HLN’s Vinnie Politan Beats Glenn Beck By One Million Viewers At 5 P.M.

Cable news ratings, June 29, 2011:

•On Wednesday night, with the defense case winding down in the Casey Anthony murder trial, HLN’s 5 p.m. Special Report with Vinnie Politan had the network’s biggest ratings of the night: 2,687,000 total viewers (and 728,000 viewers 25-54), almost exactly a million more viewers than Fox News’ Glenn Beck, who had a total audience of 1,691,000 (and 377,000 in the demo). HLN’s shows won every hour Wednesday night, save one (and it wasn’t Bill O’Reilly, the usual king of cable news whose show fell to second among viewers 25-54 behind Nancy Grace). At 9 p.m., Sean Hannity narrowly beat HLN’s Dr. Drew.

•At 7 p.m., a close contest between CNN’s John King and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, with Matthews prevailing by just 3,000 viewers 25-54. HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell won the hour.

Here’s the full scoreboard: