Fox News was the #2 cable network in prime time basic cable during the month of October. (TBS was #1 in prime time.) This marks the 82nd month in a row that FNC has led all cable news channels in total day and prime time viewership.

The network's top show, The O'Reilly Factor, averaged 4 million viewers a night marking 95 consecutive months at #1 (since December 2000.)

As for all of prime time, FNC averaged 3.36M Total Viewers, compared with CNN's 2.14M and MSNBC's 1.58M. In total day, FNC led with 1.49M total viewers compared to CNN's 1.01M MSNBC's 675,000.

More highlights after the jump...

• FOX News Channel marked its 12th anniversary in October with remarkable ratings gains, leading all cable news competitors during political peak and tumultuous economic times. FNC remained the top-rated cable news network in both total viewers and in the key 25-54 demographic. Every FNC program experienced double or triple-digit percentage gains during October 2008 when compared to October 2007 in both total viewers and in the 25-54 demographic.

• October was FOX News Channel's fifth highest-rated month in the network's history.

• Both Brit Hume and Shepard Smith again dominated their respective hours (Special Report with Brit Hume at 6PM and The FOX Report with Shepard Smith at 7PM). Both programs were #1 for 85 consecutive months during their time period. Smith pulled in 2,227,000 viewers and Hume attracted 2,140,00 viewers.

• FOX News Channel secured 4 out of the top 5 programs in cable news for the month based on total viewership. Each of FNC's all-star prime time programs experienced extraordinary gains during October. When compared to October 2007, The O'Reilly Factor was up 76% (4,002,000), Hannity & Colmes was up 132% (3,260,000) and On The Record w/ Greta Van Susteren was up 163% (3,068,000). All three of FNC's prime time programs continued to be the most watched of all cable news programs during their respective time slots.