|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> Kuhlman ordered that all of RKO General's broadcast licenses be revoked.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mesce|first=Deborah|url=https://apnews.com/88a0d0a56519773dd21fa1761e843780|title=RKO Faces Loss of 14 Radio and TV Station Licenses|date=August 12, 1987|work=[[Associated Press News]]|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Boyer|first=Peter|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/12/business/renewal-rejected-for-rko-stations.html|title=Renewal Rejected for RKO Stations|date=August 12, 1987|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=D1}}</ref> This ruling notably excluded WOR-TV, which had already been divested to [[MCA Inc.]] nine months prior, and was renamed [[WWOR-TV]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/27/arts/fcc-approves-sale-of-wor-tv-to-mca.html|title=F.C.C. Approves Sale Of WOR-TV to MCA|date=November 27, 1986|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=C-18}}</ref> GenCorp initially filed an appeal,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Molotsky|first=Irvin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/20/arts/rko-general-appeals-permit-renewal-ruling.html|title=RKO General Appeals Permit-Renewal Ruling|date=October 20, 1987|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=C-22}}</ref> only to withdraw it after the FCC warned that any appeal would almost certainly be denied outright. The FCC strongly advised GenCorp to divest its remaining properties to avoid the indignity of additional license stripping without any compensation.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Grace|first=Roger|url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/reminiscing120502.htm|title=REMINISCING (Column): KHJ Enveloped in Scandal|date=December 5, 2002|work=[[Metropolitan News-Enterprise]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=18}}</ref>

===KCAL-TV (1989–present)===
====Disney ownership (1988–1996)====
In the midst of RKO's corporate issues, the company reached terms to sell KHJ-TV to [[Westinghouse Broadcasting]] in November 1985.<ref>{{cite news |last=Richter |first=Paul |title=Westinghouse Plans to Buy KHJ-TV Channel 9 in $313-Million Deal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-westinghouse-plans/176319591/ |access-date=July 9, 2025 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 6, 1985 |location=Los Angeles, California |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-khj-sale/176319668/ 23] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> However, the protracted legal issues delayed FCC action on the transfer and Westinghouse ultimately withdrew its offer.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pagano |first=Penny |title=Judge Rejects RKO Deal to Sell KHJ-TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-judge-rejects-rko/176320090/ |access-date=July 9, 2025 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 30, 1986 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-BC/Broadcasting-Magazine/BC-1986/BC-1986-05-05.pdf |title=ALJ blocks KHJ-TV transfer |date=May 5, 1986 |work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=July 9, 2025 |page=27}}</ref> A short time later, RKO General agreed to sell the station to [[The Walt Disney Company]];<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1987/BC-1987-03-16.pdf|title=Gillett buys WTVT Tampa; Disney tries for KHJ-TV|date=March 16, 1987|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|page=43}}</ref> however, this transfer was also held up for over a year for the same reasons. Fidelity Television, the group that originally challenged the license in 1965, also argued against the sale. In July 1988, the FCC allowed Disney to acquire channel 9 for $324&nbsp;million in a complicated settlement. RKO dropped its bid to renew the station's license, handing it to Fidelity Television. Disney then bought the channel 9 license from Fidelity for $105.4&nbsp;million and KHJ-TV's non-license assets (intellectual property, studios, etc.) from RKO for $218.6&nbsp;million. According to FCC general counsel Diane Killory, the settlement had the same effect as finding RKO unfit to be a broadcast licensee, and RKO thus had no choice but to "get out of the business of broadcasting" (though it would take another three years for RKO to unwind its broadcasting interests).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1988/BC-1988-07-25.pdf|title=FCC gives RKO green light to sell stations|date=July 25, 1988|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|page=33}}</ref>

Disney began operating KHJ-TV on December 2, 1988.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 3, 1988 |title=After long wait, Disney takes over management of KHJ-TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/405861334/ |access-date=December 26, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Over the next few months Disney fired channel 9's entire management team it inherited from RKO, including general manager Charles Velona and news director Stephanie Rank Brady. Several of the station's newscasters were pushed out as well.<ref name="lat" /> During the RKO/Fidelity/Disney transition, KHJ-TV's [[city of license]] was changed to the Los Angeles suburb of [[Norwalk, California|Norwalk]], also as part of the FCC settlement. For all intents and purposes, though, it remained a Los Angeles station; the license was moved back to Los Angeles proper on October 28, 1991.<ref name="fcc-kcalnonorwalk">{{cite web |last=Ruger|first=Michael C.|title=Report and Order (Proceeding Terminated) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq0jem_4RMoC&q=Fidelity%20KCAL%201991&pg=PA5317 |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |access-date=June 8, 2020 |date=September 11, 1991}}</ref>

