KCBS-TV Channel 2 anchor Pat Harvey is scheduled to be inducted Thursday into the National Assn. of Black Journalists Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
Harvey joined KCBS in 2010 after helping to launch sister station KCAL's prime-time newscast two decades earlier. She is considered one of the most prominent anchors in Los Angeles.
Veteran KCBS Channel 2 anchor Laura Diaz, who was once one of the station's most prominent news figures, is leaving the station to produce her own projects.
The station also announced that Rick Garcia, who is co-anchor of KCBS' sister station KCAL's 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, will replace Diaz for KCBS' 6 p.m. newscast. Diaz had anchored that newscast since last year, when she was replaced on the 5 p.m and 11 p.m. news by Pat Harvey.
Diaz's last broadcast will be an "Eye on the Community" special at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
Diaz joined KCBS as its most prominent anchor in August 2002 after spending more than two decades at KABC "Eyewitness News." When she was hired, the station staged a high-profile promotional campaign, placing Diaz's face on billboards, bus placards and posters.
Her hiring at the time was seen as a strategy to reverse the fortunes of KCBS, which traditionally trailed rivals KABC and KNBC. Then General Manager Don Corsini called Diaz "the cornerstone" of KCBS' merger with sister station KCAL Channel 9.
Some of the promotional material was in Spanish, marking the first time that an English-language station targeted Latino viewers.
Sister stations KCBS Channel 2 and KCAL Channel 9 are shaking up their daytime schedule, including switching time periods for popular syndicated shows "Dr. Phil" and "Judge Judy."
Starting Sept. 12 on KCBS, "Dr. Phil," which currently airs at 4 p.m., will switch to 3 p.m., while "Judge Judy" will move from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Other daytime series have already moved. KCBS' "Let's Make A Deal," which previously aired at 2 p.m. has moved to 9 a.m. "The Doctors," which had aired at 11 a.m. on KCAL, has moved to 2 p.m. on KCBS.
KCAL's "Judge Joe Brown" has moved from 10 a.m to 11 a.m. "Judge Mathis," which previously aired on KCAL at 9 a.m., has shifted to 10 a.m. "America's Court with Judge Ross" has joined the station's court slate at 9 a.m.
The syndicated "Rachel Ray," which formerly aired on KCBS at 9 a.m., has moved to KCAL at 8 a.m.
Serene Branson is thankful she did not have another YouTube moment on Oscar night.
The KCBS-TV Channel 2 reporter who became an unwitting media sensation two weeks ago when she began to speak incoherently during a live report following the Grammy Awards returned to the Hollywood red carpet scene Sunday, filing several live reports before and after the Academy Awards.
"It was great, and it felt so good to be back on the red carpet," Branson said Monday. "It was a long day, but everything went well." She added that she nabbed a little bit of celebrity status from publicists, other journalists and even an actor from "The Fighter" who recognized her.
Branson pointed out that the ceremony marked the end of a week when she'd returned to work full time, filing reports of several stories ranging from the Somali pirate hijacking to the troubles surrounding Charlie Sheen. But many of her colleagues were openly concerned about her handling the demands of covering the Oscars and kept checking in with her to make sure she felt OK.
KCBS-TV Channel 2 reporter Serene Branson says she finds her instant celebrity -- due to her post-Grammy live report in which she started talking incoherently -- "surreal." In an exclusive interview she told The Times that she can't wait to get back to being just "a general assignment reporter."
Branson until Thursday had not seen the clip that made her a media sensation. She was too worried following the incident on Sunday about possible health concerns, and thought that viewing the clip might cause her added stress.
She was greatly relieved when her doctor at UCLA told her that her episode was not caused by a stroke, but by a "migraine with aura." Symptoms can include weakness, loss of vision and difficulty speaking.
The 31-year-old Branson said she was eager to get back to her job next week, "where I can report on stories, not be the story."
Read more about her ordeal and plans for the future in this report.
KCBS-TV reporter Serene Branson became a national topic of conversation following the Grammy Awards last weekend, when her speech became garbled during a live report. A station spokesperson noted that she had been examined by paramedics on the scene and sent home, but there was widespread speculation and concern that she had suffered some kind of stroke.
