[Note: Updated with 6 p.m. results]

It's early yet, but in the first nine days after TV's all-digital switchover, a majority of local newscasts saw ratings fall by double digits — in one case, 40 percent.

According to a local exec with access to the numbers, morning, weekend, and 10 p.m. newscasts took beatings in percentage terms, though surprising gains at 5 p.m. offered some hope.

Does the decline entirely represent the converterless Left Behind, or is some other factor in play? It's too soon to know for sure. The periods we're comparing are May 28-June 12 and June 13-21; school was out for the entirety of the latter period, which typically hurts morning shows even before DTV.

The statistics below represent total viewing households; no demographic breakouts. Though I don't have actual ratings figures, stations are listed by their rankings in the time slot:

6 a.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE (Ch. 11), up 13 percent
2. KMSP (Ch. 9), down 15 percent
3. KSTP (Ch. 5), down 40 percent
4. WCCO (Ch. 4), down 11 percent

Gotta be some fear at Channel 5 (has Vaneeta been the Queen of the Shut-Ins?) though things look better if you look at the longer 6-9 a.m. block. There, KSTP is down 13 percent. In the same period, WCCO is off 13 percent, while KARE and Fox9 fell 7 percent. KARE's descent from +13 to -7 as the morning rolls on is interesting. 

5 p.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE, up 13 percent
2. WCCO, up 43 percent
3. KSTP, up 13 percent
4. Fox9, down 25 percent

This is the time slot not like the others; with the exception of poor Fox9, the gains are healthy and in WCCO's case, incredible. This does complicate the DTV-as-killer narrative, though perhaps the poor and shut-ins never watched the early news in the first place.

6 p.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE, up 10 percent
2. WCCO, up 14 percent
3. KSTP, down 14 percent

Continues the strong dinnertime run, though KSTP falls off between 5 and 6.

9 p.m. Monday-Friday
Fox9, flat.

KMSP has the only local newscast in this time slot, though KSTC-Channel 45 will join the mix July 13.

10 p.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE, down 7 percent
2. WCCO, up 11 percent
3. KSTP, down 14 percent
4. Fox9, down 14 percent

This has to be a worry for everyone but Channel 4, given 10 p.m.'s prominence. By the way, KSTP was introducing a new male anchor, Bill Lunn, during the post-DTV period.

As for weekends, morning newscasts were off anywhere from 14 percent to a whopping 69 percent.

With the caveat of the missing 6 p.m. numbers, KARE and WCCO emerged net winners on weekdays, gaining in three of four time slots. Meanwhile, KSTP advanced at 5 p.m. but was punished otherwise, while Fox9 has to reconsider its world after all three shows slumped.

By the way, if the newscasts are having heartburn, most local station managers are having a prime-time heart attack. KARE's Monday-Sunday 7-10 p.m. numbers were off a staggering 38 percent, KSTP's fell 17 percent, and Fox9's slumped 11 percent. Only WCCO avoided the pit; its numbers were flat.

Presumably, the "DTV effect" will fade over time as the some belatedly get their boxes. But if the fallout persists, we can assume lots of folks are going without ... or that they've found better things to do.