Erika Ruiz
It appears there will be a switch at the top in the hotly contested battle for TV news leadership at 10 p.m. in the ABQ market. Our TV insider reports KRQE-TV, Channel 13, was poised to take the coveted #1 post away from KOB-TV with just one night left to go in the crucial November sweeps.

"The sweeps-to-date averages now have KRQE holding its lead with a projected 19 per cent share, KOB in second with an 18 and KOAT in third with a 14. In order to take over first place, KOB would need to beat KRQE by a huge margin in the 10 p.m. tonight," penned our TV watcher. All told, about 28 per cent of the homes that have TV's in the big ABQ market, which sprawls across the state, are tuned in to one of the big three network affiliates at 10 p.m.

KRQE is the CBS affiliate and was helped in its news ratings by the networks prime time dominance with such shows as "Survivor" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." KOB has narrowly led the crucial 10 p.m. sweeps in recent ratings books. One time ratings king KOAT-TV now languishes in third place at 10, but continues to turn in a strong performance at 6 p.m. TV news dean Dick Knipfing and Erika Ruiz are the lead anchors for KRQE.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS

Knipfing
Content wise there is not much difference in the three newscasts, with all of them emphasizing crime. But unlike years past when CBS performed strongly, this time the audience is staying around to watch the local news instead of switching over. Knipfing and Ruiz have given KRQE the depth they lacked in the past. At close second KOB, Carla Aragon and Tom Joles are also reliable and credible. KOAT has suffered from budget cuts in recent years and needs a new formula to get back in the game.

LARRY AHRENS UPDATE

Several readers ask about veteran KKOB-AM Radio morning show host Larry Ahrens, reminding me that we had a story months ago detailing Larry's stalled contract talks with station management. At that time Ahrens said he was looking around at other opportunities and told our blog he would let us know his future plans as soon as they were settled. His contract runs until the end of the month. Still no word on his future, but I will check with him in he coming days when he returns from vacation and let you know if the one time GOP Guv candidate will be staying behind the microphones of the big 50,000 watt station where he has been stationed for nearly a quarter century.

BLUE STATE BLUES

Of course, the R's are loving it. They continue to relish their Prez victory. And why not? To the victor go the spoils. Now they are sticking it to the D's with a very funny and creative spoof of "blue state" voters and what they can do to overcome their depression. If you're a Dem and still mad, you may not want to watch. On second thought, it's time to get over it so click away and enjoy.

Make our site, WWW.JOEMONAHAN.COM, one of your favorites and e-mail a link to interested friends. Interested in advertising to NM's large political community? E-mail me from the top right of this page, or call 505-243-4059 for details.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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