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...

June 2009 is CNN's Best Ever

CNN Tops MSNBC in Total Viewers and 25-54 in Prime (M-F and M-Su) This Month

CNN Tops MSNBC in Total Viewers in Prime (M-Su) in Q2; Best Q2 Since 2003

HLN Has Best Q2 and Best June Ever
Nancy Grace Has Most Growth at 8p While Olbermann Declines

CNN Digital is the #1 News and Information Destination
More Usage Than ABC, CBS, MSNBC or FNC with 1.3 Billion Q2 to-date

CNN JUNE 2009
June 2009 represents CNN's best June ever, as the network continued to outrank MSNBC in total day among both total viewers and the demo 25-54. For the month, CNN averaged 633k total viewers, an impressive 61% advantage over MSNBC's 393k, and posted 194k in 25-54, 38% ahead of MSNBC's 141k. CNN also increased its advantage over MSNBC during June, growing to a 61% lead from 41% a year ago in total viewers, and increasing to 38% from 19% last year among 25-54.

In primetime (M-F), CNN topped MSNBC among total viewers (1.004 million vs. 975k) and in the demo 25-54 (312k vs. 308k).

Campbell Brown increased 22% among total viewers versus June 2008 (899k vs. 739k) and grew 21% among 25-54 (282k vs. 233k), while Countdown with Keith Olbermann declined -3% among total viewers (1.166 million vs. 1.202 million) and was down -17% among 25-54 (355k vs. 426k). This marks the second consecutive month that
Countdown with Keith Olbermann has shed viewers versus year ago.

Larry King Live topped MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in total viewers (1.105 million vs. 1.020 million) and had a 10% advantage among 25-54 (318k vs. 289k).

At 10p, Anderson Cooper 360 easily outperformed MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann in total viewers, (1.030 million vs. 693k) and the 25-54 demo (345k vs. 230k).

CNN also topped MSNBC in primetime (M-Su) in both total viewers and in the demo in June.

CNN Q2 2009

CNN had its best second quarter since 2003 (Iraq War). In addition, CNN had a 52% lead over MSNBC in total day among total viewers (598k vs 394k) and a 25% advantage in 25-54 (178k vs 142k). CNN also topped MSNBC in prime (M-Su) in total viewers during the quarter (863k vs 797k). CNN is up by double digits every hour during total day (6a-6p) among total viewers. Also in Q2, CNN had the top five telecasts among 25-54 in cable news on June 25th, the night Michael Jackson passed away (Campbell Brown, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Anderson Cooper 360 at 10, Larry King Live, and Anderson Cooper 360 at 11p).

In Q2, CNN's American Morning (6a-9a) topped MSNBC's Morning Joe (6a-9a) by 16% (462k vs. 399k) among total viewers and by 16% (159k vs. 137k) among P25-54. In addition, HLN's Morning Express with Robin Meade (6a-10a) topped Morning Joe by 12% (153k vs. 137k) among P25-54, with Morning Joe placing fourth in the demo for the quarter.

Nielsen Fusion Data
According to the new Nielsen fusion data, CNN ranks #1 in combined audience reach (television and internet) in total day (M-Su) among total viewers. In April 2009 (most recent data available) CNN/CNN Digital reached 125.3 million, MSNBC/MSNBC Digital had 105.6 million and FNC/Fox News Digital trailed with104.3 million.

HLN Q2 2009
In Q2 2009, HLN (formerly Headline News) delivered its best Q2 in the network's 27-year history among total day, total viewers and 25-54. The network is up 19% from Q2 2008 (303k vs. 254k) and up 28% among 25-54 (137k vs. 107k). Additionally it is the network’s best June in history among total viewers, total day.

Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell posted the most growth in cable news at 7p among total viewers in Q2, increasing 49% (493k vs. 331k) and topping MSNBC's Hardball among 25-54 (192k vs. 189k)

Nancy Grace grew the most of any show at 8p during Q2, increasing an amazing 70% among total viewers (953k vs. 560k) and up a whopping 81% among 25-54 (343k vs. 190k). Countdown declined among 25-54 viewers, -12% (356k vs. 403k). Additionally, Nancy Grace at 10p beat Countdown among 25-54 (245k vs. 224k).

Morning Express with Robin Meade (6a-10a) topped MSNBC's Morning Joe by 12% (153k vs. 137k) among P25-54. This marked Morning Express with Robin Meade’s best quarter in the demo since Q4 2001 as well as the most growth of any cable news show in the morning in Q2.

CNN Digital
Q2 to-date, CNN Digital was again the #1 News and Information property with 1.3 billion total minutes, beating its nearest competitor, Wikipedia, by 8% (1.0 billion) the Weather Channel by 27% (969 million); MSNBC Digital Network by 53% (907 million); Yahoo! News by 87% (719 million); Fox News Digital by 149% (562 million) and AOL News by 131% (551 million).

CNN Digital Network reaches more mobile users than any other news network, every month and every year, including broadcast networks ABC and CBS. In the most recent month (April 2009), CNN reached 11.6 million mobile users, more than double the number of second-place Yahoo! News (5.2 million).

Additionally, June 25th was CNN.com's second highest trafficked day of the year for unique users (17.5 million) and page views (103 million) in 2009 (behind inauguration); and CNN.com Live delivered 2.2 million live streams, marking its third highest day of the year (behind the Hudson River plane crash and the inauguration). - based on Omniture data

In June, iReport.com received a record-setting number of submissions for a single breaking news story both for the unrest following the Iranian elections as well as the death of Michael Jackson. CNN received nearly 6,000 Iran-related submissions (5,879) with 220 approved for use on CNN (TV or CNN.com), while there have been more than 2,400 submissions related to the death of Michael Jackson (2,418) with 96 approved for use on CNN (TV or CNN.com).