Fox News’ ratings plummet after firing Tucker Carlson

28 April 2023

It remains to be seen where Tucker Carlson will resurface now that Fox News has fired its biggest star. According to The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson — a Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist — it is entirely possible that Carlson will run for president in 2024, or perhaps be seriously considered as Donald Trump's running mate if Trump is the nominee.

There has been much speculation among pundits that Carlson could end up at Newsmax TV or One America News (OAN) if either of those right-wing Fox News competitors can afford him. According to National Public Radio (NPR), Fox News' ratings have taken a nosedive since Carlson's departure.

During an April 28 broadcast, NPR reporter David Folkenflik explained, "You've seen ratings (at Fox News) basically fall off a cliff this week for those who have been substituting for (Carlson)…. It's down almost 50 percent in the days since his departure. And you've seen the rise concomitantly of this much smaller right-wing rival Newsmax. They are playing up the idea that Fox has fired Tucker Carlson because it's gone lib, it's gone woke, it's gone Democrat."

Folkenflik added, "You've seen former Fox host Eric Bolling on Newsmax, and seen his ratings go up almost fivefold. All of this is, in a way, weirdly ironic because that dynamic is what led to the panic at Fox News after the 2020 elections that led to Fox being sued for defamation."

On April 27, the New York Times' Michael M. Grynbaum reported that Newsmax was quick to play up Carlson's firing.

According to Grynbaum, "Newsmax, the niche conservative news channel that has long played David to Fox News' Goliath, has seized on Tucker Carlson's shock dismissal from its rival network and declared itself the true TV home for right-wing Americans. So far, the strategy is showing some promise."

Grynbaum adds, "Viewership of Newsmax remains far below that of Fox News. But its audience at certain hours has doubled, and in some time slots tripled, in the immediate aftermath of Mr. Carlson's exit — an abrupt spike that has turned heads in conservative circles and the cable news industry."

The New York Times reporter notes that Bolling's show on Newsmax, according to Neilsen, had 562,000 viewers on April 25 compared to 146,000 the previous week.

"Newsmax's other prime-time shows also experienced big jumps," Grynbaum observes. "The sharp rise in viewership can be timed almost to the minute of Fox News' announcement on Monday, (April 24) that it was parting ways with Mr. Carlson, in part because of private messages sent by the anchor that included offensive and crude remarks."

Listen to NPR's report at this link; read the New York Times' report at this link (subscription required).

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