Phoenix

BASKING IN THE DRY HEAT OF THE ARIZONA DESERT, PHOENIX HAS become a burgeoning destination of choice for those looking for an enhanced quality of life and access to more affordable housing. Known as the Valley of the Sun, the fifth-largest city in the U.S. is the nation's second fastest-growing city in terms of overall population. Demographically though, Phoenix has the country's fastest growing Hispanic population.

Technology heavyweights such as Intel and Motorola already have a sizable presence in Phoenix. Some existing companies are expanding there, and new firms are moving in, including America West Airways. The airline, which finalized its purchase of bankrupt U.S. Airways last September, is now headquartered in the area under its new U.S. Airways name.

In October, Internet search giant Google Inc., based in Mountain View, Calif., announced a plan to open a new engineering and customer support office in the Phoenix area. The company plans to hire hundreds of employees for the new office, which will focus on engineering, operations as well as IT support functions.

The Phoenix (Prescott) DMA is experiencing such exponential growth that the market jumped two sizes in the past year, becoming the 14th-largest market in the country at the start of the 2005-06 television season. The market now has 1.67 million TV households.

Gannett Co.'s NBC affiliate KPNX-TV has been the market's late news leader in both key demos and households for 45 consecutive books, says John Misner, the station's president and general manager (due to its Olympics coverage, KPNX's late news ratings are not included in Nielsen chart on page 14). KPNX is also the market's top biller, pulling in an estimated $75 million in revenue in 2005, a 19.3 percent slice, according to BIA Financial Network.

While the station's late news has remained solid, its daytime schedule from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. has been completely overhauled in the last few years. The latest change the KPNX daytime lineup comes on June 5 with the launch of a half-hour noon newscast. In the fall, KPNX will launch The Ellen DeGeneres Show at 3 p.m. The station currently airs a double run of Starting Over at noon and 3 p.m.

Prior to last November's sweeps, KPNX rebranded and revamped its 6 p.m. news...