On December 2, 1989—the first anniversary of its ownership, Disney changed channel 9's callsign to the present KCAL-TV, and relaunched the station as "California 9", selected from a shortlist of three possible monikers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MacMinn |first=Aleene |date=October 3, 1989 |title=NAME CHANGE? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-03-ca-423-story.html |access-date=August 19, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Channel 9's longtime radio sisters had changed their calls to [[KRTH]] some years before, so Disney was theoretically free to continue trading on the KHJ call letters' 66-year legacy in Southern California. However, newly hired station manager Blake Byrne said that market research revealed the station was seen as a "non-entity" in the market, leading Disney to conclude that it needed a fresh start. Disney did, however, keep a fresco mural of RKO stars in the station lobby.<ref name="lat" /> The station also continued to overhaul its format in the wake of its ownership change, adding a three-hour prime time newscast on March 5, 1990,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wasko|first1=Janet|title=Hollywood in the Information Age: Beyond the Silver Screen|date=May 2, 2013|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0745669021|page=59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HoBnAgAAQBAJ&q=The+Disney+Afternoon+news+-wiki&pg=PT59|access-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref> featuring veteran newscasters [[Jerry Dunphy]], [[Pat Harvey]], Larry Carroll and [[Jane Velez-Mitchell]]. KCAL also added many more children's programs, including cartoons from the Walt Disney animation library (including the syndicated series ''[[DuckTales (1987 TV series)|DuckTales]]'' and ''[[Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (TV series)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'', and later ''[[The Disney Afternoon]]''). The station also added a few more family-oriented off-network sitcoms and syndicated programs and then broadcast the popular [[anime]] series ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'',<ref name=wip>[[Michael Eisner|Eisner, Michael D.]] (March 22, 2011).  Chapter 7: Animation. Chapter pages 48-52. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dutn82mnePoC&dq=The+Disney+Afternoon+station&pg=PT431 Work in Progress: Risking Failure, Surviving Success]. Hyperion.</ref> that lasted well into 1997. In the early 1990s, family sitcoms were gradually phased out and KCAL added more first-run syndicated talk, reality and [[court show]]s, as well as [[newsmagazine]] series.

On March 30, 1992, Disney agreed to sell KCAL-TV's license to Pinelands, Inc., then the parent company of channel 9's former New York City sister station, now called [[WWOR-TV]]. Disney would have received a 45% ownership stake in Pinelands, allowing for increased original programming to be shared between the two reunited stations.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stevenson|first1=Richard W.|title=New York TV Deal For Disney|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/31/business/new-york-tv-deal-for-disney.html|access-date=November 17, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 31, 1992}}</ref> The planned merger never materialized; Pineland would agree to sell WWOR-TV to [[Chris-Craft Industries]], then-parent of KCOP (channel 13).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bryant|first1=Adam|title=COMPANY NEWS; Pinelands, Owner of WWOR-TV, Agrees to Be Acquired|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/09/business/company-news-pinelands-owner-of-wwor-tv-agrees-to-be-acquired.html|access-date=November 17, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 9, 1992}}</ref> In 1995, the station adopted the "K-CAL 9" branding.

====Young Broadcasting ownership (1996–2002)====
In 1996, The Walt Disney Company purchased [[Capital Cities/ABC]], owners of ABC West Coast flagship [[KABC-TV]] (channel 7). Due to FCC regulations at the time that barred the ownership of two television stations in the same media market, Disney chose to retain KABC-TV and divest KCAL, which was purchased by [[Young Broadcasting]] (which Disney owned a stake in at the time)<ref>[https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB832033906174894500 Young Broadcasting Buys KCAL-TV from Disney], ''The Wall Street Journal'', May 14, 1996. Retrieved October 26, 2014.</ref> on May 14, 1996, for $385&nbsp;million.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-14-fi-3944-story.html New York Firm to Buy KCAL-TV for $385 Million], ''Los Angeles Times'', May 14, 1996. Retrieved May 11, 2013.</ref> The afternoon children's program block would remain until 1999, when KCOP began airing a [[Disney's One Too|block of animated series]] that [[UPN]] contracted Disney to produce. By 2000, children's programs that aired during the morning hours were dropped as well under the ownership of Young Broadcasting.<ref>[https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/kcal-afternoons-to-grow-up-1117467447/ KCAL afternoons to grow up], ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', February 4, 1998. Retrieved May 11, 2013.</ref>

