November ratings: WKMG wins at 11

UPDATED: The Orlando TV ratings for November underscore how competitive the market has become in local news as well as prime time.

Different stations could crow about wins with the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers. WFTV-Channel 9 was the clear favorite weekdays from 5 to 7 a.m. as well as 5 to 6:30 p.m., according to Nielsen ratings supplied to the Sentinel.

But WKMG-Channel 6 scored wide leads at noon and 11 p.m. in the ratings period that ended Wednesday.

WESH-Channel 2 eked out a victory over WFTV at 4 p.m.

WOFL-Channel 35 was the favorite in 10 p.m. news and offered the most-seen local news from 7 to 9 a.m. weekdays. In those hours, NBC's "Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America" were the leaders. (The Sentinel has a content-sharing agreement with WOFL.)

In prime time, there were a range of winners. CBS affiliate WKMG, home of "NCIS" and "The Big Bang Theory," easily averaged the most viewers overall with 123,194. NBC affiliate WESH, with the NFL and "The Voice," was second with 93,530 total viewers. ABC affiliate WFTV, home of "Dancing With the Stars," came in third with 85,095. And Fox-owned WOFL, bolstered by the World Series and "Empire," was fourth with 81,207.

Yet with the 18-to-49 age group, WOFL was first and Telemundo affiliate WTMO was a close second, a sign of how the market is changing. They ranked ahead of WESH, WKMG and WFTV.

But with the 25-to-54 age group in prime time, WESH ranked first and ahead of WOFL, WKMG, Spanish-language WTMO and WFTV.

Technology is changing the business, and the audience has more choices. But a network's lineup is still crucial to any local station's performance.

A look at a few time periods in the 25-to-54 age group:

At 11 p.m. Monday through Sunday, WKMG benefited from CBS and eye-catching promotion for special reports. WKMG averaged 16,976 viewers to WESH's 12,917 and WFTV's 11,558.

At 6 p.m. weekdays, WFTV averaged 21,039 viewers to WKMG's 13,549, WESH's 13,078 and WOFL's 8,520.

At 6 a.m. weekdays, WFTV averaged 18,227 viewers to WESH's 12,136, WOFL's 5,685 and WKMG's 5,216. The WESH news was seen by an additional 3,954 viewers on sister station WKCF-Channel 18.

Yet the 25-to-54 age group gives just a hint of the overall market. A few examples:

At 6 p.m., WFTV's news was seen in 114,129 homes to WESH's 60,621, WKMG's 54,331 and WOFL's 21,843.

At 11 p.m., WKMG was seen in 53,100 homes to WFTV's 45,073 and WESH's 43,330.

As you can see, the ratings can be read many ways, and there are many time slots.

For instance, WESH highlighted that it was first with women 18-to-49 at 6 p.m. and first with men 25-to-54 at 11 p.m. And WOFL noted that it had the most 25-to-54 viewers at 4 a.m.  as well as from 3 to 5 p.m., when it airs "Dr. Phil" and "Judge Judy."