Fox News has announced the sudden departure of Tucker Carlson, the most popular primetime cable host in the world, who hosted the popular program Tucker Carlson Tonight.
The unexpected separation was confirmed on Monday morning, leaving many wondering about the reasons behind Fox News’ decision to part ways with one of its most highly rated hosts. At this point, the real circumstances for Carlson’s exit remain unknown and a replacement has not been named.
“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the press release read. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
“Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21,” the company said. “Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named.”
In April 2020, the Tucker Carlson Tonight program surpassed Hannity as the highest-rated primetime cable show, averaging an audience of 4.56 million viewers.
In the second quarter of 2020, the show saw an average audience of 4.33 million viewers. That was the largest number of viewers for any program in the history of cable news.
According to Mediaite in 2022, “Carlson [was] the number-one watched host among Democrats in the key 25-54 age demographic – across all networks” in the month of October.
Shocked reactions flooded social media as soon as the news broke, with many people suggesting Carlson is about the enter the political arena.
Many were surprised by the announcement given the popularity that Carlson enjoyed at Fox as well as the highest-rated host on cable television.
“Wow,” tweeted the New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who accused Carlson and other Fox pundits of inciting violence during an MSNBC interview that aired on Sunday.
Some remained skeptical that Carlson’s departure from Fox would be the end of his career and speculated that the popular anchor is readying himself for a political run – perhaps for the presidency.
“I’d like to think Tucker Carlson’s departure is the end of an era, but I’m quite certain it’s the beginning of his political career,” the founder of gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action, Shannon Watts, tweeted.
