as most of its fellow CBS-owned stations were dominating their cities' ratings, KNXT rapidly fell into last place. For most of the period from 1975 to 2006, KNXT/KCBS-TV was not a major competitor in the Los Angeles television ratings among the area's local television newscasts. During the period, Channel 2 had frequently changed newscast titles (from The Big News/Eleven O'Clock Report to Channel 2 News in 1973, then to Newsroom in 1976 and back to Channel 2 News by 1978) and formats to styles that often became unsuccessful and even controversial. In September 1986, Channel 2 implemented a news-wheel format for its 4–6:30 p.m. news block, with each hour of news beginning with a 20-minute newscast, followed by two 20-minute programs devoted to certain topics and themes (for example, there was entertainment and lifestyle news early on and harder news stories later in the program), concluding with a half hour-long local news report; this format was heavily panned by critics and audiences alike, and was dropped after only a month in favor of standard newscasts. As part of the aforementioned changes, from 1986 to 1987, KCBS produced a 7 p.m. newscast, airing CBS Evening News immediately beforehand at 6:30 p.m. KCBS was also the last station in the Los Angeles area to offer a local early evening newscast at 6:30 p.m., when its 6 p.m. newscast ran for an hour during that time period; CW affiliate KTLA later launched a newscast in that timeslot in January 2009. KCBS produced late afternoon newscasts at 4 p.m. at various points in time. It was the first in the Southland region with a 4:30 p.m. newscast, that was later expanded to an hour. The late 1980s and early 1990s brought to KCBS the Action News format, in which the station's newscast adopted a tabloid-style format; the format grated on the news staff, which circulated a memo that resulted in the firing of news director John Lippmann in 1993. Lippmann was heavily criticized by many, and reportedly had many confrontations with news staff, notably a shoving match between him and anchor Michael Tuck. The station's ratings quickly declined. CBS management, highly embarrassed at KCBS-TV's subpar performance, responded by bringing in Bill Applegate as general manager. Applegate had previously served as general manager at Chicago sister station WBBM-TV, and was employed at that station as a reporter in the early 1970s. While Applegate had been