CNN gave Chris Cuomo the unenviable task back in June of trying to compete with the heaviest heavyweights in cable news in the 9 p.m. ET slot, and the AP reports that Cuomo appears to be doing better than CNN may have feared.

In fact his “Prime Time” show, which is up against Sean Hannity on Fox News and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC — the top two personalities in cable television — is having its best month yet, according to the report.

The show, which didn’t take long establishing itself as CNN’s most-watched program, is averaging 1.64 million viewers in January, the story reports, citing Nielsen data.

“For CNN, viewership in the time slot is up 49 percent over last January, when the network aired the second of two Anderson Cooper hours, Nielsen said,” the AP reports.

Maddow remains on top in the 9 p.m. time slot, and leads all of cable news, with a nightly average of 3.25 million viewers in January, followed by Hannity with 3.04 million.

Commenting on the results for last week, the AP notes: “It was a big week for news: Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN were the three most-watched cable networks, including all of entertainment. Fox News also reached the 17-year mark as the top-rated network in cable news.”