Fox News continues to be absolutely dominant in cable news programming according to the latest data. Of the top 10 programs, Fox News had all 10 slots with "The O'Reilly Factor" topping the list with a whopping three and a half million viewers (3,498,000) in April 2009.

A distant, but impressive, second place belonged to "Hannity" (without Colmes) with a little more than two and a half million viewers (2,566,000). Glenn Beck has rocketed to the third place slot, just on the heels of Hannity with a little less than two and a quarter million (2,230,000) viewers. (Everyone in the business agrees that Glenn Beck's trajectory has been impressive.)

The highest showing by any other cable news program other than a Fox News program was "Countdown with Keith Olberman" on MSNBC at number 12.

Even then, his audience was a meager 1,237,000 viewers, less than half of Hannity's audience and just over one third of O'Reilly's audience.

Olberman has combined entertainment with partisan spin to create a small but loyal group of viewers eager for partisan red meat, just from the Democratic side.

CNN's top show was the aging "Larry King Live" at number 14 with just over a million viewers (1,093,000) as well. King's numbers continue to be guest driven, with noticeable spikes in viewers associated with big name guests. (Of course, the problem for CNN is that Larry King cannot live forever, although he shows no signs of slowing down.)

CNN has banked heavily on "Anderson Cooper 360" which came in at number 15 (1,058,000) with just 16,000 viewers more than MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" (1,042,000) which was number 16. CNN's new copycat program (aimed at unabashedly copying the success of the O'Reilly "no-spin zone") named "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" attracted an embarrassing 786,000 viewers at number 19.

To illustrate just how one sided the competition is among the cable news programs, "Happening Now" on Fox News had more viewers than any CNN or MSNBC program. In comparing apples to apples, "Happening Now" on Fox News was number 11 (1,247,000) while the Situation Room on CNN was number 17 with just 898,000 viewers.

Interestingly, when Republicans lost big in the 2008 General Election, media analysts predicted that it would be the demise of Fox News.

Largely, this was based on belief that Fox News had largely traded off of a steady stream of inside information to attract viewers and keep ratings up. Yet, the numbers since the election suggest the opposite.

Indeed, Fox News viewers have remained committed and now rely on Fox News almost continuously for their news and information.

Some argue that MSNBC has benefited the most from President Obama's election. Certainly, no one disputes that Keith Olberman and Rachel Sadow have become virtual spin machines for the Administration. Yet, while impressive in contrast to CNN, MSNBC's numbers continue to be anemic in the context of overall cable news numbers.

CNN has found itself trapped between conservative commentary and "Obama-speak." As the numbers reflect, viewers have decided that they prefer a tilt that matches their own perspective of the world. When it dropped Alan Colmes from "Hannity & Colmes", Fox News abandoned any pretense of prime-time neutrality, yet viewers came (and continue to come) in droves to watch.

CNN's other problem is that no one believes that its news reporting is unbiased. Campbell Brown's "No Bias, No Bull" is anything but. From the list of guests to Campbell Brown's own spin, the program has a decidedly liberal tilt. The only real difference between CNN's Campbell Brown program and MSNBC's Keith Olberman/Rachel Sadow shows is that MSNBC's shows are decidedly partisan while CNN's shows are decidedly liberal.

The problem for both CNN and MSNBC is that cable viewers are not decidedly Democrats or liberal. Most of those viewers are watching Jon Stewart. Everyone else is watching Fox News.

There is one area where CNN does well - special news events. If there is an earthquake, hurricane, or other national disaster or international incident, then CNN does better. Even then, it lags far behind Fox News, just not as far. MSNBC is not competitive when it comes to live news events.

April was a typical month, and so, the relative strength of the various cable news programs showed through. For Fox News, it could not have been better. For every one else, it was back to the drawing board, or more likely, a tacit acceptance of second and third fiddle at the feet of the best fiddle player in the band.

Randy Evans is an Atlanta attorney with McKenna Long & Aldrige LLP. He can be reached at www.mckennalong.com or McKenna Long & Aldrige LLP, Suite 5300, 303 Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30308.