KUTV-Ch. 2 once again declared victory in the late-news wars - and pretty much across the board.

But the late-news battle is much closer than it was a year ago. Not so much because Ch. 2's competitors did better, but because KUTV's audience shrank significantly.

Here's a look at how the race tacked up:

1. KUTV-Ch. 2: 9.6 rating/21 share

2. KSL-Ch. 5: 7.0 rating/15 share

3. KSTU-Ch. 13: 4.4 ratings/9 share

4. KTVX-Ch. 4: 2.9 rating/6 share

Clearly, KUTV continues as the No. 1 news station in the market. And it's not just ahead in late news, it also leads in the morning, at midday, in late afternoon and in early evening newscasts.

But the late-news numbers represent a steep slide overall for local TV news ratings, from a combined 29.7 ratings points in November 2012 to a combined 23.9 rating points in November 2013.

That's a drop of nearly 20 percent.

There are some questions about Nielsen's sampling this time around - viewing levels are down across the country. And good weather tends to translate into lower ratings. But there's no easy answer.

KSL-Ch. 5 is the only station to see any kind increase, ticking up 0.2 rating points (3 percent). KUTV-Ch. 2 is down 3.1 rating points (24 percent); KSTU-Ch. 13 is down 1.5 rating points (25 percent); and KTVX-Ch. 4 is down 1.4 rating points (33 percent).

H/T Salt Lake Trib