Fox Picks Lawrence Jones as Tucker Carlson Successor

Fox News picked Lawrence Jones to be the temporary replacement for the time slot that used to feature the highly rated Tucker Carlson, who was unceremoniously ousted a week ago.

Jones, 30, is considered to be the “youngest black solo host of a cable news show in history,” according to the Daily Mail. Newsmax had Joe Pinion, now 39, as a host before he left the network to run for Senate to vie for the seat held by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Jones, a self-described libertarian, is expected to host starting Monday night after Fox News has struggled to keep viewers in Carlson’s time slot. Its audience plummeted from an average of 3.2 million viewers with Carlson to 2.6 million tuning in Monday, 1.7 million Tuesday, and just 1.3 million Wednesday.

While Fox is hemorrhaging viewers, Newsmax is the primary beneficiary.

Within the cable universe, Newsmax saw its average audience at 8 p.m. with “Eric Bolling The Balance” soar by 261% to an average 534,000 viewers.

But Newsmax notes that it’s available in 24 million fewer cable homes than Fox, making its viewership even more impressive for its cable distribution. Nielsen data indicated Newsmax drew 57% of Fox’s audience on a proportional basis Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Newsmax is free currently on most major OTT (over the top) platforms, giving it a boost of 400,000 additional viewers at the 8 p.m. hour not counted by Nielsen.

Newsmax even beat CNN based on proportional viewership with a .43 share against “Anderson Cooper 360” at just .37.

Ric Grenell, Newsmax VP for International Development, acknowledged Saturday night on “The Count” that he has been pitching Carlson to join Newsmax as the ratings show Carlson’s viewers are coming to this network.

“I’ve made it clear to Tucker, he’s a friend of mine and I’ve made it clear: He would be fantastic at Newsmax,” Grenell said. “I hope he comes over here. I hope he considers it very seriously.”