News operation
As of, KOB broadcasts 29 1/2 hours a week of locally produced newscasts each week, as well as a weekly public affairs program, Eye on New Mexico, and Football Night in New Mexico, a weekly sports program aired during the National Football League season.[48]
For most of the 1960s and early 1970s, KOB and KOAT waged a spirited battle for the ratings lead, though as late as 1971 KOB held a 14-point lead over KOAT. Between 1974 and 1976, on the advice of broadcast consultant Frank Magid and his firm, anchor Johnny Morris quit (later to work at KOAT); weathercaster George Fischbeck quit; and sportscaster Mike Roberts was fired. Channel 7 surged ahead in early 1976, pushing KOB to second. KOB spent much of the late 1970s seeking to fight back against KOAT, led by top-rated anchorman Dick Knipfing, whom KOB attempted to lure away in 1976.[49] In April 1979, Knipfing announced he would move to KOB, even though he had a contract with KOAT that ran through August 1980.[50] Station management and Magid believed Knipfing's success at KOAT was the main obstacle to improving ratings for KOB's newscasts and predicted they would soon rise to first place.[51] Even though KOAT fired Knipfing in June 1979, it sued to keep Knipfing off the air until his contract with that station lapsed;[52] an opinion from the United States District Court allowed him to proceed with his plans to begin anchoring at channel 4 on August 1.[53]
The Knipfing hiring was not the success station management hoped it would be. Ed Otte, city editor for The Santa Fe New Mexican, noted that KOB had added Knipfing to its newscast without improving its other on-air personalities or reporting team, which he felt were inferior to KOAT's.[54] KOAT still led in most news ratings surveys between 1979 and 1981, when Knipfing received the added title of news director;[55] he was one of three news directors in five years. In 1983, the station switched its newscasts to a co-anchor format. In March 1986, the station dismissed Knipfing.[56]
A common complaint of KOB's newscasts in the 1970s and 1980s was the reliance on Magid to determine by research the station's newscast format and elements. Magid and the Hubbard family were close personal friends.[57] Johnny Morris, a former KOB weathercaster who—after being dismissed from channel 4 in 1974, reportedly at Magid's suggestion—later worked at KOAT. Other local news employees believed Magid had a poor grasp of the Albuquerque market.[58] Months after being ousted, Knipfing wrote an editorial in The Albuquerque Tribune heavily critical of KOB. He wrote, "The problem was Magid ... It was very difficult assembling a consistent news team with consultants looking over our shoulders all the time." He noted inconsistency and turnover in everything from production to management and sports talent.[59] Former KOB news director Mark Slimp blamed Magid for his dismissal.[60]
In the 1980s and 1990s, KOB expanded its newscast offerings beyond two evening newscasts. A half-hour 6:30 a.m. newscast debuted in 1985[61] and was expanded to an hour in 1989.[62] A second evening newscast at 5:30 p.m. was added in 1994.[63] KOB posed a ratings challenge to KOAT at the start of the 1990s, posting wins in some surveys and narrowing the gap with KOAT,[64][65] but by 1994, it had slipped to a much more distant second.[66]
Brad Remington became KOB's news director in 1996 and retooled the newscast to emphasize breaking news, investigative reporting, and weather, including an investment in new equipment.[67] By 2001, KOB's 10 p.m. news had tied KOAT in total households while having larger concentrations of younger viewers.[68] After KRQE completed a turnaround in the 2000s, KOB slipped to third in late news, though its morning newscast continued to lead its competitors.[69] By 2022, KOB was second in late news ratings among total households.[70]
In November 2000, KOB began producing a 9 p.m. newscast, Fox 2 News at Nine, for Albuquerque's Fox affiliate, KASA-TV (channel 2).[71] The newscast ended in 2006 when KRQE's parent company, LIN TV, purchased KASA and replaced the KOB-produced newscast with its own.[72] KOB resumed producing news for KASA-TV—this time as a Telemundo station—in 2021, after NBCUniversal acquired KASA.[73][74]
- George Fischbeck – weathercaster, 1970–1972[75]
- Mike Roberts – sportscaster, 1966–1972, 1973–1976[76]
- Gadi Schwartz – reporter[77]
- Jane Wells – reporter[78]
