Maybe if KMOV did not bother putting the News Director's daughter on the air, they might have eeked out a win in the ratings.

The November book was a tight one in St. Louis and all stations are now trying to spin the numbers.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch writes that among adults 25-54, the demographic commonly used to sell advertising, KTVI (Channel 2), KMOV (Channel 4) and KSDK (Channel 5) were tied or within one share point of one another at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.

At 5 p.m., KTVI led narrowly with a 2.9 rating (representing total viewers) and 11 percent audience share. (Share is generally considered the more important number because it refers to the percentage of TV sets in use that were tuned to a particular program.) KSDK had a 2.5 rating and 11 share, with a 2.4 rating and 10 share for KMOV.

At 6 p.m., KTVI and KSDK were virtually tied with a 2.6 rating, with a 9 percent audience share for KTVI and 8 for KTVI. KMOV also had an 8 share, with a 2.4 rating.

Almost the same was true for 10 p.m., with one share point separating KSDK (3.8; 9 share) from KTVI (and KMOV (each 3.2 and 8 shares). Additionally, KTVI's 3.8 rating for its 9 p.m. newscast ties KSDK's 3.8 at 10 p.m.

To distinguish itself, KSDK noted that it is the most popular station with women 25-54 and leads in total households. KTVI pointed out that it has significant leads in early morning (KTVI's morning news magazine dwarfs the network competition between 7 and 9 a.m.) and is also the leader when the full day's viewership is considered.