The Cable News Wars of 2017 rage on, with the Fox News Channel and MSNBC fighting it out for first place in prime time.  When the ratings for the month of November came out, MSNBC appeared to be fine-tuning – some might say fudging or even faking – the official numbers to claim a victory when the network actually came in second to FNC in a critical metric. In the latest ratings, the key prime-time battle was the 9 P.M. E.T. hour.  Starting last spring, Rachel Maddow took MSNBC to first place in that time slot for the first time in fifteen years.  In the wake of FNC putting the weak show The Five on at 9 P.M. on May 1, that time slot was suddenly up for grabs. Last September 25, FNC started introducing its new prime-time schedule, returning The Five back to 5 P.M. and moving the channel's #1 show, Hannity, back an hour to 9.  In its first week at 9 P.M., Hannity immediately moved into first place. One month later, Rachel...(Read Full Post)