You thought it was bad that Fox News fired their most valuable asset both in ratings and in attracting conservatives to the outlet, but now we have become aware that it is worse than we originally thought. It is now being bandied about that Fox News has not actually fired Carlson and that they plan to pay him off, but keep him under contract until December of 2024, sidelining him during the entire length of the next presidential campaign.
The Never Trumers at Fox News is trying to become CNN Light. I wish I hadn’t been boycotting Fox News for the past four years so that I could join in the boycott occurring now. I guess I just saw the direction Fox was heading in way before anyone else. The numbers fo the eight o’clock hour have completely crashed since they took Carlson off the air.
Fox News viewership at 8pm ET:
Tucker's finale: 2.65 million
Monday: 2.59 million
Tuesday: 1.70 million
Wednesday: 1.33 million— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 27, 2023
On Wednesday night for the first time in years, MSNBC won the ratings war at eight and both MSNBC and CNN beat Fox in the key demographic numbers. Fox will either have to cut their rates for the eight o’clock hour or advertisers will leave them quicker than America has dumped But Light in the loafers. This could begin to erode their other shows as well. Now, you know why the Murdochs are not known for their scruples. Carlson should tell them to keep their money and he will keep his freedom. For those of you who watch Fox, stop it. If you want to know what is really happening, join me at Doug Billings Report.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELFormer Top Fox News host and insider Megyn Kelly reveals Tucker not actually FIRED from Fox yet— This is what's REALLY happening…
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 27, 2023
Fox effectively fired Dan Bongino the week before by refusing to negotiate an extension in good faith. But, Bongino is luckier because his contract ends tomorrow and he will be free to do whatever he wants.
Several sources familiar with the matter said that they quickly moved to reestablish control over their media empire and by ousting Bongino and Carlson they sent a message internally to everyone else that they best remember who’s in charge.
“It’s like when in your first day in prison you find the biggest, baddest, meanest dude in the yard and beat the living shit out of him,” another network insider told Breitbart News. “From that day forward, everyone knows not to fuck with you. That’s what the Murdochs just did by getting rid of Tucker and Dan—anyone who would have challenged their vision for the direction of this company has learned that if you fuck around you will find out something not so good for yourself.”
Another Fox News source confirmed this sentiment, noting that even though Carlson is not to blame for the issues that led to the settlement—they said others were, mostly, responsible for it—the message is clear. “At the core of that is hosts doing what they want without much oversight,” this source said. “That sort of happened in the post-Ailes area. People forget that Fox used to be much more centrist because it used to be top-down.”
“This change at Fox makes it more fundamentally top-down driven,” this person added. “Only recently did Fox try and reflect grassroots conservatism more. I think we’re going to see a reversion to the Fox of the past, where it’s fewer segments attacking Mitch McConnell and generally dumbed down.”
What’s truly interesting is just how much blowback Fox is getting from its audience for canceling Carlson’s and Bongino’s shows—something that the brass, including the Murdochs, seem to not have calculated clearly ahead of time. In fact, the ratings crashed in primetime this week and Carlson’s own video released on Twitter on Wednesday evening in its first hour post-publication got more views online than the network’s 8:00 p.m. hour—his old time slot—got in total ratings. For now, the Murdochs think they are above it all and that this too shall pass.
