Not only have Fox News’ 8 p.m. time slot ratings plunged without Tucker Carlson this week, the network’s other fare has also taken drastic hits.
It was just Monday that Fox News Media announced in a press release that the network and the popular anchor “agreed to part ways.” The news sent shock waves across the industry as Carlson was easily the most popular face on the far-and-away most successful news network.
And the news quickly shifted from the original claims of the network of a mutual agreement. According to the Wall Street Journal, Carlson only learned of his pending departure about 10 minutes before the announcement was released.
How far has Fox News fallen in an incredibly short time?
According to the Associated Press, the latest Nielsen ratings showed that Wednesday’s 8 p.m. programming hosted by Brian Kilmeade drew 1.33 million viewers. While that is a respectable figure for just about any other news network, it is peanuts compared to Carlson’s standard.
Fox News suffered a catastrophic drop in viewers after ousting Tucker Carlson.
In the 8pm slot alone yesterday, Fox lost nearly 50% of total viewers and nearly 70% of viewers in demo compared to last Tuesday.
Demo ratings were down across the board, impacting all shows:
The… https://t.co/1ZbAhET359 pic.twitter.com/HYH4BrGnOW
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 27, 2023
Just one week before, also on Wednesday, the now-former host raked in 3.05 million viewers. And the trend showed the decline is getting worse.
On Monday, Kilmeade drew 2.59 million viewers. That number slid to 1.7 million on Tuesday before Wednesday’s paltry haul. Carlson’s last show on Friday, which is normally a down night for Nielsen ratings, pulled down 2.65 million watchers.
Other Fox programming has also seen a decline in viewers.
Apparently in the dark over his imminent demise at Fox News, Carlson signed off Friday by saying, “we’ll be back on Monday.”
There has been a nationwide backlash to Fox parting ways with their popular host. Some fans went on social media to announce they canceled their subscription to the Fox Nation streaming service. Many others have apparently switched channels or turned their TVs off.
Carlson posted a brief video on Twitter Wednesday referencing his departure. It has registered over 20 million views so far, and the tweet it is featured in has been viewed over 69 million times.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) did not hold back on her feelings about Carlson and his separation from Fox News. She tweeted that “this video has gotten over 15 million views in 14 hours. @TuckerCarlson’s star is only going to shine brighter and stronger than ever. We love you, Tucker!”
As for former rivals, the AP reports that Newsmax’s Eric Bolling’s ratings have “shot up” since Carlson’s departure. Bolling hosts a show in the same 8 p.m. EST time slot formerly occupied by the now ex-Fox celebrity.
