LaSpina, 43, is making a big career leap from WNEP-TV in Scranton, Penn., her hometown and the nation's 52nd-largest TV market, to the No. 13 market. More to the point, LaSpina may have to display a more avid interest in the history and heritage of WCCO than several of her staffers recounted of her introduction to employees Monday afternoon.

LaSpina replaces Jan McDaniel, who abruptly "resigned" after five years with WCCO. McDaniel's announcement stunned the staff, many of whom feel the roots of her demise lay in the inability of her sales staff to provide parent company Viacom Inc. with a profit margin in the high 40 percent range.

A sales manager by profession, LaSpina was promoted to general manager five years ago by the New York Times Co., which owns WNEP. According to a source in Scranton, she earned generally good marks for her defense of newsroom budgets. But she now finds herself in major-market competition, leading a veteran staff sorely chafing at chronic belt-tightening mandated by Viacom's relentless -- and some have said "obscene" -- pressure for revenue.

As the scene at Monday's introduction has been described, LaSpina conceded, "I don't know anything about this station, and I don't know anything about this city. But we'll learn together."

It was the sort of otherwise innocuous, honest remark that set off bells with 'CCO employees. These people place extraordinary value in their heritage and feel everyone who walks in the building should be thoroughly versed in the national awards -- Emmys and Peabodys -- the station has won, not to mention the wit and wisdom of Dave Moore.

Several employees also were struck by LaSpina's remark that she's "always wanted to work for an O & O," meaning a station owned and operated by a network -- CBS, in this case. The irony is that more than a few current 'CCO employees have come to regard their owned-and-operated status, particularly under Mel Karmazin -- Viacom president, chief operating officer and second-largest shareholder -- as something akin to breaking rocks in hell.

Asked if people such as yours truly make much too much of the pressure "to make your margin number," LaSpina replied, "It really wouldn't be proper for me to answer that question right now. This is literally my first day on the job. I just found the ladies room and I'm still living in a hotel."

Nor did she want to get involved in a discussion about when she was offered the WCCO job, adding only that this is the first time she's been in the Twin Cities.

In the five years McDaniel was at WCCO, she won the respect of the majority of her staff. The persistent struggle with news budgets aside, they appreciated her interaction with the community, business and civic, and felt a sense of loyalty from her. Some even suspect that her loyalty to the previous director of sales, Kathy Mohn, who could not spike "the margin number" up to where Viacom wanted it, contributed to her departure.

Based on my conversations with 'CCO newsroom staffers, LaSpina will have to offer concrete assurances that news "in the WCCO tradition" of chasing the big story and worrying about the cost later, is a higher priority than hitting margin numbers and adding to the $5 billion in profit Viacom TV group president, Fred Reynolds, mentioned Monday during his introduction of LaSpina.

Most staffers spoke off the record, but anchor Don Shelby was determined to emphasize to his new boss, her bosses and the public at large that, "The television business in this country is completely out of control.

"If the public were to ever see the amount of money being taken out of these cities and stations, they'd be amazed."

Brian Lambert can be reached at blambert@pioneerpress.com.