Fox News has not been the same since the network decided to take its top-ranked host Tucker Carlson off the air in late April.
Fox has been shedding viewers and falling in the ratings after dominating cable news for years and in a commanding fashion. But the sacking of Carlson was too much for hundreds of thousands of now-former viewers, many of whom have flocked to rival Newsmax and some other conservative streaming outlets.
As such, Fox executives have had to scramble not only to fill Carlson’s slot but also to find a suitable line-up of talent for its money-making prime-time slots, and that includes moving long-time host Laura Ingraham from her 10 p.m. airtime.
“FOX News Channel has been America’s destination for news and analysis for more than 21 years and we are thrilled to debut a new lineup. The unique perspectives of Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld will ensure our viewers have access to unrivaled coverage from our best-in-class team for years to come,” CEO Suzanne Scott said in a recent statement announcing that Watters would be replacing Carlson.
“Ingraham, who is cable news’ highest-rated female host, has welcomed countless notable political figures, including presidents, members of Congress, and key White House officials during her time hosting the show that launched in 2017,” Scott continued. “‘The Ingraham Angle’ was the top-rated 10 p.m. program since on cable news since it debuted, and will now air earlier in the evening to kick-start Fox News’ primetime lineup.”
But where Fox once dominated the ratings — and by a lot — it now shares top slots with far-left rival MSNBC, with CNN trailing, as usual.
“Nielsen data regarding the week ending this past Sunday was shared on Twitter on Tuesday by A.J. Katz, a reporter specializing in the cable news business. According to the data, Fox’s primetime 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET viewership averaged 1,504,429. The average viewership for the more left-leaning MSNBC over the same time frame averaged 1,520,857, narrowly beating out the conservative network that has long been a leader in cable news viewership,” Newsweek reported
“MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow led prime time on Monday with 2.53 million total viewers and 212,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. Maddow’s haul was enough to boost MSNBC’s prime-time average to number one in total viewers. MSNBC won prime time with 1.9 million total viewers, while Fox News came in second with 1.73 million total viewers. Fox won the demo, however, with 178,000 viewers to CNN’s 161,000 and MSNBC’s 160,000,” Mediaite reported.
Fox News cable news ratings have collapsed in the key 25-54 age demographic after the network took Carlson off the air.
Things have gotten so bad at the network that longtime host Sean Hannity has fallen behind MSNBC’s Joy Reid in the key demo.
Liberal reporter Glenn Greenwald tweeted: “The 8 pm slot on Fox with Tucker was not only consistently number 1 in the key demo – 25-54 – but routinely had 400,000 viewers or more. Without Tucker, it’s crashed to worse-than-MSNBC levels: barely 100,000 people. Hannity is in 14th place, behind Joy Reid! A total collapse. It’s so clear Fox’s firing of Tucker was not just financially driven, bereft of the Murdochs’ and Paul Ryan’s ideological goals. Firing Tucker destroyed its prime-time ratings. There’s no argument Tucker’s twice-a-week Twitter postings compete with Fox. They want him silenced.”