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Fox News Viewership Steady, Rivals Falter

Fox News is on track to have its most-watched year ever, showing significant ratings growth despite having just come off a high-flying election year. With the second quarter coming to a close, Fox News averaged about the same number of viewers as the top three other cable news networks combined. And while rivals including CNN and MSNBC took hits following last quarter's inauguration-fueled boost, Fox News has remained nearly steady.

The new standings are strong enough to rank Fox News third behind USA and TNT among all ad-supported cable networks for the quarter among prime-time total viewers. In its core demo, Fox News had eight of the top 10 cable news shows. It had similarly sunny increases for total day, while CNN and MSNBC were roughly on par with last year.

With Fox News best known for such right-leaning personalities as Bill O'Reilly, it seems that having a Democrat in the White House has helped viewership. A dominant political party can fuel the popularity of opposing voices. "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," "The Colbert Report" and Huffington Post came to prominence during George W. Bush's tenure, just as talk radio conservatives like Rush Limbaugh rose during the Clinton years.

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