Sunday TV yada-yada show ratings really tighten

The TV ratings for last Sunday's weekly political talk show showdown are in.

And it was a photo finish.

As usual, "Meet the Press" with David Gregory (see photo with the very pretty flowers) came out on top.

But it was much closer than usual. Or than General Electric likes.

The NBC show drew 2.72 million viewers. ABC's "This Week" grabbed second place with 2.67 million.

That's a difference of only 50,000; they sell more hot dogs than that at one NFL game.

As if those two shows weren't close enough, George Stephanopoulos was, figuratively speaking, just a nose ahead of CBS' "Face the Nation," which clocked in at 2.46 million.

Nielsen reported no difference between the ABC and CBS shows' reach among the coveted 25 to 54 demographic -- both netted 830,000 each, versus NBC's 910,000.

None of the shows attracted any big-name guests last week, unless you belong to Abdullah Abdullah's clan.

As reported by Media Bistro's TV Newser, "Meet the Press" may have also been hampered by transmission issues in Washington. It's anybody's guess why that would affect viewership of a Washington show that permits the rest of the country to watch its Washington host speaking Washingtonese about Washington issues with Washington politicians, Washington strategists and Washington journalists.

-- Mark Milian

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Photo: Gregory on a 2009 Women's Conference panel at Long Beach Convention Center Oct. 27. Credit: Toby Canham / Getty Images