NPR [3] notes that "times could hardly be better at the Fox News Channel [4], the cable channel liberals love to hate. ... Ratings estimates from Nielsen Media Research [5] indicate audience levels are up significantly -- to extremely high levels for cable news -- making Fox News among the highest rated of all basic cable channels. (MSNBC [6] has had some of its best ratings in its existence since veering to the ideological left in primetime last year, but both it and CNN [7] lag well behind.)" Driving the ratings are Fox's "trio of pundits, Bill O'Reilly [8], Sean Hannity [9] and Glenn Beck [10]." The Los Angeles Times noted [11], "After CNN scored key victories with its election coverage last year, Fox News has now regained its wide lead. ... So much for the predictions that Fox News, reportedly the favorite channel of former Vice President Dick Cheney [12], wouldn't fare well in an Obama administration [13]."