==== CBS ownership (2002–present) ====
As a result of massive debt the company accrued from its 2000 purchase of its San Francisco station, [[KRON-TV]] (which lost its NBC affiliation in January 2002 due to a dispute between Young and the network), Young Broadcasting put KCAL up for sale in 2002.  With duopolies now allowed by the FCC, the station was purchased by CBS, then a subsidiary of [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]], on February 14, 2002;<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-14-fi-viacom14-story.html Viacom Exceeds Forecasts, Says It Will Buy Channel 9], ''Los Angeles Times'', February 14, 2002. Retrieved May 11, 2013.</ref> the deal was finalized on June 1, 2002. KCAL's operations were merged with those of KCBS-TV, and channel 9 moved from its longtime headquarters at the Viacom-owned [[Paramount Studios]] on [[Melrose Avenue]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] to [[CBS Columbia Square]], located {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} north of the studio lot; the Melrose Avenue facility was subsequently occupied by then-sister station [[KRTH]] (which had previously been based out of the Columbia Square facility), and is currently used by the Paramount studio tour. The sale reunited the station with fellow former RKO General property KRTH-FM, which CBS acquired in 1997. The properties were split again when CBS spun off its [[CBS Radio|radio division]] to Entercom (now [[Audacy, Inc.]]) in 2017.

When CBS/Viacom bought KCAL-TV, broadcasting industry observers speculated that UPN's programming would move to KCAL from KCOP-TV. KCOP's previous owners, Chris-Craft Industries, had co-founded UPN with Viacom in 1995, and owned 50% of the network before selling its stake in UPN to Viacom in 2000. [[Fox Television Stations]] purchased KCOP and most of Chris-Craft's UPN stations in 2001. However, CBS continued to operate channel 9 as an independent station, as Fox renewed its affiliation agreement for its UPN affiliates; it is widely believed that Fox used KCOP as leverage to keep UPN on Fox-owned stations in New York City (WWOR-TV, KCAL's former sister station) and Chicago ([[WPWR-TV]]), threatening to drop the network in those markets should Viacom move the UPN affiliation in Los Angeles to KCAL. This issue became moot with the January 2006 announcement of the merger of UPN and [[The WB]] into [[The CW Television Network]]. The new network launched on September 18, 2006, with former WB affiliate KTLA as its Los Angeles outlet, due to an affiliation agreement with owner [[Tribune Broadcasting]] that resulted in 16 of Tribune's WB affiliates joining the network. KCAL-TV remains an independent station, and is currently one of thirteen such stations owned by CBS as a result of the CBS-owned CW stations reverting to independent status in 2023.

On April 21, 2007, KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV moved from Columbia Square to an all-digital facility at the [[CBS Studio Center]] in Studio City. The move allowed both stations to begin broadcasting all locally produced programs in high definition, and in addition, the two stations operate in a completely tapeless newsroom. This newsroom is named in honor newscaster Jerry Dunphy, who worked at both stations during his career. With the move to Studio City and [[KCET]]'s later move to [[Burbank, California|Burbank]], KTLA is currently the only remaining station in Los Angeles (either in radio or television) whose studios are operated out of Hollywood.

[[File:KCAL-TV Logo..png|thumb|KCAL-TV logo used from 2003 to 2023]]
KCAL-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[VHF]] channel 9, at 1:10&nbsp;p.m. on June 12, 2009, and converted its broadcasts exclusively to digital television as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]].<ref name="Analog to Digital">[http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf List of Digital Full-Power Stations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQhn0ToBU0s|title=2009 DTV Transition: Analog TV Shutoffs in Los Angeles As They Happened|date=June 13, 2009|via=YouTube}}</ref> The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition [[UHF]] channel 43 to VHF channel 9.<ref name="FCCForm387">{{Cite web|url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101234546&formid=387&fac_num=21422|title=FCC DTV status report for KCAL}}</ref> Sister station KCBS-TV took over the channel 43 allocation as it moved its digital signal from channel 60 as a result of the phaseout of channels 52–69.

On December 4, 2019, CBS Corporation and [[Viacom (2005–2019)|Viacom]] remerged into ViacomCBS (now [[Paramount Global]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bob-bakishs-memo-viacomcbs-staff-merger-a-historic-moment-1259584|title = Bob Bakish's Memo to ViacomCBS Staff: Merger "a Historic Moment"|website = [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date = December 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Goldsmith|first=Jill|date=February 15, 2022|title=ViacomCBS To Rebrand As Paramount Global|url=https://deadline.com/2022/02/viacomcbs-rebrand-paramount-shari-redstone-bob-bakish-1234934244/|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

