Jensen was known in New York for his booming, gravelly voice and deliberate demeanor, and was often thought of as a local version of Walter Cronkite. WCBS had gone back and forth with WNBC-TV for first place, but under Jensen became the dominant station in New York, a lead it kept for most of the time until the mid-1980s. He was also known for asking perceptive questions, even of his colleagues at the news desk. WCBS' reporters had to know their stories very well if their stories aired when Jensen was behind the anchor desk. They risked embarrassing themselves on-air if Jensen asked them a question that they could not answer. Over the years, his partners at the anchor desk – some of them New York broadcast legends in their own right – included Ralph Penza, Rolland Smith, Carol Martin, Michele Marsh, Warner Wolf, and finally Dana Tyler. He was reportedly the model for Jim Dial, Murphy Brown's co-anchor.