Fox News Prime-Time Ratings Plummet by More Than 1M Viewers After Tucker Carlson's Firing
April 27 2023, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
Fox News lost more than one million prime-time viewers this week after firing Tucker Carlson from the network, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a shocking development to come just a few short days after unceremoniously axing Carlson from the network on Monday morning, Fox News reportedly lost approximately 1.5 million audience members by replacing Tucker Carlson Tonight with Fox News Tonight.
According to data shared by Nielsen on Wednesday, only 1.7 million viewers tuned in to watch Fox News Tonight with Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade at 8 PM.
That is compared to the 2.5 million viewers Carlson averaged last week, as well as the 3.2 million viewers Carlson garnered on average in the first quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile, fellow conservative news network Newsmax reportedly benefitted from Fox News’ prime-time ratings plummet with 562,000 viewers tuning in to watch Eric Bolling the Balance at 8 PM on Tuesday night – five times the number of viewers who tuned in to Newsmax at the same time one week earlier.
Also surprising was the Nielsen data that found Fox News Tonight managed to top its competitors at MSNBC and CNN despite the drastic slump in ratings – although Fox did reportedly suffer in the key advertisement and all-important 25 to 54 age demographic.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Fox News released a statement on Monday morning confirming Carlson was out at the popular Rupert Murdoch-owned conservative news network.
"Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network said, while Fox News insiders later confirmed Carlson was fired. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
Carlson then broke his silence on his firing on Wednesday night via a two-minute video posted to Twitter.
In the clip, the now-unemployed 53-year-old slammed mainstream news outlets and how “unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are.”
Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
“The other thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are,” he said in the clip. “They are completely irrelevant. In five years, we won’t even remember we had them. Trust me, as someone who’s participated.”
“See you soon,” Carlson then ended his video, suggesting he will not be gone from prime-time television for long.
