L.A. duopolies grapple with changes at TV stations: futures of highly paid newscasters in doubt. (Media & Technology).

As L.A.'s three major TV station duopolies consolidate operations, there are growing expectations that some newscasters will be dropped in a money-saving effort.

Talent is a huge expense and a major factor in the ratings, which gives duopoly executives more than enough reasons to re-examine their news teams.

"Working on air is always pretty nerve-wracking because you're always worried about the next person who's going to be hired," said Sylvia Teague, a former executive producer at KCBS and former managing editor at KCAL-TV (Channel 9). "When you've got this much movement, it's got to make people very, very nervous."

No news anchor has been dropped, but sources say that a few are taking pay cuts, while others are going without raises.

The biggest change so far has been the recent hiring of Laura Diaz by KCBS-TV (Channel 2). A 19-year veteran of rival KABC-TV (Channel 7), Diaz starts in September and will replace Ann Martin as co-anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast and Gretchen Carr at 11 p.m. Martin will continue to anchor at noon and Can will move to the station's new 4:30 p.m. newscast.

Anchors get the highest salaries and therefore might seem more vulnerable in an era of overall cost cutting. "That's a huge, huge part of the budget," Teague said.

But anchors play a major role in establishing a station's identity, which makes management cautious about changing them around.

"They are the major identity of a local television station," said Wald.

Viacom Inc., owner of KCBS, recently acquired KCAL and is in the process of combining operations at Channel 2's home, Columbia Square on Sunset Boulevard.

General Electric Co.-owned NBC this year completed its acquisition of Telemundo Communications Group Inc. The network plans to relocate local Telemundo outlets KVEA-TV (Channel 52) and KWHY-TV (Channel 22) to the KNBC-TV (Channel 4) facility in Burbank.

News Corp.'s purchase of Chris-Craft Industries Inc. last year put KTTV-TV (Channel 11) and KCOP-TV (Channel 13) in the same family. For now, the stations are keeping their separate facilities but there have been some changes. Most notably, KCOP's 10 p.m. newscast (which went up against KTTV) was moved to 11 p.m.

In a show of how valued top anchors continue to be, KNBC recently signed a six-year deal with Paul Moyer rumored to be worth $3 million a year. The veteran L.A. anchor says he feels pretty secure in his job and points out that any changes in on-air talent can be a turn-off for viewers.

"If you try to cut back on-air people and start using your on-air people at both stations, that's going to confuse the hell out of people," Moyer said. "You can't mix and match."