Headline Roundup • April 27th, 2023
Fox News Ratings Dip Following Carlson Firing, Newsmax Surges
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Outlets across the spectrum are analyzing the viewership ratings of Fox News Opinion (Right Bias) in the days following the firing of Tucker Carlson (Right Bias) to assess the impact the surprise removal is having on the network’s audience size.
Details: The Monday prior to his firing, Carlson’s show drew 3.2 million viewers. This past Monday following the news of Carlson’s firing, the interim show filling Carlson’s 8 P.M. time slot, ‘Fox News Tonight,’ drew 2.6 million viewers. Sean Hannity’s show, which airs immediately after the time slot formerly occupied by Carlson, drew 2.53 million viewers on Monday, on par with its average, then dipped to 2.1 million on Tuesday.
Competition: Viewership ratings for Newsmax (Right Bias), a competing conservative news network to Fox, increased following the news of Tucker’s firing. Newsmax’s 8 P.M. show on Monday drew 531,000 viewers, compared to 146,000 the previous Monday. The New York Times quoted Newsmax Chief Executive Christopher Ruddy stating Fox is “moving to embrace more of an establishment position,” while Newsmax is working to “embrace all sides of the Republican Party.”
How The Media Covered It: Outlets moderately reported on the viewership ratings in tandem with reporting on the fallout between Carlson and Fox News, with Left-rated outlets covering the drama most heavily. Outlets compared Fox ratings to rival networks CNN (Lean Left Bias) and MSNBC (Left Bias), finding Fox remains competitive in viewership despite the dip.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters
Newsmax, the niche conservative news channel that has long played David to Fox News’s 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.
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...
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The firings of Tucker Carlson at Fox FOXA +0.4% News and Don Lemon at CNN less than one hour apart rocked the cable news industry. Both anchors had been at the network for years and were a familiar face to millions. It appeared that neither had an inkling their departure was imminent. Nonetheless, despite the timing they left their cable network for different reasons and their loss will have a different impact.
Tucker Carlson has been a familiar face on cable news networks for 25 years at CNN and MSNBC before joining Fox...
The ratings curve that used to peak for Fox News when Tucker Carlson’s 8 p.m. time slot came around cratered Monday night as viewers used their clickers to react to Carlson’s abrupt firing.
Fox announced Monday that Carlson was no longer with the network and that for the time being, rotating hosts will fill his spot.
With Brian Kilmeade taking the first show, viewers apparently decided they were not curious enough about what the program might hold to tune in and find out.
Fox’s 8 p.m. time slot, which attracted...
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