Fox Names Jesse Watters as Tucker Carlson's Replacement

Facts

• Two months after firing its most popular host, Fox News announced that Jesse Watters will replace Tucker Carlson in the 8 pm ET primetime slot as the cable news giant looks to recapture viewers who have left in droves following Carlson’s departure.¹
• Starting July 17, Watters will move from the 7 pm ET slot, which Laura Ingraham will host, while Greg Gutfeld’s show will slide up an hour from 11 pm to 10 pm, replacing Ingraham. Sean Hannity will remain the 9 pm host while "FOX News @ Night" with Trace Gallagher moves from midnight to 11 pm.²
• Watters has ascended through Fox’s ranks since starting as a production assistant in 2002, becoming one of the network’s most popular personalities. He will look to regain Fox’s dominance in the 8pm slot, in which Carlson drew 3M nightly viewers and led all of cable news for 120 consecutive weeks.³
• Watters has been popular in his own right, drawing 2.6M viewers per night at 7 pm while frequently appearing on Fox’s "The Five." Like Carlson, Watters has drawn criticism for his conservative rhetoric.⁴
• Despite his massive popularity, Fox fired Carlson in April after settling a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5M. Fox has said the move was not related to the settlement, as the sides have been relatively hush regarding the situation.⁵
• While Fox’s primetime viewership dropped by nearly a third the month after his ousting, Carlson has launched a new show on Twitter, with his first episode garnering more than 100M views. He has so far released six episodes on the social media platform.⁶

Sources: ¹CNBC, ²Axios, ³BBC News, ⁴NBC, ⁵The Arizona Republic, and ⁶Breitbart.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News. Jesse Watters is a bona fide star as a primetime show host, and his move to the 8 pm slot will allow him to shine even brighter alongside the rest of Fox’s renowned on-air talent. Fox News has been the leading cable news network for decades, earning the trust of millions. This is why Fox chose to reorganize its primetime lineup from within, allowing viewers to continue enjoying their favorite personalities.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by AZ Central. Fox News may have done away with one far-right conspiracy theorist in Tucker Carlson, but to no one’s surprise, they replaced him with another right-wing fanatic who will use his platform to spread dangerous misinformation. While Carlson was a reckless peddler of dangerous ideas, Watters is even worse. Fox has no shame pandering to its rabid base as its airwaves continue to be filled with racist, homophobic, and anti-science messages.
• Conservative narrative, as provided by TIMCAST. While Watters is an entertaining character with solid conservative bona fides, he can't replace what Tucker Carlson brought to Fox. Carlson was the most popular news host and continues to attract hundreds of millions of views on Twitter because he speaks on topics the American establishment has worked so hard to hide. Fox is part of the corrupt media establishment, and no one it airs can match Carlson’s fire.