MSNBC Hits Ratings Milestone, Fox News Drops to Third Place for First Time in 17 Years

For the first time in its history, MSNBC ranked number one in both total viewers and the key adults 25-54 demographic during primetime for a full week among the big three cable news networks.

For the week of May 15, the network averaged 2.44 million viewers with 611,000 in the key demo from 8 p.m.-11 p.m., beating both Fox News and CNN for the week. Four MSNBC programs were number one for the week in total viewers in their respective time periods: "The Rachel Maddow Show," "Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell", "The 11th Hour" and the midnight re-air of "The Rachel Maddow Show." Maddow had the top ranked non-sports program in all of cable for the week.

Fox News ranked number three in primetime in the key demographic for five straight days with 497,000 viewers, the longest streak at number three the network has had in that measure in 17 years, since June 2000. CNN finished second in the demo with 588,000. Fox was second in total viewers, however, with 2.41 million, beating out CNN's 1.65 million.