• by Wayne Friedman , November 30, 2011

With the presidential race heating up, MSNBC slipped back into second place in November, pushing CNN back into third place among cable news networks. CNN had been in second place over MSNBC for the last several months -- replacing MSNBC.

But Fox remained the clear overall leaders. Fox average 2.1 million viewers in weekday primetime viewership; MSNBC was next at 865,000; CNN, was at 620,000. CNN was helped during the period by a high rated Republican Presidential debate.

Looking at the key 25-54 news demographic Fox had 457,000 viewers in weekday primetime periods; MSNBC, had 227,000; CNN, 210,000. MSNBC credits the switching its 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows -- "The Ed Show" is now at 8 p.m; "The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell" runs at 10 p.m., with  "Rachel Maddow Show" running at 9 p.m.

The move help the MSNBC shows gain an a bigger advantage over its key CNN competition, Anderson Cooper's "360".