TV & VIDEO - Feb. 8, 1989

Although revamped, given a new name, a new boss and a more traditional look, the syndicated “USA Today on TV” has been axed by WCBS-TV in New York and will leave the station at the end of the month. What the program didn’t have was a new time slot in New York. WCBS has always aired it at 2 a.m., and Bob Jacobs, president of GTG Marketing, which syndicates the show, said he didn’t consider its axing by the station a major worry since “at 2 a.m. it basically was off the air anyway.” He said “only a handful” of stations have dropped the show since its premiere last fall. It currently is aired by 153 stations, including KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, where a spokesman said Tuesday “it is doing very well for us” since its move from KCBS-TV Channel 2 a month ago.