The network programmers must have seen this coming.

Before the appropriately-named “The Biggest Loser” on NBC and “Last Man Standing” on ABC, Brian Williams, Diane Sawyer and, over on CBS, Scott Pelley anchored special reports calling the Florida primary for Mitt Romney. The cable and broadcast channels were all able to call the state at 8pm when the last of the Florida polls closed. At the time of the call Romney had 48% of the vote to Newt Gingrich‘s 31% with 56% of the precincts reporting. FOX, which didn’t air a special report, instead aired “Glee” which is probably what Mitt Romney is feeling right now.

While CNBC produced a 2-minute special report at 8pm, before joining a documentary in progress, Fox Business Network remains in live coverage of the results. Merrill is at Fox Business right now getting a behind-the-scenes look at the coverage. Look for her report tomorrow.

Romney took to the stage in Tampa at 8:33pmET. “A competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us,” he said.

As usual, Fox News Channel was the top cable news channel for the month of January.

FNC placed 5h in both primetime and  6th total day among ad-supported cable networks, drawing 1.099M and 1.942M viewers, respectively.

CNN placed 23rd in primetime with 841,000 viewers, and 31st in total day with  445,000. Thanks to the State of the Union and a high-profile debate, CNN was able to crack the top 10 list of cable networks in primetime for the week of January 23-29, placing 10th with 1.315M viewers. In total day it finished a more typical 28th.

MSNBC placed 27th in primetime in January with 801,000 viewers, and 29th in total day with 451,000.

Among the ad-supported business networks:

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 336 | MSNBC: 158 | CNN: 124 | HLN: 104

• Primetime: FNC: 592| MSNBC: 265 | CNN: 198 | HLN: 166

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:	12a:
FNC	TheFive:	Baier:	Shep:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:	Greta:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:
	344	402	490	749	550	477	444	291
MSNBC	Matthews:	Sharpton:	Matthews:	EdShow:	Maddow:	O’Donnell:	EdShow:	Maddow:
	159	185	220	221	287	287	206	188
CNN	Blitzer:	KingUSA:	Burnett:	Cooper:	Morgan:	Cooper:	Burnett:	Morgan:
	125	107	127	169	161	263	197	125
HLN	Special:	Prime:	Issues:	Grace:	DrDrew:	Grace:	Showbiz:	DrDrew:
	19	113	169	242	153	110	94	134

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“TheGrio’s 100” list was unveiled on “Today” this morning. The list, organized by NBC’s TheGrio.com, honors Black History Month, which begins tomorrow, by spotlighting 100 individuals from various fields that are “the next generation of African-American history makers and industry leaders.”

There are two MSNBCers featured: Melissa Harris-Perry, who will host a weekend show on MSNBC beginning next month, Yvette Miley, the vice president and executive editor of the network. T.J. Holmes, who left CNN for BET in December, also made the list.

People on “TheGrio’s 100″ will be profiled across all NBC News platforms this month, including “Nightly News,” “Today” and all MSNBC programming.

Fox News, which became the #1 news network in January 2002, had a strong January 2012.

The ratings for January, 2012:

• Primetime: 1.949 million total viewers/ 448,000 A25-54
• Total Day: 1.101 million total viewers/ 268,000 A25-54

The network was up +5% in viewership vs. January 2011, in both Total Viewers and younger viewers. In primetime, the network was up +6% in Total Viewers and +3% in younger viewers due in part to the network’s GOP debate on January 16 and coverage of the State of the Union address.

Among cable news shows, Fox News has the top 13 programs in Total Viewers and 9 of the top 10 in A25-54 viewers. Fox News’s 2012-to-date Primetime average is topping CNN and MSNBC combined. The biggest movers for the month: “Fox & Friends” was +21% in Total Viewers and +12% in younger viewers. And “On the Record” is up +7% / +19%. “The Five” which continues to grow, is down slightly from “Glenn Beck” which aired in the timeslot last January: down -7% / -13%.

CNN kicked off 2012 in solid shape, improving upon its year-ago numbers, and topping MSNBC in both total and demo viewers in primetime. January was a big news month, with a number of debates, primaries and the State of the Union Address, all of which helped contribute to CNN’s gains.

