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.

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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.

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 of innovation back to KTLA and that's what we're hoping to do," Moczulski says.

But while KTLA and its founder Klaus Landsberg are famous for such technical innovations as the live news reporting and the first news helicopter, future programs won't be driven by gadgetry.

Miczulski believes technology should serve the content, not shape it. "At the end of the day, give me a good story and I won't care what kind of screen I'm watching it on."

As an LA native who grew up watching the station, Moczulski says that it's "a little bit humbling" to walk the halls of KTLA and see the archival photos on the wall of iconic moments of broadcast history as the marathon coverage in 1949 of the tragic efforts to save doomed Kathy Fiscus, reported live by pioneer TV newsman Stan Chambers. And Moczulski admits he's absolutely in awe of Chambers, now 84 and still reporting for the station.

"Like the late Hal Fishman, Stan is an icon in local broadcasting so it was exciting for me to hear firsthand about what happened ‘back in the day.' But what really invigorated Stan was talking about where we plan to take KTLA. He's still focused on our future."

Moczulski revealed that his station strategy is also inspired by a more recent vintage of California broadcast history: In 1989 he was working at KGO when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit.

"That really taught me the importance of a local television station during a calamity. We stayed up for three days doing everything from feeding video to the rest of the world by satellite to housing people in our studio and delivering clothing and diapers and donations from local businesses to emergency centers."

Weeks later, KGO's keepsake video of the massive story raised almost $750,000 for the Red Cross. The station's efforts won a Peabody award. "We must have received thank-you letters from viewers for the next two or three years. That's what we want KTLA to be—a vital community asset."

But even with the vast content and related resources of the venerable Times, which arguably "inspires" a large number of stories on every LA newscast, is it still possible to significantly grow KTLA's ratings with a primarily local strategy?

"Will the shows we've brainstormed enhance our news image and expand our audience? I believe the answer is a resounding ‘yes'," Moczulski says. "But we have to analyze everything we do. It depends on the sum total of the storytelling, the imagery, the branding, putting it all into one news and information television station that speaks about Southern California with one mind, one voice and one heart."

And it has not escaped Tribune's notice that a hit on Los Angeles television could bring national revenue. For several years, Fox-owned KTTV syndicated a version of its Good Day LA morning news. (The show continues locally and outperforms KTLA's Morning News in all demos.) But the national version of KTLA's annual coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parade often trounces the network versions around the country.

So does Moczulski think he'll end up programming more for Tribune than just Los Angeles? Are his fledgling programs heading for a screen in your market?

"Yet to be determined," he says. "Right now the focus is on KTLA."