Fox News Channel establishes ratings dominance over rivals in 2009

2009 was a remarkable year for Fox News Channel. Despite being ensnared in seemingly weekly controversies involving accusations that its coverage of the Obama administration was laced with right-wing political bias, the year-end numbers are in, and they show Fox News establishing dominance over rivals CNN and MSNBC. In short, 2009 was the best year in the network's 13-year history.

According to Nielsen, the ten-most-watched cable news shows in 2009 were all Fox News programs.

With conservative-leaning opinion shows like "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity," and "Glenn Beck" leading the way, Fox News' average daily prime time viewership rose 8 percent in the coveted 25-54 demographic from its 2008 level. Also, the network's straight news programs, "Special Report with Bret Baier," "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith," "Studio B with Shepard Smith," and "Your World with Neil Cavuto," all scored their best years ever in 2009. In fact, every single show on the network saw a double-digit increase in ratings from 2008 in the 25-54 demographic... [snip]

Beck particularly enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence on the national stage in 2009, partially by establishing himself as a bit of a political organizer of the "Tea Party" movement. An increasingly polarizing figure, a recent Gallup poll placed Beck fourth among the most admired men by Americans, trailing only President Obama, former President George W. Bush and South African leader Nelson Mandela...

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