The ratings for January, 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 842K Total Viewers / 282K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 445K Total Viewers / 139K A25-54

In primetime (Mon.-Sun.), CNN was up +25% in total viewers and +41% in the key A25-54 demographic compared to last year, placing it second behind Fox News in both categories. CNN was up +4% in total viewers and pup +7% in the demo in total day compared to last year.

“AC360″ continued to grow at both 8 and 10 PM. At 8 PM, the program was up +20% in total viewers and up +42% in the demo compared to last year, when “Parker Spitzer” was running. At 10 PM the program was up +28% in total viewers and +61% in the demo compared to its performance last year.

“Piers Morgan Tonight” was down double digits compared to last January, but that is because the program had strong tune-in for its launch week last year (beginning Jan. 17), driving up the monthly average.

In its first month on-air, the new CNN morning shows failed to light up the ratings wire, but they didn’t burn them out either.

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The battle for the #2 spot among the cable news networks continues this month between CNN and MSNBC. For the month of January, MSNBC placed third in primetime, behind Fox News and CNN. In Total Day, MSNBC came in #2 in Total Viewers, but placed #3 in the A25-54 demographic.

The ratings for January, 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 804K Total Viewers / 219K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 452K Total Viewers / 133K A25-54

In primetime, both hours of “Hardball with Chris Matthews” stand out compared to last year: at 5pmET, the program is up +15% in Total Viewers and +5% in the demographic, and at 7pmET, the gains are +8% and +2%, respectively. Growth in the rest of the primetime lineup, which has seen several major changes in the past year, was scarce for MSNBC.

Keith Olbermann left MSNBC in January 2010, and in the year since his departure, the 8pmET timeslot — which has been home to programs hosted by Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell — is down -12% in Total Viewers and -29% in the A25-54 demographic. “The Rachel Maddow Show” was also down slightly: -2% in Total Viewers, and -8% in the demographic.

“Morning Joe” continues to be a draw for younger viewers, up +9% in the A25-54 demographic but down -4% in Total Viewers. Chuck Todd‘s “The Daily Rundown” is another bright spot for the network, growing +4% in Total Viewers and +27% in the demographic compared to January 2011.

The full release from MSNBC is after the jump.

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With the GOP primaries taking up much of the news hole, crime and court-heavy HLN did not have a strong showing in January. Compared to January 2011, HLN is down -14% in younger viewers in both total day and primetime. The network, however, was up +3% in Total Day viewing based, in part, on the strength of the weekend primetime HLN Mysteries.

The ratings for January, 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 368,000 total viewers / 102,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 244,000 total viewers / 102,000 A25-54

“Morning Express with Robin Meade” is down -16% in Total Viewers and down -29% in A25-54 viewers compared to Jan. 2011. Adding an hour of “Morning Express” has helped the 11amET hour, however. It is up +16% in Total Viewers vs. “Showbiz Tonight” which aired at 11am last January. “Nancy Grace” at 8pm is down -24% / -36%. And “Dr. Drew” at 9pm is down -14% / -28% from last January. Joy Behar‘s show ran at 9pm for the first two weeks of January 2011.

Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs was a guest on “The Daily Show” last night. He talked to Jon Stewart about the GOP primaries and the media coverage of the economy. “We just report the facts,” Dobbs said of FBN. “Now when did that start?” Stewart replied.

WATCH:

Ten years ago this week, Fox News celebrated a milestone.

Just a few months after the 9/11 attacks as the U.S. military began the fight in Afghanistan, the 5-year-old Fox News Channel, for the first time, won the ratings month in Total Viewers and the ad-friendly, A25-54 demo. Fox News overtook CNN that month, January 2002, and hasn’t looked back.

“We are extremely proud of the phenomenal achievement created by the hard work and talent of the FOX News Channel employees and recognize how difficult it is for a cable network to sustain this level of dominance for a decade,” says Fox News co-founder and chairman Roger Ailes. “America has clearly embraced fair and balanced news.”

At this point, Fox News has a 147% advantage over CNN and a 144% advantage over MSNBC in Total Day viewership. In the A25-54 demo, FNC tops CNN by 92% and MSNBC by 101%.