On January 5, 2023, as part of a general rebranding of its news department coinciding with the launch of new morning news blocks, KCAL changed its branding to ''KCAL News'', which was adopted across KCBS-TV's newscasts on the same day.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2023/01/05/kcal-news-cbs-2-news-la-branding/ | title=KCBS adopts 'KCAL News' as its new news branding | date=January 5, 2023 }}</ref> In October 2025, the news operation was rebranded as ''CBS News Los Angeles'' to match the branding scheme used by other CBS-owned stations, whereas the station reverted its branding back to ''KCAL 9''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CBS duo drops 'KCAL News' branding in Los Angeles |url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2025/10/14/cbs-news-los-angeles-rebranding/?og=1 |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=NewscastStudio |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Programming==
Although KCAL-TV is an independent station, it will occasionally air CBS programming due to extended breaking news coverage or special events that may result in programs being unable to air on KCBS-TV.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-02-et-braxton2-story.html KCBS, KCAL Will Share Some Network Shows in Prime Time], ''Los Angeles Times'', August 2, 2002. Retrieved May 11, 2013.</ref>

For E/I programming, KCAL has the ''[[Litton Entertainment#Go Time|Go Time]]'' syndicated block.<ref name=cyn>{{cite news| title=Genius Brands sings a new tune; behind the Masks with eOne Family chief Dumont; it's Go Time for Sony Pictures Television |url= http://www.cynopsis.com/042016-genius-brands-sings-a-new-tune-behind-the-masks-with-eone-family-chief-dumont-its-go-time-for-sony-pictures-television/ |access-date=September 15, 2016 |work=Cynopsis |date=April 20, 2016}}</ref>

KCAL was the Southern California home of the annual ''[[MDA Labor Day Telethon]]'' between 1997 and 2011.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

In June 1979, KHJ-TV aired "Thames on 9", a week-long prime time programming stunt that featured programs from [[Thames Television]], then a member of the British [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network. Shows that aired during that week included ''[[Man About the House]]'' (on which the American sitcom ''[[Three's Company]]'' was based) and ''[[The Benny Hill Show]]''; a similar stunt had aired on KHJ-TV's former New York City sister station WOR-TV two years earlier.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

From 1981 to 1985, KHJ-TV was home to ''[[Elvira's Movie Macabre]]''. KHJ-TV was home to the live broadcast of the Strawberry Festival Parade in [[Garden Grove, California]], from 1986 until 1989.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

===Sports programming===
For much of its history overall, sports have been a part of channel 9's identity. Indeed, during the station's two-decade licensing dispute, its large slate of sports programming was essentially the only thing that kept it as part of the Southern California television landscape.

As of 2023, KCAL has the rights to six games a season from the NHL's [[Los Angeles Kings]], produced by [[Bally Sports West]].<ref>[https://www.nhl.com/kings/news/la-kings-announce-television-schedule-for-2023-24-season LA Kings Announce Television Schedule For 2023-24 Regular Season], National Hockey League, September 14, 2023.</ref> KCAL was also home to the Kings in the early 1980s and during the mid-to-late 1990s. As of 2025, KCAL+ also holds the broadcast rights to the [[Ontario Reign]], the minor league affiliate of the Kings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reign Announce Additional 2024-25 Broadcast Details |url=https://ontarioreign.com/news/reign-announce-additional-2024-25-broadcast-details |access-date=April 20, 2025 |date=November 2, 2024|publisher=Ontario Reign}}</ref> Since 2024, KCAL has the rights to select matches featuring [[Orange County SC]] of the [[USL Championship]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Rodriguez |first=Matthew|title=KCAL Los Angeles to broadcast 5 Orange County SC away games |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/kcal-los-angeles-to-broadcast-5-orange-county-sc-away-games/ |access-date=April 12, 2024 |date=April 11, 2024|publisher=WXYZ}}</ref>

KCAL-TV previously held the broadcast television rights to the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] baseball team, carrying a slate of games from 2006 to 2013,<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-01-sp-nwbox1-story.html Dodgers Headed to KCAL], ''Los Angeles Times'', December 1, 2004. Retrieved May 11, 2013.</ref> televising at least 50 games each year, with all telecasts being broadcast in [[High-definition television|high definition]]. In 2014, KCAL lost rights to the Dodger telecasts to the cable-exclusive [[regional sports network]] [[SportsNet LA]], which is co-owned by the team and [[Charter Communications]].

Channel 9 is best known as the longtime broadcast home of the [[NBA]]'s [[Los Angeles Lakers]]. The station carried Lakers games from [[1961–62 Los Angeles Lakers season|1961]] to [[1963–64 Los Angeles Lakers season|1964]] (as KHJ-TV), and again from [[1977–78 Los Angeles Lakers season|1977]] to [[2011–12 Los Angeles Lakers season|2012]]. The latter 35 years were the NBA's longest consecutive station-team broadcast partnership, and coincided with the Lakers' golden eras of the 1980s and early 2000s. For most of channel 9's second stint with the Lakers, it aired road games only. In 2012, KCAL lost rights to the Lakers telecasts to the cable-exclusive regional sports network [[Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)|Spectrum SportsNet and Spectrum Deportes]] which was renamed in 2016 after the merger of [[Time Warner Cable]] and Charter Communications.<ref>[http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_17389357 MEDIA: Lakers reach ground-breaking TV deal with Time Warner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307180124/http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_17389357 |date=March 7, 2012 }}, ''[[The Daily Breeze]]'', February 14, 2011.</ref>

