Thanks to media consolidation and vertical integration program syndication is no longer a station-by-station proposition. Today major shows are sold to entire station groups.

Meanwhile, audience fragmentation and consequent budget cuts brought the demise of most local programming. Left with little to purchase or produce, station program managers became target practice for bean counters.

Some station groups have even made that a policy. In 2001, Tribune cashiered program managers in 19 markets in favor of a handful of "regional" PMs-only to fire them too a few years later.

But now comes the news that Tribune's crown jewel, KTLA Los Angeles, has suddenly hired a new P.M. Excuse me. Make that a vice president of programming and marketing. He's John Moczulski, a 37-year veteran of station marketing, program syndication and sales.

So what has changed so soon after program managers became personnel non grata at Tribune? The media giant has dropped three clues.

Tribune's John Moczulski wants to once again make KTLA Los Angeles "a vital community asset."

First, Tribune's salty new owner, Sam Zell, describes the programming prowess of its primetime partner, the CW, in terms usually reserved for the "before" section of a Viagra ad. While committed to CW, Tribune is said to be preparing a bailout strategy that could include launching its own primetime schedule.

Second, despite loudly exiting the program syndication biz last year, it now appears that Tribune wants back in. Disenchanted with the cost-to-performance ratio of its syndicated staples such as Maury Povich and Jerry Springer, it's rumored to be heading towards more mainstream and especially more local fare.

That certainly jibes with clue No. 3: the sheer scope of John Moczulski's job description at KTLA which, according to the press release, includes "expanded production opportunities."

"Today the news landscape is far more crowded," says Moczulski. We think the way to garner a larger audience is to cover a wide range of subjects including entertainment news and softer features and that's what we intend to do. It will be interesting to see what form that takes," he adds coyly, so as not to tip off the competition.

That's a tall order, but Moczulki's resume seems suited to the task. He came up through the station ranks at network O&Os: first in design and graphics at KNBC and KABC Los Angeles, followed by 12 years as VP of creative services and marketing at KGO San Francisco.

For four years, he headed feature film then all television distribution as a senior VP for Columbia TriStar (now Sony), then joined the CBS station group as VP of programming and marketing. In 2002, he founded his own production and syndication company, Barking Sheep Communications, followed in 2004 by a new national rep firm, TV10s LLC, which he co-founded and ran.

"Because of my experience," he says, "I can add a little broader analysis of where KTLA should go and what the benefits will be. I've worked with a tremendous number of great people. If you reduce the mistakes, you reduce the challenges you face."

KTLA's No. 1 "mistake" was pretty well spelled out by new owner Sam Zell when he made it clear he expects more synergy with Tribune's Los Angeles Times.

"We certainly do want to collaborate more with the Times than KTLA has in the past," says Moczulski, who thinks that his former employers at CBS may have even provided a successful model in Los Angeles. "They've successfully leveraged their duopoly [KCBS and KCAL] to improve operating efficiency and to boost awareness of both stations."

As for KTLA's new direction, Moczuski declares that he and Tribune President Ed Wilson and COO Randy Michaels will "aggressively change [KTLA's] creative environment and performance. We will be a station that is all about LA and won't be doing TV like everyone else does."

If this sounds to you like a hyper-local program strategy, you're on the right track. For competitive reasons, Moczulski won't say for sure. But he drops some intriguing clues.

"Over the years KTLA has been branded as LA's News Station and that goes in and out of favor depending on whether viewers are [gravitating towards] affiliate news," says Moczulski. "There are things we'd like to do in news dayparts and elsewhere to extend the footprint of the station and to make KTLA more into destination television."

Moczulski also alludes to the earliest days of Los Angeles television when KTLA was the first commercially licensed station west of the Mississippi and produced the mother of all reality shows—City at Night.

Shot entirely on location, each show originated from a different surprise location and captured behind-the-scenes stories after dark. "We can bring those traditions | More …