WTEN/Channel 10, which has been through a number of changes over the past three years, is out to improve its sagging news ratings with a massive multi-media advertising campaign introduced just in time for the May sweeps.

The Albany ABC affiliate, once a strong second in the market, has tumbled to a distant third and has watched its share of the audience drop steadily since 1989, when it changed hands, lost 20 percent of its staff, and was thrown into a tailspin.

Now that things have settled down, the station is spending what one insider called "major dollars" to reposition itself as the "responsive, interactive" station. The campaign, built around the slogan "We report to you," features an 800 number viewers can call to share their thoughts about the station and its news broadcasts.

"Very often when changes are made, you'll hear people saying 'no one asked me,'" said Robert Peterson, general manager of WTEN. "So, we're asking."

WTEN is not the only television station with an advertising campaign designed to distinguish its news from its competitors. WRGB/Channel 6 in Schenectady is promoting its "NewsCenter 6," the top-rated news program in the region, with a campaign featuring dictionary-type definitions of news and other features. WNYT/Channel 13 in Menands has built its advertising around the slogan "Live, Local and Late Breaking."

But WTEN is going further with its campaign, which was produced by Communication & Design Agency Inc. in Latham. The station is saturating the market with full-page advertisements in The Times Union and The Daily Gazette, the area's largest dailies; spots on 10 local radio stations, WTEN itself and various cable stations; and a few strategically placed billboards. The advertising is being placed by Gloria Rodgers, a free-lance media buyer from West Sand Lake.

Peterson declined to disclose the campaign's price tag, other than to say "it costs a lot." In March, the station freed up $100,000--which advertising executives say would...