Baltimore's TV ratings battle remains pitched between WBAL/Channel 11 and WJZ/Channel 13, with the latter claiming more viewers overall during October, the former claiming more viewers for its newscasts.

And they're both right, continuing a yin-and-yang tug-of-war that has had the two stations struggling for dominance for years, if not decades.

For total viewers over a 24-hour period, WJZ averaged a 5.1 rating, 13 share for each quarter-hour period, compared to 4.0/10 for WBAL, 2.5/7 for WBFF, Channel 45, and 2.1/5 for WMAR, Channel 2. Measured from 6 a.m-2 a.m., when the majority of programming airs, the ratios stayed essentially the same: WJZ remains on top, with a 5.6/13.9, compared to WBAL (4.7/11.7), WMAR (2.6/6.4) and WBFF (2.5, 6.2).

Each ratings point translates to roughly 11,000 viewing households. The share is the percentage of the viewing audience.

For local newscasts, WJZ remains dominant in the morning, while WBAL remains dominant in the evening, when more people are watching. For its 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. newscasts, WJZ garnered ratings of 3.6 and 4.3, while WBAL earned a 2.6 for its 5 a.m.-6 a.m. newscast. At 6 a.m., WJZ eked out a narrow win, with a rating of 4.9, compared to WBAL's 4.8. WJZ won big at noon, 6.0 to 4.6.

The trend reverses come 5 p.m., when WBAL comes out on top, with a 7.4 rating, compared to 5.0 for WJZ. The gap narrows somewhat at 6, with WBAL getting an 8.1 rating, compared to 6.3 for WJZ. WBAL wins narrowly again at 11, 9.6 to 9.4.

For its late news, which airs at 10 p.m., WBFF earned a 4.3 rating. WMAR trailed the pack, with its 11 p.m. newscast getting a 3.4 rating.