Could it be? After a few years of rocky ratings, the latest numbers from Nielsen Media Research show KVOA 4’s news is climbing back up in viewers’ eyes.

The station’s newscasts rank first or second in every time period – no third-place finishes. At least not when other newscasts are the competition. These ratings were taken April 24 to May 21, called the May sweeps.

KOLD 13’s news still ranks No. 1 in the hotly contested 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. time slots.

KGUN 9’s news took the biggest hits, with ratings down in every time period. In light of KGUN’s extraordinarily strong ratings a year ago, the decline looks particularly bad. Among the core 25-54 year-old audience, KGUN’s ratings are down 36 percent at 10 p.m., 46 percent at 6 p.m., 22 percent at 5 p.m., and 40 percent for the early-morning "Good Morning Tucson."

Compare that to KVOA’s numbers that are up 31 percent at 10 p.m., up 15 percent at 6 p.m., up 57 percent at 5 p.m. and up 47 percent for the early-morning "Tucson Today."

The only not-so-positive ratings for KVOA news concerned its weekday 4 p.m. newscast, which hasn’t gained any significant audience in the eight months it has been on the air, though it’s doing marginally better than the "Judge Alex" show did in the time period a year ago.

Also of note, the ratings for KMSB 11’s Fox 11 News at 9 were off 11 percent, a relatively modest amount, all things considered. You’ll recall a shake-up in May included removing Heather Moore as anchor of the newscasts.

KWBA isn’t lowest rated in the morning anymore

As is always the case with the ratings, there’s always something odd if you look hard enough. CW affiliate KWBA 58/cable 8 has been officially declared a "failing station" and received a Federal Communications Commission waiver permitting it to be sold.

Part of that includes having several periods of low ratings. This wouldn’t have changed anything but the early-morning "Daily Buzz" wasn’t Nielsen’s lowest-rated news show in the Tucson market in May. That’s a change. The show that got that honor was "Good Morning Arizona," the Phoenix-based show that KMSB 11 carries. But the bar wasn’t set very high. The "Daily Buzz" only had to top a "0" – as in zip, nada, nothing – to beat "Good Morning Arizona" among viewers in the 25-54 year-old audience.

On the subject of KWBA, word is that Journal Broadcast Group is planning to close on its $11.9 million acquisition of the station in July but it won’t be until sometime this fall before KWBA will move under the same roof with ABC-affiliate KGUN 9.

Also no word yet on when KWBA might start the local newscast Journal promised in its filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

Names in news

A new three-day-a-week local radio talkshow focusing on women’s issues premieres July 7 at 3 p.m. on the Jolt KJLL 1330-AM. The hour-long show will air Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. "The View From Here" will be about career, business, family, finances, health, politics, current events and more, says host Nancy Scilingo. Her co-host on Mondays and Wednesdays is Lea Marquez-Peterson and on Fridays is Stacey Beebe...

We wouldn’t know it in Tucson, but nationally-syndicated Don Imus is still being controversial. This time it happened June 23 during a conversation with sportscaster Warner Wolf, who had reported Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones’ sixth arrest, Imus asked "What color is he?" Wolf responded "African-American." To which Imus responded "There you go. Now we know." The next day, Imus said the comment was about racial profiling. Phil Boyce, vice president of Citadel Broadcasting, which airs the Imus show, said it’s unlikely his company would take disciplinary action against the host.

Also on the national talkshow front, Laura Ingraham is due back on the air today (June 30) after what she has described as a forced exit by her syndicator. Ingraham’s show airs from 9 a.m. to noon on the Truth KQTH 104.1-FM.

DVR done for you

Ever find yourself unexpectedly away from home when a favorite prime time show comes on - and realize you forgot to set the digital recorder? Cox Communications’ digitial subscribers now have a new On Demand service called

MyPrimetime. Episodes of ABC and NBC series are available On Demand the day after they have their original airing on the network and will be available for 28 days. And its free. To start things off, the series available On Demand are "30 Rock," "American Gladiators," "Desperate Housewives," "Grey’s Anatomy," "Last Comic Standing," "Medium," "Samantha Who?," "Lost" and "Ugly Betty."