Sorry folks, cable news ratings will not be released today. Look for Monday’s Scoreboard tomorrow.

Fox News Channel continued its ratings dominance in the just concluded second quarter. Compared to Q2 ’08 FNC is up an astonishing 33% among Total Viewers and up 44% in the A25-54 demo in Total Day (Monday-Sunday). In primetime (Monday-Friday) the numbers are even more impressive: up 35% in Total Viewers and up 54% in younger viewers. FNC is on-track to have the highest rated year in the network’s 13 year history.

In primetime, Fox News has more Total Viewers and younger viewers than MSNBC and CNN combined.

Fox News occupies the Top 10 spots on cable news among Total Viewers:

8pm – O’Reilly Factor — 3,188,000
9pm – Hannity — 2,341,000
5pm – Glenn Beck — 2,053,000
10pm – On the Record — 1,950,000
6pm – Special Report — 1,889,000
7pm – Fox Report — 1,757,000
11pm – O’Reilly Factor — 1,579,000
9am – America’s Newsroom — 1,399,000
4pm – Your World — 1,389,000
3pm – Studio B — 1,169,000

Fox News is the #3 basic cable network in primetime – behind USA and TNT. CNN is #23 and MSNBC is #25.

More details on show-by-show growth, after the jump…

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For the first time ever, MSNBC beat CNN in weekday primetime for the second quarter 2009 (M-F, 8-11pmET) in Total Viewers and among A25-54 viewers. MSNBC is up 18% in Total Viewers while CNN is down 10% in Total Viewers in prime time compared to Q2 ’08.

And while MSNBC takes second in prime, the much-publicized “Morning Joe” will finish the quarter in fourth place in younger viewers (137K) behind CNN’s American Morning (159K) and HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade (153K). “Joe” comes in third in Total Viewers.

MSNBC’s press release after the jump…

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CNN will finish the second quarter in third place in prime time (Mon-Fri) in both Total Viewers and A25-54 demo viewers. Fox News was far in front followed by MSNBC. Still, CNN is having its best second quarter since Q2 ’03, during coverage of the Iraq War.

While CNN struggled in prime, American Morning (6-9amET) topped MSNBC’s Morning Joe by 16% among Total Viewers and A25-54 viewers – good for second place. Again, FNC’s Fox & Friends led the way in the morning.

The breaking news coverage of the death of Michael Jackson last Thursday and coverage into the weekend gave CNN its best June ever with a Total day, Total Viewer average of 633K.

CNN’s press release after the jump…

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HLN had its best Q2 in the network’s 27-year history. Compared to Q2 ’08, the network is up 19% in Total Viewers and up 28% among A25-54 viewers, total day.

“Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell” at 7pmET is up 49% in A25-54 viewers compared to Q2 ’08 while “Nancy Grace” at 8pmET is up 70% among Total Viewers and up 81% among A25-54.

Morning Express with Robin Meade (6-10amET) had its best quarter in the demo since Q4 2001.

HLN’s entertainment show Showbiz Tonight broke its own records late in the quarter. Thursday’s 11pm show was the most-watched ever and Friday’s 11am live broadcast was its best in that time period. These were the first shows after the death of Michael Jackson.

Last week, after Michael Jackson died, the big three network news anchors were noticeably absent during prime time programs devoted to the news. Martin Bashir and Barbara Walters anchored specials on ABC, Ann Curry on NBC and Harry Smith on CBS. Charlie Gibson co-anchored GMA on Friday but only because Diane Sawyer was sick.

Well now CBS’ “48 Hours” is producing a special anchored by Katie Couric called “Michael Jackson: Picking up the Pieces.” It airs tonight at 10pmET/PT.

In a release, CBS says the broadcast will take a look at both Jackson’s legacy and the investigation into his death.

The death of Michael Jackson dominated the news coverage late last week but wasn’t the #1 story, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism found.

Early in the week the media gave ongoing attention to protests over the Iranian election. And by the end of the week Iran filled 19% of the newshole, making it the No. 1 topic of the week. By Wednesday attention shifted to the third biggest story of the week – the affair of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

But the passing of the “King of Pop” on Thursday, the #2 story of the week, dominated late week coverage. The TV nets devoted more than 28 hours to Jackson’s life and death. The cable nets devoted 93% of their airtime to Jackson on Thursday and Friday.

Click here to see the report…

HuffPo reports former FoxNews.com entertainment columnist Roger Friedman has gone ahead with a lawsuit against News Corp. seeking $5.18 million in damages for wrongful termination, tortious interference and libel defamation.

News Corp. fired Friedman in April after he reviewed a copy of 20th Century Fox’s “Wolverine” that had leaked online.

Friedman was a guest on the Today show this morning reporting, not on his own case, but on the legal issues unfolding in the Michael Jackson story.

MSNBC’s purchase of the rights to the Granada TV production “Living with Michael Jackson” did not give much of a bump to MSNBC’s weekend ratings.

The special, without much promotion, aired six times over the weekend: Saturday at 7, 10 and 11pmET which averaged 254K A25-54 viewers and 603K Total Viewers. The Sunday airings at 7, 8 and 11pmET averaged 261K A25-54 viewers and 529K Total Viewers. The special finished no higher than second against its cable competition in the various airings.

MSNBC has licensed the Martin Bashir-hosted documentary for an undisclosed price. There will be six more airings through mid-July.

NBC’s legal department must also approve any short clips used in any competitors’ stories, as was the case on Monday’s “Nightline,” a show Bashir now co-anchors, but didn’t last night.

25-54 demographic: (L +SD)

Total day: FNC: 266 | CNN: 272 | MSNBC: 171 | HLN: 146

Prime: FNC: 267 | CNN: 445 | MSNBC: 214 | HLN: 174

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:
FNC	NewsHQ:	FNSunday:	Report:	Huckabee:	Geraldo:	Geraldo:	Huckabee:
	322	289	354	200	223	377	224
CNN	Zakaria:	Newsroom:	Newsroom:	Presents:	King:	Newsroom:	Presents:
	203	297	418	508	427	401	420
MSNBC	MTP:	H&L:	Special:	Special:	Special:	Special:	Special:
	100	146	257	311	170	161	208
HLN	HLN:	Prime:	Issues:	Grace:	Issues:	Grace:	Showbiz:
	99	94	91	168	161	223	216

Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.

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