<\/a>Lester Holt<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cMy experience in reporting really follows the standard that Bill laid down in that the 10 o\u2019clock anchor is a reporter,\u201d Holt said. \u201cAll you have to do is flip on A&E or PBS, and you\u2019ll see Bill Kurtis is still the quintessential anchor\/reporter. I\u2019ve reported big stories from around the country and around the world. I\u2019d like to think I bring all that to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
A native of the San Francisco area, Holt, 36, made his television debut at age 16 on a public affairs program on KCRA-TV in Sacramento, Calif. After switching to radio, he dropped out of California State University to join KCBS-AM in San Francisco as a reporter in 1979. He\u2019s been with CBS ever since.<\/p>\n
After two stints at WCBS-TV in New York and one at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, Holt signed on at Channel 2 here in August 1986.<\/p>\n
Under his new arrangement, Holt will continue to anchor Channel 2\u2019s 90-minute afternoon news block and report for the station\u2019s \u201cNews Extra\u201d unit. By adding what he calls \u201cthe big show\u201d at 10 p.m., Holt inherits the challenge of boosting the station\u2019s ratings from a distant third place.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The ratings] have me as frustrated as I\u2019ve been in a long time,\u201d Holt said. \u201cI think Channel 2 is doing some great television now, and we\u2019re getting better every day. I\u2019m really proud of some of the stuff we do. But to see the ratings, you shake your head and think: \u2018My God, what do we have to do? Maybe we do have to go back to sensationalism.\u2019 I\u2019m not suggesting that, but in frustration sometimes you say that to yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last four or five years, we reinvented ourselves a couple of times. I\u2019m not saying any one of those was necessarily bad or good, but there\u2019ve been a lot of changes at Channel 2, and it\u2019s time to steady the course, do what we\u2019re doing to do and be what we\u2019re going to be. I just cross my fingers that [CBS brass in] New York gives us enough time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can think is that it is a long-term build. It doesn\u2019t take long to shake people\u2019s trust, but it takes a long time to get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n