Let’s Check In On Fox News Ratings After Tucker Carlson Was Fired – And Hoo Boy…

The ratings are out for this week's primetime news programs. Following Tucker Carlson's firing they don't look very good for Fox News.
Screenshot: Fox News YouTube Channel

Remember that scene in Rocky III when Clubber Lang is asked for his prediction about his upcoming fight with Rocky Balboa?

Lang, played by Mr. T, turns to the camera and simply says: “Pain.”

That’s what Fox News is feeling today.

The ratings are out for Tuesday night’s primetime news programs, and following Tucker Carlson’s firing, they don’t look very good for his former network.

“Fox News Tonight,” the temporary fill-in program featuring a fill-in guest, Brian Kilmeade, captured 1.7 million viewers.

The number represents a nearly 50% drop in viewership. Carlson averaged 3.2 million viewers during the first quarter of this year.

Worse, Fox lost the most coveted demo to the also-ran networks.

RELATED: Flashback: Tucker Carlson Hammered Jon Stewart So Hard it Ended His CNN Gig

Fox News Ratings Post-Tucker Carlson are a Disaster

The Political Insider on Tuesday predicted Fox News would experience “pain” when the ratings were released.

“Their ratings are certainly going to take a massive hit,” TPI wrote. “Brian Kilmeade was thrown into the 8 p.m. timeslot Monday night and people were not pleased.”

Worse, Fox News got owned during that hour in the coveted 25-54 year old demographic.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper came in first in that demographic with 163,000 viewers, followed by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes at 162,000 viewers, and Kilmeade came in at 149,000 in the category.

Carlson dominated that demographic, at one point garnering more Democrat viewers with that group than any other show on television – including left-wing networks.

And the ratings apocalypse seems to have extended to other programs on Fox News, indicating just how powerful Tucker Carlson was as a media personality.

The Los Angeles Times suggested the numbers indicate Kilmeade shouldn’t quit his day job.

“The ratings indicate Kilmeade won’t be giving up the morning shift anytime soon,” they wrote.

Pain.

RELATED: More Democrats In Key Demo Watch Tucker Carlson Than Any Other Show – Including Rachel Maddow

Maybe It Wasn’t About Ratings

Fox News certainly had to have known that dumping Tucker Carlson was going to result in a sea of viewers abandoning the network and a ratings disaster.

It would seem any argument about viewership or ad revenue wouldn’t hold water. So what caused Fox to part ways with their gold standard in news and commentary?

Journalist Glenn Greenwald noted that the network made a similar move with host Glenn Beck, who was also dominating ratings when he was let go, and speculated about what happened in both cases.

“In 2011, Fox fired Glenn Beck even though he was setting records with ratings in the 5 pm slot,” he tweeted. “Even record ratings don’t protect you if you’re … expressing dissent that alienates corporate pieties.”

Bill O’Reilly, in a 2017 interview with Beck, also indicated he was fired by Fox News due to pressure from the left, even as he dominated ratings with his program “The O’Reilly Factor.”

“It has to do with destroying voices that the far left and the organized left-wing cabal doesn’t like,” he claimed.

And now, Tucker Carlson.

Political commentator Mike Cernovich opined that Carlson’s release came because he did not toe the pro-Ukraine war line.

“Even though Tucker is the biggest person at Fox, they don’t care. They don’t care what the ratings are,” Cernovich said. “They care that Fox News is part of the Regime.”

Despite the significantly lower numbers, Fox News still won in viewership for the total day and primetime averages.

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Rusty Weiss has been covering politics for over 15 years. His writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, Fox... More about Rusty Weiss

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