Fox News leads in viewers

News Corp.’s Fox News Channel led the cable news networks in average viewership during 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research released Tuesday.

Fox News captured a daily average of 1.06 million viewers, compared to CNN, which averaged 695,000 viewers, according to Nielsen data supplied by the network. MSNBC averaged 468,000 viewers.

Nielsen ended its year on Dec. 28, in the last full week of 2008.

This is the seventh consecutive year Fox News has topped bitter rival CNN, owned by Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System, the network said.

For the key prime-time slot, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Fox News averaged 2.05 million viewers in 2008, compared to CNN, which averaged 1.29 million viewers, according to Nielsen data supplied by CNN and Fox News.

Fox News also had a larger number of viewers in the 25-54 age group for prime time, averaging 494,000 viewers, according to Nielsen data supplied by the networks. CNN averaged 455,000 viewers, and MSNBC averaged 364,000 viewers.

CNN topped Fox News in the prime-time category for viewers age 25-54 for the first quarter of 2008, briefly taking bragging rights in the category away from Fox News for the first time since 2001.