In Shake-Up, KCBS Drops Tuck, Alvarez

Longtime anchors Michael Tuck and Linda Alvarez have been let go by KCBS-TV as part of a shake-up under the station’s new management.

Tuck, who has been at KCBS since 1990, said he has anticipated such a move, having recently been removed from the station’s 11 p.m. newscast, and intends to return to San Diego. “After five [general managers], six news directors and God knows how many format changes in nine years, enough is enough,” Tuck said Thursday.

The on-air changes are part of a larger effort to overhaul Channel 2--a perennial cellar-dweller in the local news ratings--by John Severino, who became president of CBS’ owned-and-operated TV station group in July. Severino, the onetime president of KABC-TV, doubles as KCBS’ general manager.

The station recently announced plans to move a fixture of CBS’ morning lineup, “The Price Is Right,” to 3 p.m. weekdays, opposite Oprah Winfrey’s and Rosie O’Donnell’s talk shows. KCBS will try to capitalize on the game show’s following by introducing a 4 p.m. newscast starting Sept. 13 and shifting “The CBS Evening News With Dan Rather” back to 6:30 p.m., against ABC’s and NBC’s national newscasts.

Sources say the 4 p.m. news will be somewhat unconventional, focusing specifically on issues that appeal to women. A CBS spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on that but did confirm the departure of Tuck and Alvarez, who joined KCBS in 1993, after working at KNBC-TV.

Anchor pairings on the various newscasts are still being worked out, and additional personnel and on-air changes are expected.

Tuck noted that he began thinking seriously about leaving KCBS last September, when CBS abruptly fired general manager John Culliton, who had helped bring some prestige to the station’s news with such investigative projects as reporter Joel Grover’s high-profile expose on local restaurants.