San Diego might be the most picturesque market in America, but there’s plenty of news behind the postcard-perfect beach sunsets. Housing and cost of living are persistent issues in the growing market. 

Even the weather is a bigger story in San Diego than one might imagine. “People think the typical weather is 72 and sunny, but there are a lot of different microclimates in San Diego,” said Alberto Mier y Teran, president and general manager, KFMB. Between the High Desert, coast, mountains and valleys, he said, “it can be very different temperatures and people don’t realize that.”

KFMB, a CBS station Tegna acquired from Midwest Television in 2018, is a beast in DMA No. 27. KFMB has The CW on its dot-two. NBCUniversal-owned KNSD is boosting its profile; NBCU also owns Telemundo-aligned KUAN. Nexstar Media Group has Fox affiliate KSWB and Scripps holds ABC station KGTV. Entravision has Univision affiliate KBNT. McKinnon Broadcasting owns independent KUSI. 

Also: Read More Local News Close-Up Coverage Here

Cox Communications is the primary cable operator. San Diego shifted from Nielsen DMA No. 29 to 27 from 2020 to 2021. Hispanics represented 34% of San Diego County, according to the 2020 Census, and the Asian population is growing too. 

Tegna’s acquisition has been positive for KFMB. “They have such a strong, strong emphasis on journalism, and it was a really good fit,” said Mier y Teran. 

In April, KFMB had the top household score at 6-7 a.m., and KNSD was tops in the 25-54 demo. At 5 p.m. KFMB won households, and KNSD again won the demo, a tight race. KFMB grabbed the 6 p.m. households crown and shared the 25-54 win with KGTV and KNSD. At 11 p.m., KFMB had a 1.7 household score and 0.3 in the demo. KNSD was at 1.1 and 0.3. Indie KUSI scored a 1.0 and a 0.2. KGTV had a 0.8 and 0.2 and KSWB a 0.4 and 0.2. (KSWB does 10 p.m. news too.)

Among Spanish-language competitors at 11, KBNT had a 0.9 in households in April and 0.6 in the demo, while KUAN had a 0.6 and 0.3. 

KFMB cranks out 11 hours of news a day. Mier y Teran mentioned the station’s “commitment to journalism,” made stronger by Tegna’s fact-checking platform Verify. “We are the station that, when people look at news, they find us to be a very credible source,” he said. 

Longtime anchor Barbara Lee-Edwards retired in October due to health issues. Marcella Lee was promoted to CBS 8 evenings. 

The major news players in San Diego share a helicopter. Most are based in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood.

More Enterprising Stuff

Todd Mokhtari, KNSD-KUAN president and general manager, is shifting to the GM job at KNBC-KVEA Los Angeles, also part of NBCUniversal. Before taking the top spot at KNSD-KUAN, Mokhtari was VP of news at KNBC. 

He spoke with B+C Multichannel News before his move was announced. KNSD reformatted its late news, he said, to deliver more enterprising reports. “There’s no focus on story count,” he said. “We take a story and answer all the unanswered questions until we are done.”

There is less crime in the NBC 7 newscasts than there used to be. “We said, let’s put on something where people check in and get everything they need to know, not so much stories we don’t follow up on the next day,” Mokhtari said.

Greg Dawson is news director at KNSD and Mike Gaytan heads up the newsroom at KUAN. NBC 7 has a Responds unit focused on consumer issues, while KUAN has Responde.  

San Diego news veterans are not surprised to see Mokhtari move up to DMA No. 2. “Good things happen to good people,” said one GM. 

KGTV produces 44 hours of news a week, and is also rethinking news, with a focus on meatier content. Leon Clark, VP and general manager, noted parent Scripps’s roots in serious journalism. “We are reimagining how we do our news,” said Clark. “We are doing more in-depth stories than we’d done before. We have research that shows that viewers will watch longer stories if they are compelling.”

KGTV’s anchors are active newsgatherers in the field, Clark added. “At the end of the day, anchors are journalists as well,” he said. 

