KCAL Los Angeles Morning Block Goes Live

Jamie Yuccas and Rudabeh Shahbazi on the anchor desk
Jamie Yuccas and Rudabeh Shahbazi on the KCAL anchor desk. (Image credit: CBS Stations)

KCAL Los Angeles has launched its seven-hour morning block, which has the name KCAL News Mornings and starts at 4 a.m. The debut “extends the KCAL News brand to weekday mornings for the first time in the station’s history,” the station said. 

Kalyna Astrinos anchors 4-4:30 a.m., Chris Holmstrom and Marci Gonzalez anchor 4:30-6, Gonzalez and Rudabeh Shahbazi are on the desk 6-7, Jamie Yuccas and Shahbazi anchor 7 to 10, and Amy Johnson is the lone anchor at 10-11 a.m. 

KCBS-KCAL Los Angeles are part of CBS News and Stations. KCBS airs network show CBS Mornings 4-6 a.m., in addition to its regular 7-9 a.m. slot, and has KCAL News Mornings 6-7 a.m.

With the January 5 expansion, the two stations now offer 91.5 hours of regularly scheduled live local newscasts per week.

KCAL introduced an 8-11 p.m. news block in 1990. Jennifer Mitchell, CBS Stations president, told B+C the independent station is well positioned to make a name in morning news. “There’s tremendous strength and legacy in the KCAL brand in this marketplace,” she said. “There’s a true, rich history behind that, so this launch makes complete sense.” ■

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.