Since Fox News parted ways with Tucker Carlson last week, the network’s ratings have taken a substantial hit. Fox News has unsuccessfully tried to find a replacement for Tucker’s slot that will sustain the ratings the former host had.
Fox News will reportedly have a rotation of hosts filling the primetime slot that Tucker Carlson’s now available air time. Brian Kilmeade was the first to fill Tucker’s 8:00 p.m. time slot, and his performance certainly did not match Carlson’s. Kilmeade was also not well-received by outraged viewers who were displeased with Tucker’s exit from the company. The Hollywood Reporter wrote about the drop in ratings:
Unsurprisingly, Fox News ratings suffered Monday night without the channel’s most watched host.
After the surprise of Fox News and Tucker Carlson “agree[ing] to part ways” on Monday, the network’s 8 p.m. hour had a significantly smaller audience Monday night. The debut of Fox News Tonight, hosted by Brian Kilmeade (the first in a series of rotating hosts), pulled in just under 2.6 million viewers — about 21 percent below the average for Tucker Carlson Tonight (3.3 million viewers) over the past eight Mondays.
Conservative commentator Collin Rugg accurately portrayed the way many viewers feel about the state of Fox News without Tucker. “Brian Kilmeade takes over for ‘Fox News Tonight’ in replace of Tucker Carlson. Great show if you are wanting to fall asleep. Fox News is dead,” Rugg said.
Fox News recently announced that Lawrence Jones would be the next anchor to fill Tucker’s spot. Jones will be covering the slot all next week. According to Page Six:
Lawrence Jones, who made history as the youngest black solo host of a program in cable news, is stepping in to fill ousted Tucker Carlson’s slot on Fox News next week.
Jones, 30, who anchors “Lawrence Jones Cross Country” on Fox News on Saturday nights, will host in Carlson’s former 8 p.m. slot from Monday as the network continues with a rotating line-up of anchors.
Garland, Texas, native Jones joined the network in December 2018, and was named the host of the weekend primetime program “Lawrence Jones Cross Country” in January 2022.
A media insider told us, “Fox News is trying out a rotating list of anchors in Tucker’s spot — this week it has been ‘Fox & Friends” Brian Kilmeade — but it is significant that they have chosen Jones to step up so soon after Tucker’s departure.”
Fox News is scrambling to prop up its ratings following Carlson’s departure. It’s not just his old slot suffering with lower viewership; other shows across the channel are also seeing a drop in ratings. Tucker was a driving force behind Fox News’ success in the cable news market, where they have been the number one cable news channel. The American Tribune reported:
After Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News, many conservatives have decided to boycott the network for parting ways with their favorite conservative commentator. The powerful boycott against Fox News is dragging down ratings across the network.
Similarly to Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson has become a prominent face in the conservative movement who will speak out on issues many mainstream conservatives shy away from. This led to Tucker easily becoming the most popular host on Fox News, representing the forgotten middle class in America and taking the liberal establishment head-on.
"*" indicates required fields