WCPO-TV soon will have its third news director in three years after the March 2 resignation of Scott Diener.

        Mr. Diener has been named vice president for news at KNTV-TV and KBWB-TV in San Jose, Calif. On Jan. 1, the independent station will become the NBC affiliate for San Francisco, the nation's fifth-largest TV market.

        “It was a unique opportunity, a chance to put my mark on something,” says Mr. Diener, 39, a California native who joined Channel 9 in 1995. He replaced News Director Stuart Zanger in 1999.

        Three weeks ago KNTV-TV owners approached Mr. Diener, whose Channel 9 newsroom has won prestigious Peabody and Columbia DuPont awards for investigative reports about Paul Brown Stadium during his tenure.

        “We haven't had the ratings success here that I'd like, but we still were able to maintain the station's tradition of journalistic excellence,” he says.

        Mark Shafer, assistant news director, will become interim news director.

        All the "Jazz': Ken Burns' wonderful Jazz falls apart in the final episode (9 p.m. today, Channels 48, 54, 16), as his 18 1/4-hour Baseball film did in 1994.

        He should have learned from Baseball that it's impossible to assess the present era with the same keen analytical eye that he had for older history. He should have stopped the music after the deaths of Louis Armstrong (1971)and Duke Ellington (1974).

        “A Masterpiece by Midnight” (1961-present) shortchanges Dizzy Gillespie and Dave Brubeck, and ignores Oscar Peterson, Chic Corea, Keith Jarrett, Wes Montgomery, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain and Dixieland.

        Here are my Top 10 favorite songs in order of appearance:

        “Tanya,” Donald Byrd, 1964; “Perdido,” Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with the Timex All Stars, 1959; “Hello, Dolly!,” Louis Armstrong, 1963; “Desafinado,” Stan Getz, 1962; “Things Ain't What They Used to Be,” Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges, 1964; “Round Midnight,” Miles Davis, 1968; “When It's Sleepy Time Down South,” Louis Armstrong Orchestra, 1970; “In a Sentimental Mood,” Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, 1962; “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers featuring Wynton Marsalis, 1982; and “Take the "A' Train,” Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, 1992.

        A complete Jazz music list is posted on the Internet at Cincinnati.Com, keyword: jazz.

        Talk show highlights: Gregory Hines on Rosie O'Donnell (3 p.m., Channel 5); Julia Roberts on Oprah Winfrey (4 p.m., Channel 9); Patty Hearst on Larry King Live (9 p.m., CNN); Jeff Probst on the Late Show (11:35 p.m., Channels 12, 7); Julianne Moore on The Tonight Show (11:35 p.m., Channels 5, 22).

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Channel 9 news director Scott Diener resigns
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