Fox News earned devastating news as ratings for the first full month without Tucker Carlson were released on Wednesday. The carnage is truly something to behold.
“Fox News saw substantial audience drop off in primetime with Carlson now out of the equation,” Adweek reports.
Ratings for Fox in May 2023 as compared to May 2022 show a significant 38% drop in total primetime viewers and a staggering 62% drop in primetime viewers in the 25 to 54-year-old demographic that advertisers covet.
Carlson and the executive producer of his evening show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” were dismissed on April 24th. The May ratings are even down from just last month – down 32% in average total primetime viewers and down 44% in the 25-54 demo since April.
They might as well start tonight’s episode of “Fox News Tonight” by playing Taps.
Fox News Ratings Sent Them From First to Third
While Fox News did remain king in overall all-day ratings, their primetime viewership from April when Tucker Carlson was fired to May saw them drop from first to third.
Additionally, while Adweek notes that MSNBC didn’t quite catch Fox News last month in overall ratings, they “got closer than at any point over the past two years,” falling just short by 257,000 viewers.
Falling behind MSNBC in primetime was practically unimaginable when Tucker was in the lineup, his show lifting all those around him.
Yet, here we are. In fact, MSNBC was the only major network to see gains year over year in May.
Fox Will Soon Be Experiencing DTs After Tucker Withdrawal
The Political Insider reported early last month that Fox News was experiencing a massive exodus of prime-time viewers in the coveted 25-54-year-old demographic.
The network dominated that phase of viewership prior to Carlson’s firing, but viewers in that age group have simply failed to show up for his rotating replacements on “Fox News Tonight.”
At one point Carlson garnered more Democrat viewers with that group than any other show on television – including those on left-wing networks.
Recent reports indicate Carlson is prepared to go to war with his former network. Other online information indicates he is interested in hosting an alternate GOP presidential primary debate and has been discussing the matter with GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
Such an event would likely smoke Fox in the ratings.
The latest ratings show CNN is also suffering. And this is in spite of them hosting a town hall with former President Donald Trump that gave them a tremendous bump.
“Outside of a highly-rated CNN live town hall featuring former President Trump, CNN mostly struggled in the May ratings department,” Adweek writes.
While MSNBC was the only major network to post gains, Adweek also notes that conservative outlet Newsmax “posted another month of primetime audience growth” with the network clearly benefitting from Carlson’s departure from Fox.
MAGA Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, serving as a guest host on Newsmax, beat CNN in the overall ratings in the 10 pm slot this past Friday.
Fox News is hosting a town hall with Donald Trump on Thursday, moderated by Sean Hannity, in a move that seems like desperation at this point.