Now Branson's doctor, chief of neurosurgery at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, is speaking up, telling the L.A. Times that her speech problem was not a stroke but a symptom of a "complex migraine." For more, read the report here.
KCBS reporter Serene Branson, who has sparked a Web sensation with her live post-Grammy Award report in which she is talking gibberish [video here], has told her bosses that she is feeling fine and that her mangled speech was not indicative of a serious medical problem.
Branson on Monday was responding to concerns that she may have suffered a stroke or some other seizure while launching into a report outside Staples Center at the top of KCBS' 11:30 p.m. news. The live broadcast of the Grammys had ended about three hours earlier when Branson started her report on the drama surrounding the ceremony.
Branson was immediately examined by paramedics on the scene following the report, and was not hospitalized. She was reported to be resting at home Monday.
While Branson told station executives there was no indication of a serious medical problem, it remained unclear when she would return to work.
Meanwhile, the Web had exploded with videos of the report, with observers making fun or blasting Branson for her flub.
Branson, who started working at the station in July 2006, is a two-time Emmy nominee and a recipient of the Frank Shakespeare Award for Outstanding Achievement in Journalism, according to her bio on the station's website. A graduate of UCLA and a "proud Bruin," she "is thrilled to be reporting on stories in her hometown," where she was born and raised.
The sudden attention surrounding Branson recalls to some extent the hoopla that surrounded Caitlin Upton, a 2007 Miss South Carolina Teen USA who became an unwitting national celebrity when she provided a rambling, nonsensical answer to a question posed to her during the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant.
KCBS-TV reporter Serene Branson sparked some unexpected drama following the Grammy Awards when she slurred her words and appeared to speak gibberish during a live report.
Branson was reporting outside the Staples Center at the top of the 11:30 p.m. broadcast and was appearently trying to talk about the hoopla during the award show when her words became unintelligible. Some startled viewers thought she may have suffered a stroke during the report.
A KCBS spokesman released a statement that Branson was examined by paramedics on the scene immediately following the broadcast. "Her vital signs were normal," the statement said. "She was not hospitalized. As a precautionary measure, a colleague gave her a ride home, and she says she is feeling fine this morning."
KNBC and KTTV won top honors Saturday at the 61st Annual Golden Mike Awards, which salutes excellence in broadcast and Internet journalism.
The Radio and Television News Assn. honored KNBC for daytime and half-hour newscasts, while KTTV won for 60-minute newscast.
Regis Philbin, the host of "Live with Regis and Kelly" who announced his retirement from that show last week, was presented with the first-ever broadcast legend award.
Veteran local news anchors Kelly Lange and Jose A. Ronstadt were presented with lifetime achievement awards. Lange, who retired from KNBC, is currently a novelist while Ronstadt is an anchor at Telemundo.
In the radio division, KNX-AM won for top newscast over 15 minutes, while KFI-AM won for newscasts under 15 minutes.
Former Los Angeles-based CNN anchor, correspondent and producer Sibila Vargas has been named co-anchor of KCBS' morning newscasts. Vargas will start Oct. 11 and will co-anchor the station's weekday 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. newscast, as well as the 11 a.m. newscast.
Vargas replaces Suzanne Rico, who left KCBS last March. Lisa Sigell had been filling in the anchor spot on an interim basis.
Vargas most recently was the weekday morning news co-anchor for KRIV-TV, the Fox-owned and -operated station in Houston, where she has worked since October 2007. Prior to that, she worked for CNN, anchoring and reporting for "American Morning," "Anderson Cooper 360" and "The Situation Room."
CBS 2 will join the early-morning news race Tuesday when it adds a newscast at 4:30, station officials announced Friday.
The newscast, which will be anchored by Kent Shocknek and Lisa Sigell, will replace the CBS Morning News.
With the addition of the news broadcast, the pre-dawn local news race will become even more competitive. KNBC, KTLA, KABC and Fox News 11 all have newscasts starting at at 4:30 a.m., hoping to attract early-morning commuters and students.