From 1961 to 1963, KHJ-TV was the first television home of the [[Los Angeles Angels]]; the baseball team's telecasts moved to KTLA in 1964, when then-Angels owner [[Gene Autry]]'s Golden West Broadcasters purchased that station. The television rights to Angels games returned to KCAL-TV in 1996 (The Walt Disney Company's ownership interest in the Angels briefly overlapped its stewardship of the station),<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-26-sp-61419-story.html Angels Switching from KTLA to KCAL], ''Los Angeles Times'', October 26, 1995. Retrieved May 11, 2013.</ref> and added more basketball coverage [[1996-97 Los Angeles Clippers season|that same year]] with the [[Los Angeles Clippers]], in addition to its Lakers telecasts. The station and the Clippers parted ways in [[2000–01 Los Angeles Clippers season|2001]] as they eventually moved their over-the-air telecasts to KTLA, while the Angels left KCAL after the [[2005 Los Angeles Angels season|2005 season]], moving to KCOP the [[2006 Los Angeles Angels season|following year]]. In addition, KCAL had broadcast select weekend [[Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]] games from the [[NHL]] team's inaugural season in [[1993–94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season|1993]] (both the team and KCAL were Disney properties until 1996) until [[2005–06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season|2006]], when the Ducks moved their over-the-air broadcasts to [[Anaheim]]-based independent station [[KDOC-TV]]. Also, at the end of the [[2013 Los Angeles Dodgers season|2013 season]], the Dodgers would part ways with KCAL-TV (becoming cable-exclusive on SportsNet LA, although a few games per season have been seen on KTLA since 2016), thus ending the station's 36-year run of local sports coverage.

KCAL also carried select [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] [[Major League Soccer]] games until [[2005 Los Angeles Galaxy season|2005]], when the games became cable-exclusive to [[Fox Sports West]]. 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 and the formation of the duopoly between KCAL and KCBS-TV, was renamed ''Sports Central''; the show has since expanded to a half-hour broadcast on Friday through Sunday evenings.

Channel 9 has aired preseason coverage of the [[NFL]]'s [[Los Angeles Chargers|Chargers]] (then based in San Diego) from [[2005 San Diego Chargers season|2005]] to [[2016 San Diego Chargers season|2016]], and aired games from the Chargers' [[AFC West]] Division rival, the [[Las Vegas Raiders|Raiders]] (then based in Oakland) in [[2006 Oakland Raiders season|2006]] (whose preseason games also aired on the station during the mid-1990s). Although Los Angeles returned to the NFL in the [[2016 Los Angeles Rams season|2016 season]] via the [[Los Angeles Rams|Rams]]' return after two decades in St. Louis, sister station KCBS is the Rams' preseason partner. After 2016, the Chargers relocated back to Los Angeles after 56 years in San Diego and KABC-TV picked up the Chargers preseason coverage starting in the [[2017 Los Angeles Chargers season|2017 season]]. KCAL broadcast two ''[[NFL on CBS]]'' games during the 2017 regular season as part of an arrangement with the NFL that saw CBS get both a Rams and Chargers game on weeks when [[Fox NFL|Fox]] had the doubleheader.

Since its founding in 1994 until 2008, KCAL was the originating station of the annual [[John R. Wooden Classic]] [[college basketball]] game.

===Newscasts===
KCAL-TV presently{{When|date=November 2024}} broadcasts a total of {{frac|72|3|4}} hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with {{frac|12|3|4}} hours each weekday and {{frac|4|1|2}} hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the second-highest local newscast output of any television station in the Los Angeles market (behind KTLA, which runs 94 hours, 20 minutes of newscasts each week).

