Fox News Has Q2 Ratings Surge, on Track for Best Year Ever; MSNBC Tops CNN in Prime; Best Quarter to Date for HLN B&C, HuffPo

President Obama may be critical of Fox News but his administration is giving the network some of its best ratings ever, with a 35% year-to-year jump in total primetime weekday viewers for the second quarter, Broadcasting & Cable says.

The network was the No. 3-ranked basic cable network in primetime for the second quarter, behind only USA and TNT, with 2.12 million viewers, on average and is on track to have its best year ever, the Huffington Post says. It had the top 10 cable news programs for the first time ever.

Meanwhile, MSNBC beat CNN in total viewers in weekday primetime during the second quarter, for the first time. However, CNN won in total day. CNN’s sister network, HLN, had its best quarterly total day showing in its 27 years on the air.

--Elizabeth Jensen