While 9News remains "Colorado's news leader," the station should be looking over its corporate shoulder at CBS 4.

During the February audience ratings sweeps period, which concluded Wednesday night, the CBS-owned outlet gained in several key periods, including the major news prize: 10 p.m., which 9News has ruled for 31 years.

CBS 4 also showed improved ratings at 6 a.m., noon, 4, 5 and 6 p.m. (Monday-Friday). However, 9News still led in the five time periods - some by wide margins.

Denver's 7 finished third in competitive news time periods and took a major hit in afternoon ratings because Oprah Winfrey's syndicated series, a strong news lead-in, now is on CBS 4. Sweeps are crucial because the stations use the ratings to determine rates for national advertisers.

Walt DeHaven, CBS 4 vice president and general manager, said the station's growth is the result of "having a solid news team in place." He was particularly happy with the 10 p.m. increase, which he called the "news of record."

Mark Cornetta, president and general manager of 9News, said in a statement "we are very pleased with our performance . . . and look forward to continued growth."

Darrell Brown, vice president and general manager of 7News, was unavailable for comment.

In the 9 p.m. hourlong news battle, Fox 31 continued to lengthen its lead over CW2. The new 9 p.m. entry, KDVR-Channel 20, operated by Gannett Broadcasting, showed a 4 audience share. A year ago, with syndicated entertainment programming, the station registered a 3 share. (Gannett now calls the station My20.)

In network news at 5:30 p.m., NBC's Nightly News led with a 16 share, ahead of the CBS Evening News (11 share) and ABC World News Tonight (9 share). That's about the same as a year ago.

In the 7 a.m. network battle, NBC's Today (9News) led the three-network race by a wide margin: an 18.7 share compared with a 19.1 figure a year ago. Channel 20's two-hour local newscast, which segues from 9News at 7 a.m. and competes directly against Today, earned a 4 share.

CBS 4 led in prime time with a 15 share, compared with an 11 for 9News (NBC) and Denver's 7 (ABC). Fox 31, riding high with American Idol, registered a 10 share.

Sweeps time

Audience shares of local newscasts during February, as measured by A.C. Nielsen Research. A share is a percentage of the more than 1.4 million Denver TV households watching TV and tuned to a program.

10 p.m.

(Sunday-Monday)

'07 '06

9News: 20   22

CBS 4: 15   12.7

7News: 11    12

4 p.m.

(Monday-Friday)

9News: 15   12.6

*CBS 4: 12   11.3

7News: 7    15.4

5 p.m.

(Monday-Friday)

9News: 17   16

CBS 4: 14    12

7News: 7   12

9 p.m. (Sunday-Monday)

Fox 31: 8   7

CW2: 5   4

Ch. 20: 4   3 (non-news)*In 2006, 7news Aired Oprah Winfrey At 4 P.M. While Cbs 4 Had A Newscast. Oprah Now Is On Cbs 4 While 7news Offers An Hourlong Newscast.

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