As Fox News continues to make sometimes perplexing alterations to the network’s talent lineup, the fate of another veteran host and contributor has been revealed.
After pulling its prime-time icon, Tucker Carlson, from the air at the end of April, the network has been subject to heightened scrutiny. Fox has lost a substantial number of viewers as a result of this decision, and whereas the network once dominated all daytime and primetime positions, it now frequently loses to liberal rival MSNBC during its most-watched segments.
Many former Fox viewers have defected to Newsmax TV, which is competing with CNN for third place among major networks.
Since Tucker Carlson’s departure, weekend hosts Dan Bongino and, most recently, Steve Hilton have either elected to leave (in Bongino’s case, after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract) or have been taken off the air, resulting in significant changes to weekend programming.
“FOX News Channel (FNC) will debut a new weekend primetime lineup beginning Saturday, June 3, announced Megan Albano, Senior Vice President of ‘The Five’ & Weekend Programming,” a June 1 media release from the network said.
Mark Levin will retain his program and time slot, a well-known figure.
“‘The Big Saturday/Sunday Show’ will become ‘The Big Weekend Show,’ airing at 7 PM/ET on Saturdays and Sundays while ‘FOX News Saturday Night’ will premiere at 10 PM/ET. Additionally, ‘The Next Revolution’ will end its 9 PM/ET Sunday run, as Steve Hilton steps back from hosting a weekly show to focus on his new California non-partisan policy organization launching next week. Hilton will remain a contributor across all FOX News Media platforms while Trey Gowdy’s ‘Sunday Night in America’ will move to 9PM/ET,” Fox’s press release continued.
“One Nation,” which features Brian Kilmeade of “Fox & Friends” fame, “Lawrence Jones Cross Country,” and “Life, Liberty and Levin” will stay at their current timeslots.
“We are excited to launch a new dynamic weekend line-up that will further solidify our position as the number one cable news network for more than two decades,” Albano said in the release. “We thank Steve Hilton for his show’s contributions and look forward to continuing to feature his valuable insights across our daytime and prime-time programming.”
According to the most recent ratings data, Fox News continues to dominate cable news; in May, the network was the most-watched in all of cable news.
“The Five” was the highest-rated show on cable news with 2.6 million average total viewers and 267,000 average demo viewers.
“Fox News, in the first full month since firing Tucker Carlson, brought in 1.42 million viewers in primetime – a 37% drop year over year. CNN’s total prime-time viewership sank to 494,000 viewers, a 25% year-over-year decrease. MSNBC, on the other hand, averaged 1.16 million prime-time viewers for a 14% percent gain compared to last year. For comparison, Fox averaged 2.09 million total prime-time viewers in the first quarter of the year, while CNN averaged 568,000 viewers and MSNBC had 1.11 million average viewers,” Mediaite reported.
“Fox News still swept the competition, marking its 27th straight month beating both MSNBC and CNN in total day and prime-time viewers. Fox’s The Five remained the highest-rated show on cable news with 2.6 million average total viewers and 267,000 average demo viewers. Jesse Watters landed second on cable news and cracked the two million viewer mark, while Sean Hannity was the third most watched host on cable,” the outlet added.
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
Fox News has announced a slew of changes in recent weeks. CONTINUE READING…
