Though CNN has made some prime-time ratings headway in recent months, Fox News Channel is still No. 1 in terms of overall viewers, and the gap between them is no more apparent than in the morning.

"Fox & Friends" has twice the number of viewers than CNN's "American Morning" nationally and in several key cities — including CNN's home turf of Atlanta, according to data from Nielsen Media Research and the two cable channels.

(ENLARGE)

Steve Doocy (from left), Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade have been holding court together at 'Fox & Friends' since September 2006.

No Home Field Advantage for CNN On morning TV in metro Atlanta, Fox & Friends has a sizable lead over American Morning and The Early Show. Below are average-daily-viewership figures from Dec. 31 through May 11. The local numbers were supplied by Fox News Channel and CNN, which received them from Nielsen Media Research. "Good Morning, America" (ABC): 133,000 "Today" (NBC): 105,000 "Fox & Friends" (Fox News Channel): 30,000 "American Morning" (CNN); 15,000 "The Early Show" (CBS): 8,000 "Morning Joe" (MSNBC): 3,000 — Source: Fox News and CNN BUSINESS Latest Headlines: Georgia banks on brink of collapse? Not quite  Survey: Employees will jet when job market rebounds  One consolation for Atlanta: jobless woes worse elsewhere  Restaurants offering summer freebies  Weather Channel changing up 'On the 8s' tunes  • More business news • Business photo galleries

The big three broadcast networks still rule early morning TV across the country. But "Fox & Friends" recently finished third for 72 consecutive months in metro Atlanta, Miami, San Diego and several other major markets. "American Morning" was No. 4 and CBS's "The Early Show" was No. 5 in those markets.

What is Fox News' secret? A more stable cast and faster pace, experts say.

"Fox is a new kind of television," said Paul Levinson, chairman of Fordham University's communication and media studies department. "It's a program that's more in tune with YouTube, with the Web and with the way television has been evolving in the 21st century."

Levinson said Fox's success in the morning has to do with its rapid-fire pace. In other words, the producers and anchors on Fox & Friends have figured out how to dish out a ton of news quickly to people who are trying to pour orange juice, pack their child's lunch and put on a jacket all at the same time.

One of Atlanta-based CNN's issues is that "American Morning" has had six hosts since 2001.

"Maybe all of the changes in personalities may have had a negative impact," said Brad Adgate, research director for Horizon Media. "Maybe they are trying to look for the right formula and haven't found it, yet."

Janelle Rodriguez, executive producer of "American Morning" disagrees. She says the program's emphasis on hard news is working.

"I think 'Most news in the morning' is exactly where we need to be and where we continue to be going forward," said Rodriguez, a CNN veteran who just moved into her role last week.

Aiming at CBS

Paul Rittenberg, Fox News' senior vice president of ad sales, said network officials thought "Fox & Friends" would beat one of the early-morning programs on the broadcast networks.

Rittenberg's job is to talk to advertisers — who may spend as much as $15 million to run commercials each year during NBC's Today — and persuade them to slice off $1 million of that in favor of Fox. He has an easier job reeling in contracts for the prime time, 8-11 p.m. slot; advertisers pay the cable networks a great deal of attention then.

But for the morning, shows such as Today and ABC's Good Morning America are big-ticket items for advertisers, and cable networks "have made little inroads," he said.

So, Rittenberg says he doesn't focus on Fox being ahead of CNN when trying to get business from advertisers. He says it's not about whether advertisers give money to the other cable news networks, it's that they don't give as much to the broadcast networks in favor of Fox.

"We look at the markets where we have a realistic chance of beating CBS — Atlanta being one of them — and that gives us a foot in the door with national advertisers, saying, 'We're a good alternative, we're a credible alternative,'" Rittenberg said.

When pressed, he offered this about the rivalry with CNN: "When we do well, it's always fun to point that out," he said.

The Headline challenge

CNN officials are trying new things.

Executives at Headline News, CNN's sister network, think they got the morning chemistry mix just right. The network created a high-octane program around popular anchor Robin Meade, who has been the face of Headline News in the morning for six years. The result was a new show, "Morning Express with Robin Meade," which started up in November.

"There's definitely a buzz about it," said Steve Rosenberg, the show's executive producer. "I think we certainly have our own formula that we think is a success, and we're going to stick with it."

Fox News officials know that they cannot relax in such a fast-changing business.

"We're not taking anything for granted," said Brian Kilmeade , who co-anchors the show with Gretchen Carlson and Steve Doocy . "We feel fortunate, but we also feel the pressure to keep it going and keep it fresh."

The revolving anchor door at CNN's "American Morning"

OUT

• Paula Zahn (2001-2003): Moved to 8 p.m. slot with "Paula Zahn Now." Left network in 2007 after show was canceled partly from lackluster ratings.
• Bill Hemmer (2002-2005): Once considered a rising star at CNN, Hemmer left to anchor the noon news program on Fox News Channel.
• Soledad O'Brien (2003-2007): Came from NBC to replace Paula Zahn and help boost ratings. Still considered a star at the network but was moved to "CNN: Special Investigations Unit" after morning ratings improved only slightly.
• Miles O'Brien (2005-2007): Joined show after co-anchoring an afternoon program on CNN. Replaced at the same time as Soledad O'Brien; now covers the environment and technology as a chief correspondent.

IN

• John Roberts/Kiran Chetry (2007-?): Roberts joined CNN in 2006 after a long stint at CBS. He was moved into the morning slot after working on various other CNN programs. Chetry went to CNN from Fox News Channel, where she worked for six years.

— Source: CNN

Differing National Tastes

Nationwide, the picture is different. "Fox & Friends" slips to fourth place but is still ahead of "American Morning" by a wide margin. All three cable morning programs lag behind the broadcast shows. The data represents average daily viewers for Dec. 31 through May 11.

• "Today" (NBC): 5.8 million
• "Good Morning, America" (ABC): 4.6 million
• "The Early Show" (CBS): 3.4 million
• "Fox & Friends" (Fox News Channel): 985,000
• "American Morning" (CNN): 441,000
• "Morning Joe" (MSNBC): 337,00

— Source: Nielsen Media Research