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Best TV Sportscaster

Marc Soicher

Although big brother Marc preceded Drew Soicher to Denver, he failed to catch on with viewers at Channel 4, in part because he always seemed a little too slick for his own good. (The same criticism was occasionally leveled against his hair.) But an interim slot with FSN Rocky Mountain showed him to be a more insightful commentator than he'd seemed, and since moving to Channel 2, he's gotten even stronger. In this ESPN age, he's a traditionalist who takes sports seriously -- and that's a nice change of pace.

Best TV Weathercaster

Marty Coniglio

From his earliest years on Denver television, Marty Coniglio has been one of the market's most credible forecasters. Why? He's cautious about his predictions and aware of technology's limitations, never implying that he knows with metaphysical certitude precisely what sort of clothes viewers should wear five days in the future. As a result, he tends to be right about the weather more often than not -- something plenty of his peers can't claim.

Best Return of a TV Forecaster

Sunny Roseman

Longtime residents will remember Rob "Sunny" Roseman as a younger counterpart to the late Leon "Stormy" Rottman on Channel 9 back in the '80s; they were paired in an ad campaign with the slogan "Sunny days and Stormy nights." Since then, Roseman has worked as an actor and a silkscreen printer, and is the author of Life's Little Ahas, a book filled with pithy sayings such as "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." Apparently, he decided to take his own advice, since he's now back doing what he did decades ago: providing a Sunny take on Denver weather.

Best Return of a TV Wackadoo

Dan Daru

When he hit Denver screens in 2000, Daru quickly carved out a niche as the resident loon on Channel 2's morning show. That gig ended when he and his wife, former Channel 2 anchor Wendy Brockman, moved to Florida. But last year they returned, and Fox wisely hired Daru to pick up where he'd left off. Today, he's once again making the early hours more tolerable by making practically no sense at all. Nice work if you can get it.

Best TV Fact-Checkers

Adam Schrager and Raj Chohan

Television news is frequently bashed for its superficiality. Frankly, a lot of those gripes are justified -- but not in the case of Adam Schrager and Raj Chohan of Channel 9 and Channel 4, respectively. In the run-up to the 2006 election, they did a fine job of examining the myriad claims made in campaign commercials via "Truth Tests" (the name given to Schrager's segments) and "Reality Check" (Chohan's umbrella term). Since then, Chohan has branched out to tackle other issues of the day under the same heading, while Schrager is developing Your Show, a new Sunday program devoted to current events. Wouldn't it be nice if these guys started a trend?

Best Unsung Investigator

Tony Kovaleski

Because Channel 7 isn't partnered with one of the Denver dailies, the station's scoops aren't automatically ballyhooed, as Channel 9's are in the Post and Channel 4's are in the Rocky. However, the dogged Tony Kovaleski regularly forces the papers to follow his lead (and to credit his station), most recently with his first-rate work on the insurance-related controversy swamping Reverend Acen Phillips and the New Birth Temple of Praise Community Baptist Church. The kind of convergence Kovaleski's most interested in results in memorable stories.

Best TV Newscast -- Night

Channel 9

Thirty years or so as an almost unassailable ratings champ has made 9News's 10 p.m. offering Denver's newscast of record. Anchors Adele Arakawa and Bob Kendrick are supplemented by a reporting team that ranges from veteran power hitters like Paula Woodward to next-generation journalists with something to prove -- and the combo of forecaster Kathy Sabine and sports anchor Drew Soicher has star power to spare.

Best TV Newscast -- Morning

Channel 4

After Ed Greene was transferred to the night shift, Channel 4's morning program began to drift in ways that suggested the station was ready to concede defeat in the time period. But recently, the show has received an infusion of energy from new meteorologist Stacey Donaldson, a recruit from Channel 31. Her quirky presence complements the efforts of hosts Tom Mustin and Brooke Wagner, not to mention Luan Akin and Lynn Carey, the city's finest traffic tandem. Once again, the race is on.

Best Marathon TV Newscast

Channel 9/Channel 20

When Channel 9 and Channel 20 became sister stations, execs began looking for ways to share resources, including the human kind. One result was the four-hour morning programming block split evenly between the stations. From 5 to 7 a.m., familiar faces like Gary Shapiro, Kyle Dyer, Susie Wargin and Gregg Moss appear on Channel 9; then they repeat the feat from 7 to 9 a.m. on Channel 20 (while also appearing in update segments on Channel 9). The logistics of this task are considerable, and so is the workload. Still, Denver's most popular morning team makes doubling up seem like a snap.

Best Jazz Station Here or Anywhere

KUVO

Jazz radio signals are an endangered species in these United States, and for a while late last year, the folks at KUVO feared their station was bound for extinction, too. But while there have been painful behind-the-scenes changes and job cuts, the format appears to be safe for the time being. And that's great news, since KUVO, which JazzWeek magazine named the nation's best jazz broadcaster in both 2005 and 2006, remains a local treasure. Long may it swing.

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