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The numbers from the November TV ratings are in, and it was no contest at 10 p.m. KUTV finished first for the fifth sweeps in a row — and fourth in a row as the undisputed ratings leader.

In November 2010, Channel 2 and Channel 5 finished in a virtual tie in the late news, Monday-Friday household ratings. In November 2011, Channel 2 was up 8 percent year-to-year, Channel 5 was down 17 percent and KUTV pushed its lead over KSL to 23 percent.

"Monday through Friday late news, we won every single newscast," said KUTV news director Jennifer Dahl. "I think you'd have to go back to the '80s with KSL for the last time that happened."

Monday through Friday, KUTV led with an 11.3 rating/23 share. KSL averaged an 8.7/17; KSTU-Channel 13 a 5.4/10; and KTVX-Channel 4 a 4.8/9. KTVX's 9 p.m. newscast on sister station KUCW-Ch. 30 averaged a 0.6/1.

(A rating point represents 1 percent of the 927,540 homes the Nielsen Co. estimates are in the Salt Lake television market; a share point represents 1 percent of the homes where someone is watching TV at a given time.)

The numbers change marginally if you average in weekends or viewers who watched newscasts on their DVRs within three or seven days. But the order of finish remains the same.

KSL continues to be handicapped by weak NBC programming, and KUTV continues to get a boost — CBS finished No. 1 in prime time again. However, CBS was unchanged November to November and NBC's prime-time ratings were up 17 percent, while Channel 2's late news was up and Channel 5's was down.

Oprah Winfrey's exit changed the game in early news, and not just because KUTV replaced her show with local news at 4 p.m. Without the "Oprah" lead-in, Channel 2's 5 p.m. newscast was off 36 percent and the 6 p.m. newcast dropped 16 percent.

"When the most powerful woman in broadcasting departs, it's going to have an impact," said KUTV general manager Kent Crawford.

KUTV's decline allowed KSL to move into first place at 5 and 6 p.m., although Channel 5's 5 p.m. newscast was up by only 2 percent and its 6 p.m. telecast was unchanged.

KSL trumpeted those wins and pointed to the overall strength of its radio, television and online components. "With the power of KSL.com, KSL NewsRadio and KSL TV, there is no question KSL is the local news leader," said Tonya Vea, executive vice president of news and cross-platform content. "We are currently putting a significant refocus of energy on our TV product."

But in TV ratings, there's no question KUTV is No. 1 in late news and overall. Channel 2 led in the morning and at midday, although the numbers were down overall.

Viewing levels were down slightly across the board, perhaps due to better-than-expected local weather that meant fewer people were inside watching TV.

spierce@sltrib.comTwitter: @ScottDPierce —

Local TV ratings

Here are the approximate number of households that tuned in to local late-news telecasts during the November sweeps. (Numbers are live plus same-day DVR viewing.)

KUTV-Ch. 2 (10 p.m.) • 104,800

KSL-Ch. 5 (10 p.m.) • 80,700

KSTU-Ch. 13 (9 p.m.) • 50,100

KTVX-Ch. 4 (10 p.m.) • 44,500

KUWB-Ch. 30 (9 p.m.) • 5,600