If you're going to add the prime-time numbers and compare them to the network's news number, then you also have to add in the network morning news numbers. From TVNewser on the network evening broadcast ratings from the week of Feb. 8...
ABC.....9,240,000
NBC....11,050,000
CBS.....7,090,000
And, from that same period for cable news, again from TVNewser and measuring average daily and unique viewers...
P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,460,000 viewers,
CNN – 479,000 viewers
MSNBC –389,000 viewers
CNBC – 176,000 viewers
HLN –337,000 viewers
While FNC is a very successful cable network, the numbers don't lie. They still only represent but a fraction of the combined network news coverage, and they account for even a smaller percentage of total lost network viewers over the last 20 years. People didn't stop watching broadcast news (and reading papers, for that matter) because of "media bias". They stopped watching because they were dead.
I forgot to include those numbers for the morning network news shows. They can be found here.
Total Viewers Adults 25-54
ABC.....4,680,000
NBC.....5,750,000
CBS.....2,830,000
Now why don't we compare total prime time on Fox News to prime time network news on NBC or CBS or ABC?
Or alternatively, add the whole day of all cable news to the whole day of news programs on the networks?
I'll just pick the last day we have the figures for, Thursday, Feb 25th, just for prime time, and assume that the folks who watch Beck at 5PM, are not the same people who watch O’Reilley at 8PM (people have a life, and going by comments on FR, most people who watch Hannity can't even stand O’Reilley), and that those who watch O’Reilley at 8 pm , are not the same people who watch O’Reilley at 11 pm(why would anyone watch the same program twice in the same day?).
5PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Glenn Beck – 2,462,000 viewers (603,000) (1,146,000)
The Fox Report w/ Shep – 2,248,000 viewers (609,000) (1,050,000)
8PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
The O’Reilly Factor – 3,493,000 viewers (923,000) (1,615,000)
PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Hannity – 2,842,000 viewers (749,000) (1,417,000)
10 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
On the Record w/ Greta—2,235,000 viewers (584,000) (1,106,000)
11 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
The O’Reilly Factor— 1,376,000 viewers (469,000) (805,000)
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/02/26/cable-news-ratings-for-thursday-february-25-2010/43195
That gives us a total of a massive 14,656,000 who watched Fox news at prime time alone. That totally trumps those who got their news and commentary from ABC, CBS or NBC, at only.:
ABC.....9,240,000
NBC....11,050,000
CBS.....7,090,000
And this was not even a particularly high ratings day for Fox News, in view of the Olympics siphoning away some viewers.