1st Place: WEAU (TV-13)
2nd Place: WQOW (TV-18)
3rd Place: WXOW (TV-19)

Until recently, the Chippewa Valley was only a two-horse town as far as local TV news is concerned (as far as actual horses are concerned, we’ve got way more than two). But in the past few years, WEAU has branched out with a FOX version of regional news at 9pm – the basic tagline being “We’re earlier.” Not to be outdone, WQOW’s affiliate WXOW fired up its own 9pm show. So there were a few more stations to pick from this year, and this category produced some of the reader poll’s fiercest commenting. You people are serious about your news. Roaring back from last year’s second place standing, WEAU (TV 13) grabbed the top slot, with its all-new evening anchor line up of Chris Herzog and Sarah Stokes. WQOW (TV 18) took second, while its sister station WXOW (TV 19) slid into third with its heavy coverage of La Crosse and parts in between here and there. – Mike Paulus