Jesse Watters of Fox News failed to reach Tucker Carlson’s ratings on his first 8 p.m. show.
Watters, 45, Fox’s choice to replace firefighter Carlson in the crucial slot, attracted 800,000 fewer viewers than its predecessor.
Jesse Watters Primetime, which first aired last night, drew 2.4 million viewers compared to Carlson’s usual 3.2 million.
Watters, who already hosts the popular weeknight show The Five, used his first night to discuss Hunter Biden, the issue of traces of cocaine discovered in the White House, and trans rights.
It was his first opening since Carlson, 54, was fired by the network in April. days after the network settled its legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over defamation allegations over the 2020 election.
Despite Carlson’s loyal following, not all of them tuned in to Watters’ show, but his numbers still meant he beat rivals CNN and MSNBC, according to ratings data compiled by Nielsen.
Watters easily beat MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, averaging 1.222 million viewers, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 with 668,222 viewers.
Watter’s debut in the 8 p.m. slot also saw ratings rise with 37 percent more ratings compared to the weeks since Carlson was fired.
The 8 p.m. slot is traditionally the most sought after in cable news and has given Fox News quite a headache since Carlson’s departure.
The former star recently announced that he is launching a new version of his show on Twitter, despite being under contract with Fox until 2025.
In a three-minute video titled “We’re back,” posted to his own Twitter page in May, the controversial cable star slammed the mainstream media, saying anyone who tries to tell the truth will be removed .
Before the announcement, Carlson’s powerful lawyers sent an aggressive letter to Fox arguing that the $25 million non-compete clause in his contract is no longer valid, which would in turn allow him to become a competing show or media entity. to launch.
In the video, Carlson, 53, told his followers, “Soon we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter.”
Jesse Watters Primetime, which first aired last night, drew 2.4 million viewers compared to Carlson’s usual 3.2 million
The former star recently announced that he is launching a new version of his show on Twitter,
“We’re also bringing some other things, which we’ll tell you about. But for now, we’re just thankful to be here. Free speech is the most important right you have. Without that you have no others.’
“The best you can hope for in the news world right now is the freedom to tell the fullest truth you can, but there are always limits,” Carlson told his fans.
“If you run into those limits often enough, you’ll get fired for it. That’s not a guess, that’s guaranteed.’
It has also been reported that Carlson is looking to start his own media organization.
Carlson is planning the venture with Neil Patel, a former policy adviser to Dick Cheney, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
The couple, who met as roommates at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, want to adopt longer versions of the free videos the social media platform offers.
Carlson’s team has met with representatives from Twitter in recent weeks to discuss their plans, the Journal reported.
Conservative commentators, including other former Fox News hosts Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly, have increasingly looked to subscriber-funded full-length videos as a lucrative business opportunity.