Tucker Carlson Exit Shakes Up Cable News
News analysis
April 24, 2023, will be known as a day that shook up cable news: Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon out at Fox News and CNN, respectively.
Fox News said they and Carlson parted ways while Lemon said on Twitter that he was terminated.
“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” said Fox in a statement.
“Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21st.”
Carlson’s show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” was the most watched on cable news every weeknight, averaging 3.3 million viewers per episode last year. Carlson’s executive producer, Justin Wells, is also out at Fox News.
“I can’t think of a bigger figure in cable news or even on broadcast network news that drives the news positively or negatively than Tucker Carlson,” Curtis Houck, the managing editor of the conservative media watchdog Media Research Center’s blog, NewsBusters, told The Epoch Times.
“It has a huge impact on the media ecosystem,” he added. Houck noted that the left no longer has “their main punching bag anymore, at least temporarily, until he finds his way on and gets on his feet with a media venture or wherever he decides to end up, if anywhere.”
It is unclear exactly why Fox News and Carlson went separate ways. Carlson appeared to not know his days at the network were numbered as he closed his final episode on Friday with a “we’ll be back on Monday.”
Nonetheless, the network will have to find a replacement for the primetime 8 p.m. ET slot. Possible replacements could include, but are not limited to, Lawrence Jones, Shannon Bream, Jeanine Pirro, and Emily Compagno.
Jones is a regular substitute host and co-host and currently has had his Saturday show, “Lawrence Jones Cross Country,” since last year. Bream is the host of “Fox News Sunday,” but is no stranger to primetime as she hosted “Fox News @ Night.”
Pirro is a co-host of the weekday show “The Five” and, given former President Donald Trump, whom she is a close friend and staunch supporter of, being indicted and receiving possible charges in other cases as well, her experience as a prosecutor could come handy to the millions tuning into the primetime shows, which still include “The Ingraham Angle” with Laura Ingraham and “Hannity” with Sean Hannity.
Newsmax, a Fox News rival that has nowhere near the number of viewers as that powerhouse, reveled in Carlson’s departure from the network, which he was with since 2009.
“For a while Fox News has been moving to become establishment media and Tucker Carlson’s removal is a big milestone in that effort,” said Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy in a statement. “Millions of viewers who liked the old Fox News have made the switch to Newsmax and Tucker’s departure will only fuel that.”
Donald Trump Jr. and Megyn Kelly criticized Carlson’s ouster.
“I mean, I think it changes things permanently. That’s one of the few voices in the Republican party that would call out the nonsense from GOP senators, governors and otherwise. You know, an actual thought leader in conservatism,” the younger Trump said on the podcast of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
“This is a terrible move by Fox, and it’s a great thing for Tucker Carlson,” said Kelly on her podcast.
Democrats, on the other hand, cheered Carlson’s departure.
“Glad to hear that one of the most divisive, racist and destructive forces on television is off his prime time show. Tucker Carlson will not be missed,” posted Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on Twitter.
“This program was a sewer of countless lies and hate spewed out every single night. One of the leading election deniers and opponents of democracy in America and abroad will no longer have a primetime platform. That’s a good thing,” wrote Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) on Twitter.
Carlson did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times about whether the departure was actually mutual, as Fox News said, and what is next for him.
Media analyst Jon Nicosia, a conservative who was an editor for Mediaite, told the The Epoch Times that Carlson, despite his popularity, managed to turn off Fox News’ senior management.
“You can get away with a lot at Fox, but you can’t … criticizing management is not something they [tolerate],” he said.
“You can say a lot of things on there, but if you make management look bad, they don’t care how popular you are,” he added.
At the end of the day, “it’s a huge loss,” for Fox News, remarked Houck, who touted Carlson bringing a diverse opinion to the network. Nonetheless, he and Nicosia noted that Carlson’s departure is not the first time Fox News has dealt with a seismic shift in its primetime lineup, citing former anchor Bill O’Reilly, whom the network fired following sexual harassment allegations.
“Fox shouldn’t be counted out quite yet because when Bill O’Reilly left for far different circumstances, at least we know as of know, under a clout of repeated [alleged] examples of sexual harassment … there were concerns, ‘What are we going to do? O’Reilly had been the most-watched person in cable news for many, many years, nearly an entire generation or at least half a generation,’” he said.
“But Tucker was then moved from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. and they ended up not missing a beat,” he continued. “And even going beyond that you could say in terms of reach across the ideological spectrum.”
Fox News news did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
