The Republican victory in the senate seat election in Massachusetts elevated Fox News to the top of the cable rankings in prime time last week according to figures from Nielson.  The news network narrowly defeated the cable general entertainment network 'USA' to the number one spot, a place not seen since the presidential election in 2008.

The New York Times' Brian Stelter wrote;

For the week, Fox News averaged 3.21 million viewers in prime time, while USA averaged 3.19 million.

Fox News can thank Scott Brown, the insurgent candidate in the Massachusetts Senate race, who beat Martha Coakley in a closely watched race. On Tuesday, election night, Fox saw its audience more than double in prime time, to 6.2 million viewers, enough to put Fox ahead for the week.

Fox News executives said last year that they wanted to challenge USA for the top spot in cable.

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