GETTING US READY FOR ‘THE BIG ONE’

In an ambitious attempt to get Southern Californians ready for “the big one,” KCBS-TV Channel 2 will preempt CBS’ entire prime-time schedule Saturday to broadcast a live, three-hour program on earthquake preparedness.

The telecast from 8 to 11 p.m. will feature taped reports by KCBS news reporters and panels of experts discussing various topics relating to surviving the next big quake, including the science of earthquakes, how to improve the stability of your home, how to develop a safety strategy, what to do after the quake and how to deal with the psychological impact of earthquakes.

An in-studio audience will ask questions of the panelists, and viewers at home will be able to call in their own questions during the broadcast. The program will be simulcast in Spanish on KLVE-FM (107.5).

“The impact the 6.1 Oct. 1 quake had on this marketplace prompted us to do something different,” Robert Hyland, general manager of KCBS, said in an interview Wednesday. “People have been told that ‘the big one’ will come some day, but no one in this market has taken it upon themselves to provide all the whys and wherefores of earthquake safety.”

Hyland said his station received clearance from CBS to preempt its usual lineup of Saturday-night programs without much trouble. The network, especially after watching the news reports of the Oct. 1 earthquake, understood the importance of this subject to the Los Angeles community, he explained.

Still, it is no small matter to take a network’s entire lineup of prime-time programs off the air in the nation’s second largest TV market, especially at a time when CBS is trying to establish two new shows--”Everything’s Relative” and “Leg Work”--on that night. KCBS officials said they believe this will be the first time an entire night of network programs have been preempted by a local broadcast in Los Angeles.

Hyland said that it took a quake of the magnitude of the one that struck the Los Angeles area this month to jolt people into thinking about preparing themselves for the next one. Six months ago, he said, hardly anyone would have been willing to sit through such a television program.

The hundreds of questions, letters and phone calls that the station has received since the Whittier temblor indicated to KCBS management that its viewers were hungry for this type of program, Hyland said. Over the last few weeks, the station has tried to present as much earthquake information as possible on its regular newscasts, but Hyland said he and his staff decided it would be more useful to package a comprehensive discussion of the subject.

“We want to allay the fears that people have about earthquakes,” Hyland said. “People panic during a quake because they don’t know what to do. Some people will be alarmed no matter what. It’s a terrible shock to the system, but at least they will know how to handle it.”

The goal of the show is to answer as many questions as possible--everything from how to deal with frightened children to when to call the insurance company and to what can be expected from the government and the utility companies during an emergency.

The KCBS special, anchored by Terry Murphy and Chris Conangla, will be rebroadcast Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. It will not be simulcast in Spanish, but it will be shown with closed captions for the hearing impaired.