Fox News saw a drop in ratings on Monday night after the unexpected departure of its popular host, Tucker Carlson. The network’s new show, Fox News Tonight, hosted by Brian Kilmeade, pulled in just under 2.6 million viewers, which is about 21 percent lower than the average viewership of Tucker Carlson Tonight over the past eight Mondays. Additionally, the new show’s rating of 0.24 for adults aged 25-54 was 37 percent lower than Carlson’s average rating over the past eight Mondays.
Despite the decline, Fox News Tonight still led the 8 p.m. hour on cable news by a significant margin. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough Presents had 1.51 million viewers, while CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 drew 728,000 viewers. Fox News 9 p.m. show, Hannity, was not affected by the drop in ratings and drew in 2.53 million viewers, which is on par with its Monday average over the past two months.
Newsmax, vying for Fox News viewers in the wake of Carlson’s exit, saw its audience surge in primetime. Eric Bolling the Balance at 8 p.m. and Greg Kelly Report at 9 p.m. both had more than triple their average audience from the first quarter of the year. Kelly’s Monday interview with former President Donald Trump may have helped boost the audience.
Tucker Carlson Tonight was the top-rated primetime show on cable news for several years, often drawing over 3 million viewers nightly. The show’s departure from Fox News shocked the media world. The new era of Fox News has just begun, and it remains to be seen whether Monday’s ratings decline is a blip or the start of a trend.
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