San Diego is a market full of lively neighborhoods, ranging from Pacific Beach to Encinitas to Spring Valley. Clark mentioned KGTV’s efforts to be street level at times other than when crimes occur in one of the communities. “There’s a passion for the respective communities that you don’t see anywhere else,” he said of the market. “There’s a Main Street in every community and they want us to know about it.” 

KSWB has been growing its local content at a steady pace [see sidebar]. A 7 p.m. newscast was added in 2020, and it was extended to an hour last year. “People said, there’s no news at 7 and 7:30,” said Scott Heath, KSWB VP/general manager. “Now there’s news. It has done well and it has met our expectations.”

KSWB lifestyle show The Localist SD, with pay-to-play vendors, premiered January 24. “It has just skyrocketed,” Heath said. 

KUSI has “San Diego’s More Local News Station” branding and conducts consumer reports under an “It Ain’t Right” tagline. 

Economic Issues

The San Diego economy could use a boost. The automotive category has long suffered from supply-chain issues. “They just don’t have units to sell,” Heath said. 

COVID-19 has hampered tourism. Political spending, including sports betting on the ballot, looks promising. National advertising is down, the GMs said, but local is up. 

“Ask any general manager here in the market right now, and they’ll tell you it’s a little challenging,” said Clark. “But we’re working through it.”

Asked what they like about San Diego, the general managers spoke of the gorgeous weather, of course. They also mentioned how a diverse population enhances the quality of life. “I love seeing different types of people,” said Mier y Teran, who grew up in the market, “and culture and food and art.”  ■

A bevy of cable networks and streaming video services gravitated to San Diego this past week to showcase the TV industry's top shows during the annual Comic-Con International show.

Networks such as AMC, History, HBO and TNT, as well as streaming services like CBS All Access and Netflix, presented to an estimated 100,000 Comic-Con attendees numerous panels featuring writers, directors and stars of major hit shows such as The Walking Dead, Vikings, Westworld, The Last Ship, Star Trek Discovery and Stranger Things.

Along with the panels, content providers also released video trailers from several series and specials, a sample of which appears below.


Twice Upon A Time (Doctor Who) -- BBC America 

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency -- BBC America 

Stranger Things – Netflix

The Last Ship – TNT

Star Trek Discovery – CBS All Access

Vikings – History

The Defenders – Netflix

American Horror Story – FX

Westworld – HBO

Stargate – MGM

Krypton -- Syfy

Having grown from a small convention showcasing comic books and fantasy literature to a mega-event for promoting feature films, TV series, video games, collectibles and more, Comic-Con is now expanding via a subscription video-on-demand service it will offer in partnership with Lionsgate.

The service, which Comic-Con International: San Diego and Lionsgate will launch in the U.S. later this year, will feature exclusive original short-form content, and films and television series from Lionsgate and other studios.

For hardcore Comic-Con fans, archived footage from the expo's 45-year history will also be available exclusively on the service. The companies said they will also use the channel to extend the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI-IFF) into a year-long online event.

"The biggest pop culture event of the year will become a year-round digital channel for Comic-Con fans and audiences around the world," Jim Packer, Lionsgate president of worldwide television & digital distribution, said. "The fan base for the kind of films and television series showcased at Comic-Con has grown exponentially, and a subscription video-on-demand service is the ideal platform to capture the magic and excitement of the Comic-Con experience year-round."

The new channel is Lionsgate's third SVOD service. It also recently launched the Lionsgate Entertainment World platform with the Alibaba Group in China. It also has announced, the planned launch this summer, in partnership with Tribeca Enterprises, of Tribeca Shortlist, an SVOD service for film aficionados.

The Comic-Con service will be "distinguished by its imaginative curation, depth and diversity of content, and fierce loyalty to the Comic-Con brand," said Peter Levin, Lionsgate president of interactive ventures & games.

Comic-Con International has grown from 300 attendees in the basement of San Diego's U.S. Grant Hotel in 1970 to more than 130,000 fans from around the world last year. Badges for this year's Comic-Con, scheduled for July 9-12 at the San Diego Convention Center, sold out in 60 minutes, Comic-Con said.

Fans can watch for more news about the SVOD service at the joint venture's website.