Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 9:54 a.m.
Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps, now has a local news station to match.
The 24-hour television news station Las Vegas 1 got off to a running start Monday night with three local exclusives and Southern Nevada's first televised bulletin on the death of country singer Tammy Wynette.
The all-news station, which debuted on Prime Cable Channels 1 and 39 at 9 p.m. with the inaugural "News 1" broadcast from the Channel 8 and Las Vegas SUN studios, is owned by the Las Vegas SUN, KLAS Channel 8 and Prime Cable.
Executives from all three media partners watched from behind the scenes at both studios Monday night as anchors John Purvis and Deborah Levy reported that Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren has "strong" plans to run for for governor and that Billy Bob's, the famed Texas honky tonk, plans a similar club in Las Vegas. In addition, reporter Anne Yeager, wearing her hard hat, provided viewers with the first glimpse of the D-Gates, still under construction at McCarran International Airport.
After the three live half-hour News 1 broadcasts ended at 10:30 p.m., media executives said they couldn't be more pleased.
"I've been waiting 30 years for this day, and I want it to last," said Brian Greenspun, editor of the Las Vegas SUN. "This is a wonderful news team that (general manager) Bob Stoldal has put together, and it's onward and upward from here."
Harris Bass, general manager of Prime Cable, said he expects Las Vegas 1 to be a solid hit in the extremely competitive cable television market.
"We're in a competitive environment with other multichannel video providers, and we have a chance to develop some compelling content," Bass said. "Not only will Las Vegas 1 cover the hard news, but the station will also provide exciting local news that is meaningful to area residents. We're always looking for ways to help improve the quality of life for local residents and their families."
Phillip Peckman, chief operating officer of Greenspun Inc., the parent company of the Las Vegas SUN, said he is overjoyed to be working with veteran newsmen such as Stoldal and Dick Fraim, general manager of KLAS.
"With partners like them, we will be successful," Peckman said.
Donald Patterson, executive vice president of Landmark Communications, the Norfolk, Va., firm that owns Channel 8, said executives began planning the local 24-hour news station more than a year ago.
"It was great to get it off the ground," Patterson said. "There's always news in a fast-growing city such as this one, and from a business standpoint, Las Vegas is a vibrant market that will be able to support the station."
Todd Blickenstaff, Las Vegas 1's general sales manager, couldn't agree more.
"We're already 148 percent over budget in sales for April," said Blickenstaff, meaning the station has already booked more advertisements for this month than it had expect to. "We are absolutely thrilled about the product, and obviously, so are the advertisers."
Las Vegas 1 is one of about two dozen 24-hour local news stations throughout the nation, including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans, and Nashville.
Stoldal said Southern Nevada is a great market for such a station because of rapid and consistent growth, and because there's a great interest among local residents in news and local issues.
Periodically throughout the day the News 1 newscasts will be repeated. Other news programming to be broadcast seven days a week include: re-broadcasts of Channel 8 "Eyewitness News" reports and "Bloomberg Business News reports." Weekend programming will include the "Wall Street Journal Report," "It's Your Business," "Travel News" and "Nevada Week in Review."
archive
