Fox News Marks A Decade Of Winning Ratings; We Look Back With Clips From O’Reilly, Hannity, and Cavuto’s First Days

No matter what you think of Fox News, there is one indisputable fact: they dominate the cable news ratings. As of the latest Nielsen numbers, Fox News has won the ratings every month for an entire decade. The network first surpassed CNN for the ratings title in January 2002.

“We are extremely proud of the phenomenal achievement created by the hard work and talent of the FOX News Channel employees,” Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes said in a statement, “and recognize how difficult it is for a cable network to sustain this level of dominance for a decade.”

In January 2012, FNC averaged 1.942 million viewers, almost doubling their numbers from January 2002, when the network averaged 1.091 million. And it’s not just dominating cable news — FNC ranked fifth in all of cable during January, according to Nielsen Media Research, behind only ESPN, USA, History and TBS (CNN and MSNBC ranked 23rd and 27th respectively). Earlier this month, during the week of the South Carolina primary, the network landed in the second overall spot in prime time cable rankings, behind just USA.

So how do we tip our cap to Fox News on this occasion? With a a few short clips of three of the network’s biggest stars — Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Neil Cavuto — on October 7, 1996, the first day of Fox News.

Bill O’Reilly Of The O’Reilly Report:

Sean Hannity:

Neil Cavuto: