How Moyer Fared

Paul Moyer’s debut on KNBC-TV Channel 4 not only propelled his new station into first place Monday but also helped knock his former station, KABC-TV Channel 7, from first to third.

Paired with former weekend anchor Wendy Tokuda, Moyer’s 5 p.m. broadcast scored a 6 rating (each point represents 48,751 homes), compared with a 5.2 for KCBS-TV Channel 2 and a 4 for KABC, which in recent months has been dominating the news ratings race.

Just last Friday, KABC had easily beaten both its rivals with a 6.9 mark at 5 p.m., with KNBC’s pre-Moyer team of Jess Marlow and Colleen Williams scoring a 5.2 and KCBS a 4.2.

At 11 p.m. Monday, Tokuda and Moyer also easily outdistanced both KABC and KCBS.

A KNBC spokeswoman said that the station was pleased with the first-day “sampling” of its new first team. But since KABC has not settled on a firm anchor lineup now that it no longer employs Moyer, and since summer viewing patterns are far different from the rest of the year, it will be months before anyone will be able to judge whether KNBC’s mega-million-dollar gamble on Moyer pays off.