Las Vegas 1 nets kudos from media group

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 9:20 a.m.

Upon its debut in April 1998 Las Vegas 1 promised to provide in-depth, around-the-clock regional news coverage to area cable subscribers.

Less than a year and a half later Las Vegas' only 24-hour local news station has received praise from a media watchdog group specializing in reviewing television news coverage around the country.

The Rocky Mountain Media Watch, a nonprofit organization committed to analyzing and critiquing local television newscasts, has released an extensive report examining cable news coverage among regional 24-hour stations. Twenty-one stations were critiqued during random newscasts, with Las Vegas 1 singled out in the 20-page report for its hourlong 9 p.m. newscast anchored by Deborah Levy and John Purvis.

The channel is a partnership between the Las Vegas Sun, KLAS Channel 8 and Cox Cable.

The Rocky Mountain Media Watch, which has conducted annual reports on network-affiliated local news for five years, places a premium on the volume of in-depth news coverage.

"(The LV1) newscast is impressive in several parameters," the report read. "Actual news fills 65.4 percent of the air time, with commercials at 19.5 percent. Previews, promotions and teases take up a relatively low 2.5 percent of the program. Another 1.7 percent is devoted to public service announcements."

Also labeled as "quality" newscasts were regional cable programs by City Pulse 24 in Toronto, Ontario; NY-1 in New York City and News 12 on Long Island, N.Y. Stations sampled included cable stations in Boston, Pittsburgh, Miami, Dallas, Chicago and the Bay Area.

Las Vegas 1 General Manager Bob Stoldal said he was unaware that the Rocky Mountain Media Watch had included Las Vegas 1 in its survey, but was pleased with the results.

"I think they caught the essence of what we're doing," Stoldal said. "We're a hard-news newscast, but at the same time I'm not worried about what's called a 'high story count.' The key is not the number, but which stories we report and how we report them.

"We look for stories that have an impact on a viewer's life, the news of the day and significant issues. Those are our criteria."

The Rocky Mountain Media Watch taped newscasts from a random day, June 23, for its report. Las Vegas 1's 9 p.m. newscast included a lengthy in-studio interview with now-possible Senate candidate Ed Bernstein, a historical and environmental segment on Mount Charleston that included old photographs as well as fresh footage, and an interview with Las Vegas Sun reporter Jeff German, who discussed the National Gambling Commission Report.

"Most stations rely on a rapid-fire series of dramatic events, particularly crime, that's good for a 15- or 20-second story," said Rocky Mountain Media Watch Executive Director Dr. Paul Klite, a Denver physician. "It's: here's a fire, here's a shooting, here's another fire. We give credit to good information, a significant amount of stories, and we did note several stories (on Las Vegas 1) that were unusual for local TV news.

"Compared to most stations, there was not a lot of triviality and there was a lot of substantive information."