Fox News continues to dominate cable ratings war, while CNN gains on MSNBC and Casey Anthony trial boosts HLN

The Cutline

It's nearly the end of June, which means it's time for cable news networks to tout their quarterly Nielsen ratings. Fox News, for example, has been the most watched news channel for 38 consecutive quarters--but really, who's counting? The channel holds the top 12 cable news programs in total viewers (led by "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity" and "Special Report With Bret Baier") and the top eight ("Factor," "Hannity" and the outgoing "Glenn Beck") in the coveted 25-to-54-year-old demographic.

With that lineup, FNC boasts more total viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined. And despite a first half that had more than a year's worth of breaking news, MSNBC managed to top CNN in primetime in both the first half and second quarter.

CNN, however, showed the most quarterly growth of the big three among total viewers and the 25-54 demo in primetime and total day, cutting into MSNBC's lead.

Here are some other network-by-network highlights:

Fox News

· Every FNC show was tops in its timeslot.

· Fox News was the fourth most-watched network on all of basic cable in primetime during the second quarter; MSNBC was 26th, CNN 28th and HLN 33rd.

· Baier's "Special Report" moved into the number-three slot among all cable news programs in total viewers--in front of Glenn Beck, something that makes the suits at Fox happy.

· "Fox & Friends" beat MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and CNN's "American Morning" combined, in both total viewers and 25-54-year-olds.

CNN + HLN

· In primetime, third-place CNN was up 16 percent Monday-Friday in total viewers (725,000 vs. 625,000) and 29 percent in the key demo (235,000 vs. 182,000), while MSNBC increased its total viewers 3 percent (924,000 vs. 894,000) and 13 percent in the demo 25-54 (277,000 vs. 245,000). Fox News slid 6 percent in primetime total viewers Monday-Friday (2,151,000 vs. 2,293,000) and fell 14 percent among 25-54-year-olds (506,000 vs. 585,000).

· At 10 p.m., Anderson Cooper's "AC 360" outperformed MSNBC's "Ed Show" in both total viewers (843,000 vs. 805,000) and in the demo (304k vs. 260k). "AC 360" grew 43 percent among 25-54-year-olds, the most growth in his timeslot.

· Since launching on January 17, "Piers Morgan Tonight" is up 15 percent among total viewers and 38 percent in the demo versus the same period last year, when Larry King ruled the roost.

· Fueled by coverage of the Casey Anthony trial, CNN's sister network HLN topped MSNBC in Monday-Friday primetime, total day and every hour of dayside in June for both total viewers and demo viewers, with the exception of the total viewers in the 9 a.m. hour.

MSNBC

· MSNBC celebrated its 7th consecutive quarterly ratings victory over CNN

· Rachel Maddow was up 9 percent among total viewers and 23 percent among ages 25-54 for the first half of 2011, putting the show well ahead of Morgan at 9 p.m.

· MSNBC was the top-rated cable news network among African-American and Hispanic viewers during the second quarter, the 6th consecutive quarterly win among blacks and 5th among Hispanics.

· The network's "longform" weekend primetime programming (see critics of MSNBC's coverage of the New York state gay marriage vote) was number-one among adults age 25-54 for the fifth consecutive quarter.