The station's ratings improved, but Applegate eventually became a casualty of CBS' merger with the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1996; Applegate had bickered with Westinghouse over the station's syndicated programming not long after he had arrived. Westinghouse executives never forgot this, and Applegate was one of the first executives to be let go. Channel 2's momentum ground to a halt, and it soon dropped into last place. The "Action News" branding was dropped in late 1996 and the station's newscasts were briefly reverted back to "Channel 2 News"; it was later renamed to the present "CBS 2 News" in spring 1997. Dunphy, who was dismissed from KCBS in March 1996 because of the aforementioned CBS merger with Westinghouse, returned to KCAL in November 1997.