Los Angeles Evening, Late News Viewing +3%

That news viewing in Los Angeles was up 3% in the May sweeps compared to May 2013 may not sound like much, but it was more than most of the other top 10 markets could do.

Six of those other nine markets were down and one was flat, according to a TVNewsCheck analysis of the Nielsen’s May-over-May count of weekday viewers aged 25 to 54 of news at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Only two others were up.

KNBC was a significant contributor to the market’s audience growth. It was up 25% at 5, 7% at 6 and 20% at 11.

Fox’s KTTV posted a 41% gain at 5, displacing KCBS for third place in the time slot.

In the ratings race among the Big Three, KABC maintained its No. 1 status at 5, 6 and 11. In May 2013, KNBC had been No. 2 at 5 and 6 and No. 3 at 11. By growing 20% in the latest sweeps, it slipped by WCBS to claim the No. 2 spot at 11, too.

With a 10% surge in viewership, Tribune’s KTLA also moved past WCBS at 6.

In the English-language competition at 10, Fox’s KTTV was No. 1, followed by Fox-owned indie KCAL in second and Tribune’s KTLA in third. Their audiences were down 5%, 24% and and 6%, respectively.

Univision’s KMEX continued to dominant Spanish-language news, beating out Telemundo’s KVEA at 6 and 11. However, KVEA tightened up the race at 6 considerably by increasing its audience 51%.

Meruelo’s KWHY made an impact with the lone Spanish-language newscast at 10, attracting 55,000 viewers, 12,000 more than KVEA did at 11. KWHY also had a big bump with its 5 p.m. newscast, the sole Spanish-language news in that slot.