Channel 2’s Marlow Quits Over Pay Dispute; Williams to Follow

Veteran news anchorman Jess Marlow left KCBS-TV (Channel 2) Tuesday after being told he would have to take a substantial pay cut.

Also leaving the station in a contract disagreement will be Colleen Williams, who anchored the station’s 5 p.m. newscast with Marlow.

The two are leaving the CBS Inc.-owned station at a time when its parent company has experienced financial difficulties throughout its nationwide operations, including layoffs in its news division.

The station attributed the Marlow and Williams contract disputes to “new economic realities in the television industry.”

“They made me an offer that I couldn’t accept,” Marlow said in a telephone interview from his home Tuesday afternoon. “I’m not going to discuss numbers, but a substantial cut was involved.”

Marlow said he had no immediate job plans, and he did not expect to join another TV station until his current three-year contract runs out in November.

Sources at the station said that Marlow, who had been making more than $500,000 a year at the station he joined six years ago, was offered $350,000 a year. Williams, who joined KCBS-TV in 1983, was said to have turned down an offer of $250,000 a year.

Marlow, who joined KCBS-TV after 14 years with KNBC-TV (Channel 4), made his last appearance on Channel 2 Monday night, a station spokesman said, while Williams will continue on the air until the end of the month.

KCBS-TV officials also declined to discuss specific salary figures, but General Manager Frank Gardner acknowledged that the station was “unable to reach financial agreements” with either Marlow or Williams.

Gardner said in a prepared statement that current financial difficulties throughout the TV business “require that anchor salaries be kept in line with the growth of the marketplace.”

Marlow said that the contract dispute arose in part from plans to revamp the low-rated KCBS-TV evening news operations in the fall. The station’s news shows consistently rank behind KABC-TV (Channel 7) and KNBC-TV news programs, and, Marlow said, the station is planning a new format to combat its prolonged ratings slump.

“I didn’t see myself fitting into the new format,” Marlow said.

In a related development, it was announced in Nashville, Tenn., that local news anchor Dan Miller will join KCBS-TV as an anchor Sept. 15. KCBS-TV confirmed the appointment but denied that Miller will replace Marlow.

Contributing to this article was Times staff writer William Chitwood.