Because of the amount of news programming on the station, channel 9 is known for showing the most [[Car chase|police chases]] among the Los Angeles market's news-producing stations. Often regular news programming on KCAL is suspended to cover a police chase, and programs that follow the newscast are sometimes preempted to show the chase's conclusion. In 2003, KCAL reported a quadrupling of ratings every time a police chase was shown, with up to 1.6&nbsp;million viewers watching at a given time during such events.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/248/transcript|title=Like It or Not|date=October 24, 2003}}</ref> Between 2012 and 2020 (when he moved to KTTV), chases were often shown with the voice and in-air helicopter camera work of Stu Mundel;<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://metro.co.uk/2016/08/21/news-cameraman-gets-a-little-too-excited-narrating-car-chase-6081815/|title=News cameraman gets a little too excited narrating car chase|date=August 21, 2016|work=Metro|access-date=June 28, 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/05/04/stu-mundel-pursuits/|title=Why Stu Mundel, Our Eyes In The Sky, Is Fast Becoming A Cult Hero During Pursuits|date=May 4, 2017|access-date=June 28, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Michael |date=May 28, 2020 |title=Stu Mundel, Famed L.A. TV Helicopter Police-Chase Reporter, Jumps to Fox's KTTV |url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/stu-mundel-fox-11-kcbs-kcal-1234619010/ |access-date=September 17, 2022 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> since 2021, former [[KNX (AM)|KNX]] pilot Desmond Shaw took over Mundel's role as the duopoly's chief helicopter reporter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Scott |title=Come Fly With Me.... |url=https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2021/1/22/come-fly-with-me |access-date=September 17, 2022 |website=FTVLive |date=January 22, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the 1970s, KHJ-TV aired a prime time newscast at 10&nbsp;pm, which was moved to 9 p.m. during the 1980s; the station subsequently added a half-hour 8 p.m. newscast during the late 1980s, and also carried afternoon newscasts throughout this time. Some of its most notable personalities included anchors [[George Putnam (newsman)|George Putnam]], Chris Harris, Stan Bohrman, Tom Lawrence, Nathan Roberts, Lonnie Lardner, Linda Edwards and weather personality Andrew Amador.

Shortly after taking over, Disney invested $30&nbsp;million on upgrading the station's news department, tripling the number of staff and investing on electronic news equipment, including expanding the stations' studio facility at Paramount Studios to house a new newsroom and studio; the station also hired veteran newscasters Jerry Dunphy, Pat Harvey, Larry Carroll and Jane Velez-Mitchell.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weinstein |first=Steve |date=February 25, 1990 |title=Disney's Television Gamble : Locally, the company's KCAL is armed with high tech and Jerry Dunphy--but can it find an audience for three hours of prime-time news? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-25-ca-2208-story.html |access-date=August 19, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> After retaining, in the interim, the existing 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts, and a delay on its launch from January 15, in March 5, 1990, Disney implemented the concept of a prime time news block, with the three-hour long ''Prime 9 News'' airing from 8 to 11&nbsp;pm.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-15-la-et-primenews15-2010mar15-story.html At KCAL, prime-time news still in its prime], ''Los Angeles Times'', March 15, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2013.</ref> A few years later in the early 1990s, KCAL added a short-lived half-hour newscast at 6:30&nbsp;p.m. called ''First 9 News'', which focused primarily on local news and competed against the national network newscasts aired on KCBS-TV, KNBC and KABC-TV (KCBS also aired a 6:30&nbsp;p.m. newscast during the mid to late 1990s, while the ''[[CBS Evening News]]'' aired at 5:30&nbsp;pm). Under Disney ownership, more daytime newscasts were added to channel 9 weekdays at 2 and 3&nbsp;pm, and the 6:30&nbsp;p.m. newscast was discontinued (a local newscast returned to that timeslot in the market in January 2009, when KTLA launched its own 6:30&nbsp;p.m. newscast).

KCAL is notable for airing newscasts during unconventional time periods; the station maintains the large amount of local newscasts that it presently does (which is far more than what is typical of most stations involved in a duopoly with a major network station) simply due to the fact that KCAL and KCBS-TV's newscasts air in timeslots that do not compete against one another, as a result, the station's newscast schedule remained unchanged after KCAL merged its operations with KCBS. Along with newscasts at noon (where it competes against KTLA), 4 p.m. (where it competes against KABC, KTLA and KNBC) and 10 p.m. (where it competes against KTLA and KTTV), and seven nights a week at 8 and 9 p.m.

KCAL's newscasts are variable in tone, depending on the timeslot. Its 8 p.m. newscast is generally an update on the day's news, which largely features stories focusing on California and the Los Angeles area (and was previously branded as the ''California Report'' during the ''Prime 9 News'' era). Its 9 p.m. newscast is generally the most serious in format (and was branded in previous years as the ''Prime 9 News World Report''), that newscast prominently features political, business and international news. The noon newscast, on the other hand, features lighter stories, including features on food, health and the entertainment industry. The 4 p.m. newscast was essentially a repurposed KCBS-TV newscast and was presented by former channel 2 anchors [[Harold Greene (journalist)|Harold Greene]] and [[Ann Martin (journalist)|Ann Martin]], who did not appear recently elsewhere on KCAL. The 4 p.m. newscast moved to KCAL from KCBS-TV in 2002 to make room for ''[[Dr. Phil (TV series)|Dr. Phil]]'', which by contractual stipulations was not allowed to air opposite ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'' (which aired in Los Angeles on KABC-TV at 3&nbsp;pm, until its syndication run ended in September 2011). Its 10 p.m. newscast is simply more of an update of the 8 p.m. news (and during the ''Prime 9 News'' era, was simply branded as the ''10 O'Clock Report''), as it competes with KTTV and KTLA (and in the past, KCOP), though in recent years, it has been shortened to 30 minutes, to make way for the local sports news program ''Sports Central''.

