Forget about the other 24/7 cable TV news outlets, the Fox News Channel last week topped all the cable channels in overall prime-time viewing -- news, entertainment, sports, reality and otherwise.
Fox News Channel was the highest-rated cable network in all prime time for the week of 1/18/10 to 1/24/10, according to Nielsen Media research.
It wasn't a first for Fox News. FNC was the highest rated during the 2008 presidential election week of 11/3/08-11/9/08. But that was an epic election that drove cable news ratings into the stratosphere.
Fox did benefit from some big news stories last week, but that only allows the channel to make its case that viewers turn to Fox not just for opinion, but also when big news breaks.
In addition to ongoing dramatic news out of Haiti, a watershed election took place in Massachusetts for the late Edward Kennedy's former U.S. Senate seat last week.
It is an impressive accomplishment for a news channel to beat such hot entertainment venues as USA, TNT and AMC, as well as sports outlets like ESPN.
The victory has to be especially sweet for Fox after the assault the Barack Obama White House launched last year in an attempt to discredit it -- and the repudiation the White House suffered in the Masschusetts vote last week.
(Bill O'Reilly, Fox's highest-rated host, atop the Fox building in New York City - Photo courtesy Fox News)
