Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- CNN, owned by Time Warner Inc., placed fourth among cable news networks in prime-time audience ratings in October, according to Nielsen Co. data provided by MSNBC.

CNN averaged 202,000 viewers between the ages of 25 and 54 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday this month, Alana Russo, a spokeswoman for MSNBC, said in a phone interview. The results are through Oct. 22. The official numbers for the month, including Oct. 23, will be available after 4 p.m. New York time today, she said.

Fox News finished first with 689,000 viewers in that age group; MSNBC came in second with 250,000; and CNN’s sister network, HLN, averaged 221,000, Russo said.

The ratings were reported earlier today by the New York Times.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Rabil in New York at srabil@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 26, 2009 15:18 EDT