On April 1, 2008, CBS Television Stations ordered widespread budget cuts and staff layoffs from its stations. As a result of the budget cuts, roughly 10 to 15 staffers were released from KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV, including reporters Jennifer Sabih, Greg Phillips and Jennifer Davis. 4 p.m. co-anchors Greene and Martin, who were then also the 6 p.m. anchors on KCBS-TV, were also said to have been on the layoff list, but both decided to retire from television upon the June 2009 expiration of their contracts. On April 23, 2009, former KTTV anchor [[Rick Garcia]] joined KCAL, and was paired with Pat Harvey as co-anchor of the station's weeknight 8 and 10 p.m. newscasts (Garcia is now paired with [[Sharon Tay]], as Harvey moved to sister station KCBS-TV to co-anchor that station's 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts).

====NewsCentral era====
[[Image:NewsCentral kcal.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''KCAL 9 NewsCentral'' logo.]]
On September 19, 2009, KCBS and KCAL rebranded the newscasts on both stations to the unified ''NewsCentral'' branding (unrelated to [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]'s [[News Central (American TV program)|now-defunct national news division of the same name]]; CBS coincidentally owns former Sinclair station [[KOVR]] in [[Sacramento]]). The newscasts were refocused to cover more community news, including stories from outlying communities. Local news headlines from the [[Los Angeles Newspaper Group]] and [[MediaNews Group]] newspapers were displayed on a 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 (previously, the KCBS and KCAL logos were displayed on alternating sides). Under the ''NewsCentral'' format, the two stations claimed that they covered more local news than any other television station in the country (with reporters in [[Ventura County]], the [[Inland Empire]] and [[Orange County, California|Orange County]]), and the only Los Angeles television station with two helicopters (subcontracted to Angel City Air, owned by reporter Larry Welk). [[Ed Asner]] was used to introduce the new newscast.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cbs2.com/local/NewsCentral.CBS.2.2.1198316.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 24, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929170531/http://cbs2.com/local/NewsCentral.CBS.2.2.1198316.html |archive-date=September 29, 2009 }}</ref> CBS denies this move was made in response to other stations pooling newsgathering resources.<ref>http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/354501-CBS_L_A_Duop_Launches_NewsCentral_Branding.php CBS' L.A. Duop Launches 'NewsCentral' Branding], ''[[Broadcasting & Cable]]'', September 18, 2009.</ref>

On December 10, 2009, CBS Television Stations hired Steve Mauldin to replace Patrick McClenahan as president and general manager of the KCBS-KCAL duopoly. That week, the duopoly ultimately rescinded the ''NewsCentral'' branding, reverting to the "CBS2" and "KCAL9" news identities. The ''NewsCentral'' graphics, mic flags and logos remained in use during the interim, though on-air staff no longer used the ''NewsCentral'' identity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3icf90084764d1ef2dd1debeea031c411f |title=CBS TV's L.A. Duopoly Installs Mauldin as President |access-date=December 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217095743/http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3icf90084764d1ef2dd1debeea031c411f |archive-date=December 17, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2009/12/14/daily8.html | title=Report: 'NewsCentral' brand is out at KCBS, KCAL | date=December 14, 2009}}</ref>

====Recent history====
On January 14, 2012, KCAL debuted two-hour-long weekend morning newscasts (airing at 7 a.m. on Saturdays and on Sundays, which follow one-hour newscasts on KCBS); the programs are KCAL's first morning newscasts—ironically though, channel 9 was the only news-producing station in the market that did not have a news program on weekday mornings.<ref>[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/01/cbs-2-and-kcal-launch-weekend-morning-newscasts.html CBS 2 and KCAL 9 launch weekend morning newscasts], ''Los Angeles Times'', January 20, 2012.</ref>

On December 10, 2014, KCAL announced it would be dropping its hour long 2 p.m. and half-hour 3 p.m. newscasts before the end of the year to be replaced by ''[[Judge Mathis]]'' and ''[[The People's Court]]''.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} As a result, the 4 p.m. newscast was truncated from an hour to 30 minutes, and ''Inside Edition'' moved from 3:30&nbsp;p.m. to the 4:30&nbsp;p.m. slot previously occupied by the other half of the 4 p.m. newscast.

As of September 11, 2017, KCAL has reinstated the second half-hour of the 4 p.m. newscast and making the news a full hour.

