Bloodbath at KCBS/KCAL

You've probably heard by now about the big layoffs at CBS TV stations across the country, including L.A.'s KCBS and KCAL (or, as the company affectionately calls it, "the duopoly").

The top news: Big time L.A. anchors Harold Greene and Ann Martin, whose contracts were up at the end of May, are suddenly out of a job.

That means quite a few top L.A. anchors are nowhere to be found on the airwaves; count John Beard among them as well.

Greene and Martin are probably still better known for their long-running stints on rival KABC/Channel 7. Both were brought to KCBS in attempts to push the longtime also-ran back into the race, but both were eventually pushed off the key 11 p.m. newscast.

Martin, who joined in 1994, was replaced by Gretchen Carr in 2000; Greene, who left KABC in 2000 and joined KCBS in 2001, was moved (alongside Martin) to the 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. newscasts in 2003, when Paul Magers joined the station. (That 4 p.m. newscast later migrated to KCAL.)

Of course, after Magers joined, KCBS' ratings jumped.

KCBS/KCAL hasn't yet announced Greene's and Martin's replacements; today, Sylvia Lopez and Glen Walker anchored the 4 p.m. KCAL newscast.

Check out this 1990 "Eyewitness News" piece from Dr. George Fishbeck, featuring interviews with Ann and Harold. Also, prepare your eyes for Paul Moyer's button-down look. Yipes.



And of course, don't forget the infamous Paul Moyer/Ann Martin flare-up; listen to it here.

Meanwhile, also out at KCBS/KCAL are reporters Jennifer Sabih and Jennifer Davis. Meanwhile, in Chicago, the story was similar: Two top anchors on CBS-owned WBBM, Diann Burns and Mary Ann Childers, were also let go. Like Martin and Greene in L.A., Burns and Childers once anchored at Chicago's top-rated ABC station, WLS, before being lured away. Guess that was the CBS O&O M.O. for a while.