MSNBC finished No. 1 across all cable networks in the weekday primetime hours last week, a first for the network whose numbers have been climbing in recent months.
MSNBC's prime time Nielsen average, measured from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., reached 2.34 million viewers for the week of July 17 to July 21, the Daily Mail reports. That put Fox News into second-place at 2.25 million, with Disney, USA, and HGTV rounding out the top five.
Fox still finished first in total-day numbers with 1.53 million viewers to MSNBC's 1.25 million.
MSNBC beat rival CNN not just in prime time, but also in the morning and daytime hours. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" beat CNN's "New Day" for the 30th week in a row, and MSNBC beat CNN in dayside viewers for the fifth week in a row.
"The Rachel Maddow Show" scored MSNBC the No. 1 showing on cable news for the fourth week in a row. Its 2.94 million viewers were second in all cable behind only the WWE on USA.
Last week's ratings continued a recent upward surge in viewership for MSNBC. In May, the network beat out its cable news rivals during primetime in the key 25-54 age demographic and in total viewership for the first time in the network's 21-year existence.