The Patriot Post® · Fox News and Carlson After the Divorce
It has now been almost three months since Tucker Carlson’s sudden and surprising firing from Fox News, a decision for which there remains no clear explanation. Since then, the trajectory of the two parties has been, well, a bit different.
Just last week in an interview with English comedian and podcaster Russel Brand, Carlson reiterated that he still has no idea “why I was fired.” But “I’m not angry about it,” he added. “You can believe me or not, but I think you can feel that I’m not. You know, I wish Fox well.”
Which raises the question: How well is Fox News doing sans Carlson? Inquiring minds want to know.
On Monday, Fox launched its new prime-time lineup, with Jesse Watters tapped to fill the coveted 8 p.m. time slot previously filled by Carlson.
After firing Carlson, FNC took an immediate ratings hit, as viewership numbers tumbled by 20%. That was no surprise given that Carlson had the highest-rated show in cable news, regularly bringing in over three million viewers nightly. Without Carlson, FNC filled its 8 p.m. time slot with rotating guests averaging a million fewer viewers.
In May, Fox News saw its numbers constrict, though not enough to knock it from its decades-long perch as the most-watched cable news channel. June’s numbers showed a small recovery — up by roughly 5% in overall prime-time viewers and a 10% boost in the coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic.
So, it looks like Fox News may have weathered the Carlson-ousting storm, but future headwinds may be on the horizon.
Recently, Fox Corporation, FNC’s parent company, saw its stock downgraded from “equal weight” to “underweight” by Wells Fargo. The reason, according to analyst Steve Cahall, has mostly to do with the downturn in FNC viewership numbers. “Fox’s earnings are mostly Fox News earnings, and Fox News is facing viewership and share pressures,” he explained. “With ecosystem risks also elevated we find our estimate outlook more negative and below the Street.”
Cahall continued: “Fox News was 52% of cable news primetime viewership for 2020-22, 51% in Jan ‘23 and that has slid to a low of 38% in June '23 post-Tucker Carlson. Fox News’ share of conservative news viewers has fallen from 94% to 84%. While the new primetime lineup could drive a rebound, we think Fox News is a Show Me viewership story.”
Meanwhile, FNC is also facing an industry-wide challenge: the increasing number of people cutting cable. Last month’s Nielsen rating numbers show that streaming hit an all-time high — 37.7% of viewership, higher than cable at 30.6% and broadcast TV at 20.8%. The simple reality is that people are changing the way they consume media by increasingly moving toward streaming.
On the digital front, Fox News Digital still holds the number one spot over CNN and The New York Times. Fox News also enjoys the number one spot for news views on YouTube.
Finally, despite a cease and desist warning from Fox News, Carlson has continued his Twitter show, and this week he inked a new lucrative ad deal with the conservative marketplace app PublicSq. This signals that Carlson’s presence in the new media sphere has staying power and is only going to grow. All in all, we’d say his firing worked out better for him than for Fox.