On July 12, 2022, KCAL announced that it would launch a seven-hour morning newscast from 4 to 11&nbsp;am, replacing that of KCBS and marking the first-ever weekday morning newscast in the station's history;<ref name="v-kcalamnewsannounced">[https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/kcal-morning-news-first-kcbs-mornings-1235314324/ L.A. TV News Shakeup: KCAL Adds Morning Block as KCBS Double Pumps 'CBS Mornings' (EXCLUSIVE)], Variety, July 12, 2022.</ref> the new ''KCAL News Mornings'' launched on January 5, 2023.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=January 5, 2023 |title=KCAL-TV Launches 7-Hour Morning Local Newscast, KCBS-TV To Air Double Runs Of 'CBS Mornings' |url=https://deadline.com/2023/01/kcal-tv-7-hour-morning-local-newscast-kcbs-tv-double-run-cbs-mornings-1235211933/ |access-date=January 5, 2023 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Littleton |first=Cynthia |date=January 5, 2023 |title=Los Angeles TV Stations KCAL and CBS2 to Rebrand All Local Newscasts as 'KCAL News' |url=https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/kcal-news-rebrand-cbs2-los-angeles-1235479093/ |access-date=January 5, 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> At this time, KCBS replaced its existing morning newscast with a broadcast of the live Eastern edition of the network's national morning show ''[[CBS Mornings]]'', followed by a simulcast of the 6 a.m. hour of ''KCAL News Mornings''. In addition, to emphasize the station's history and reputation for local news programming, all newscasts across the KCBS-KCAL duopoly were rebranded as ''KCAL News'', and the station changed its on-air branding from "KCAL 9" to "KCAL Los Angeles".<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> On October 13, 2025, KCBS and KCAL rebranded their news operation as ''CBS LA''. As a result, KCAL reverted its on-air branding as "KCAL 9".

====Notable alumni====
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Jerry Dunphy]]
* [[Mike Emanuel]]
* [[Carter Evans]]
* [[Rich Fields]]
* [[Hal Fishman]]
* [[Harold Greene (journalist)|Harold Greene]]
* [[Pat Harvey]]
* [[Jim Hill (American football)|Jim Hill]]
* [[Sharon Ito]]
* [[Lisa Joyner]]
* [[Kristine Leahy]]
* [[Tawny Little]]
* [[Dave Malkoff]]
* [[Ann Martin (journalist)|Ann Martin]]
* [[Byron Miranda]]
* [[Leyna Nguyen]]
* [[Charles Perez]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-perez/|title=Charles Perez bio|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=March 10, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Cassandra Peterson]] (host of ''[[Elvira's Movie Macabre]]'', retained full rights to the Elvira character after departing KHJ-TV)
* [[Hank Plante]]
* [[George Putnam (newsman)|George Putnam]]
* [[Bill Ritter (journalist)|Bill Ritter]]
* [[Tracie Savage]]
* [[David Sheehan]]
* [[Kent Shocknek]]
* [[Don Steele]] (host of ''The Real Don Steele Show'')
* [[Mark Steines]]
* [[Jane Velez-Mitchell]]
{{div col end}}

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of KCAL-TV<ref name="rei"/>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 9.1
| [[1080i]] || rowspan="6" | [[16:9]] || KCAL-DT || Main KCAL-TV programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 9.2
| rowspan=4|[[480i]] || Nest || [[The Nest (TV network)|The Nest]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 9.3
| Comet || [[Comet (TV network)|Comet]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 9.4
| HSN || [[HSN]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 9.5
| QVC || [[QVC]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 9.6
| [[720p]] || KCAL+ || KCAL+/[[MeTV Toons]]
|}

===Translators===
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|190609|3=K21MH-D}}''' [[Daggett, California|Daggett]]
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14158|3=K29NN-D}}''' [[Lucerne Valley]]
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14141|3=K32OX-D}}''' Lucerne Valley
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14141|3=K32EM-D}}''' [[Morongo Valley]]
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|168512|3=K21IN-D}}''' [[Ridgecrest, California|Ridgecrest]]
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|43816|3=K17GJ-D}}''' [[Twentynine Palms]]
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|190145|3=K16LB-D}}''' [[Yucca Valley]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/tag/kcal-9/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071019040341/http://members.fortunecity.com/tvnetworks/misc/ KHJ-KCAL-TV logos and screenshots from 1950s to the present day]

{{LA TV}}
{{CBSTVS}}
{{California Independent Stations}}
{{The NHL Network (1975–79)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kcal-Tv}}
[[Category:1948 establishments in California]]
[[Category:CBS News and Stations]]
[[Category:Comet (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Independent television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:MeTV Toons affiliates]]
[[Category:The Nest (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:RKO General]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1948]]
[[Category:Television stations in Los Angeles|CAL-TV]]