Tucker Carlson’s X interview with Donald Trump racks up more than 200 million views – so has Elon Musk created a cable news network killer?

Donald Trump’s interview on Tucker Carlson’s X Show was, on the face of it, a huge success.

As of Thursday afternoon, just over twelve hours after the post was posted, the 46-minute sit-down had been viewed more than 200 million times.

Regardless of how X counts “views” — every time a user scrolls past the video, even without watching any of it, the count goes up — cable news executives will be unsettled by the numbers.

All eyes are now on Fox News. Not only did Trump’s interview overshadow the network’s “official” Republican debate, which he eschewed, it was led by their former golden boy Carlson, whose top-rated program was shut down by Fox in April.

The success of Carlson’s Trump interview has revived the debate that began after he moved to Elon Musk’s Twitter: Are cable news networks facing an existential threat from X and other social media platforms?

Trump used Truth Social to describe the sit-down with Tucker Carlson as ‘a blockbuster’

Fox News has not released any official numbers on the debate. If that happens around 2 p.m. on Thursday, they won’t get close to 200 million.

The network, America’s most-watched cable news channel, averages about 1.1 million viewers per day. Carlson’s Fox show, the most-watched program, averaged about 3.3 million viewers in the weeks before it was cut.

Critics say X’s stats aren’t a reliable measure of success, pointing out that engagement (likes, shares, and comments) was still below 1 million as of Thursday morning. Viewers are also counted more than once if they see the video multiple times, while Fox knows exactly how many people tuned in to the debate.

But by comparison, none of Fox News’ X posts about its own debate received more than 110,000 views Thursday morning. That’s despite the network having 24 million followers, compared to Carlson’s 9.7 million.

A 1993 interview between Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jackson has been touted in reports as the most-watched TV chat ever, averaging about 62 million viewers. That means Carlson’s talk with Trump could be one of the most-watched interviews ever if only a third of the show’s 200 million “viewers” actually watch, though critics would say that’s ambitious.

Compared to other political TV showdowns, Trump’s first presidential debate with Hilary Clinton in 2016 drew 84 million US TV viewers, while his 2020 clash with Biden drew 73 million viewers.

Evan Nierman, CEO of global crisis PR firm Red Banyan, told DailyMail.com: “There is no denying that the Trump-Carlson sit-down was a success and a huge win for both Trump and Carlson. There’s no other way to see it.

“The fact that Trump was able to sit down with Tucker Carlson makes Fox even worse, because the network’s former prime-time hero actually successfully competed with them.”

The numbers from his Trump interview may also dispel any doubt that Carlson’s X show could bring in anything close to the salary he earned at Fox News. He reportedly received more than $20 million a year before being fired.

Estimates of how much the X Show will earn vary wildly, and there’s no official figure. At the high end of the scale, it is suggested that he could earn $4 for every thousand views – that would mean the Trump interview alone would bring in nearly $1 million.

Trump asked why he had to go on stage during a debate while rivals were “yelling at me and shouting questions at me.” The other eight hopefuls for the Republican presidential nominee faced off in a Fox News debate

Wednesday night’s show with Trump will also delight Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last October before embarking on the radical X rebrand

Carlson’s second best performer, his controversial conversation with Tristan Tate reportedly generated 100 million views, equating to $400,000. Even after X takes a percentage of the loot, the amount would still be huge.

X also has a plan where the advertising revenue is shared with verified users, which would further increase Carlson’s revenue, and he has also signed at least one third-party advertising deal worth more than $1 million.

Wednesday night’s show with Trump will also delight Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last October before embarking on the radical X rebrand.

The company has struggled with declining ad revenue, but this will prove to advertisers that it’s still a platform worth investing money into.

Nierman added, “Elon Musk is going to see what Elon Musk always sees: an opportunity and ways to make money.

“Obviously he hasn’t run away from politics, in fact he’s fled to it since he took over Twitter and X. This (shows) that his platform can beat a major player in the political battle.”