‘The Ralston Report’ debuts on LV ONE

Kirk Baird

Friday, May 12, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.

A new Las Vegas public affairs program makes its debut today when Jon Ralston, author of "The Ralston Report" political newsletter and a Las Vegas Sun columnist, joins the Las Vegas ONE (Cox Cable channels 1 and 39) lineup.

"The Ralston Report" television show is a 30-minute program that will air at 8:30 p.m. each Friday, with repeats at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The show will feature the 40-year-old, award-winning journalist discussing local and state issues and interviewing various newsmakers, such as tonight's scheduled guest, Gov. Kenny Guinn.

"I think that this show will be different from other public affairs shows here because we're going to make news," said Ralston, who joined the Sun as a columnist in January. "We're not going to let people get by with rote sound bites. We'll get them to reveal new information that will make news."

As for the format, "The Ralston Report" will be divided into three segments, said Bob Stoldal, Las Vegas ONE general manager, who also serves as the show's executive producer.

The opening of the program will focus on significant news items of the past week and will allow for updates and analysis of the events by Ralston, Stoldal said.

The second segment will feature Ralston in a one-on-one interview with his guest. "The guests will primarily be people who make news, are in the news or should be in the news," Stoldal said.

"We're looking at the meat of the program, which is the three P's: players, politics and the power structure of the state."

The third segment will be entitled "Ralston on the Line."

"Jon will focus on what's coming up, tell us things to look for and things he expects to happen," Stoldal said.

The program, Stoldal said, has been in the works since late November, when the Greenspun Media Group began negotiating with Ralston.

The show is tailor-made for Ralston, Stoldal said, and will be a reflection of his work ethic.

"If you're going to keep doing the kind of stuff he does, you have to keep humping all the time -- and he loves that. That kind of energy will be in the program," Stoldal said.

Ralston added: "We're not going to reinvent the wheel, but try to make it more interesting and informative than the other shows."

Ralston began publishing "The Ralston Report," a statewide newsletter, in January 1993. Last December he sold the newsletter to the Greenspun Media Group. The publication, which is widely read and respected by political and business leaders in Nevada, offers a fast-paced insider's look at politics and government in Nevada.

Ralston also publishes the e-mail publication "Flash," and his column appears in the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston will also become the political editor of InBusiness Las Vegas, a new weekly business newspaper to be published by the Greenspun Media Group. It will launch in early June.

Additionally, Ralston appears every Monday on Las Vegas ONE's "News ONE" at 9 p.m., and provides commentary several times a week for KLAS Channel 8.

Ralston is working on a book about Nevada politics to be published later this year.

Las Vegas ONE is a 24-hour local cable news channel owned by Cox Cable, KLAS and the Sun.

Kirk Baird is a Sun feature writer. Reach him at kirk@ lasvegassun.com or 259-8801.