On Monday, Fox News made the shocking announcement that it had fired popular personality Tucker Carlson. Rumors are currently circulating around the potential replacement for Carlson on the network.
Who Will Replace Tucker Carlson at Fox News? was the subject of a piece by Mediaite. Here Are Mediaite’s Top Picks” featured a list of potential hosts who would replace Carlson in the highly sought-after 8 PM time slot. Prior to making any final judgments regarding Carlson’s replacement, Fox News declared that it will rotate hosts.
Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham are the current occupants of the 7 PM ET, 9 PM ET, and 10 PM ET time slots, respectively.
According to Mediaite, Fox News could give Watters, Ingraham, or Hannity the 8 PM time slot by simply switching them about and testing a new host in a later time slot. In this manner, a host with more experience would just take over Carlson’s time slot on the network.
Here are the top 6 candidates Mediaite suggested could replace Carlson if Fox News decides to keep the primetime hosts in their current time slots:
Greg Gutfeld — who hosts “The Five” and his late-night comedy show “Gutfeld!”
Tulsi Gabbard — a former Democratic lawmaker and 2020 presidential candidate
Kayleigh McEnany — former press secretary in the Trump administration
Brian Kilmeade — a longtime host and figure at Fox News
Pete Hegseth — a co-host and contributor at Fox News
Jesse Watters — who hosts “The Five” and his own primetime show
What Fox decides to do will likely take some time, but this week’s social media firestorm was sparked by the announcement that Carlson had been fired.
Carlson reportedly felt “blindsided” when CEO Suzanne Scott called him on Monday to let him know he had been sacked.
A new deal that would have apparently kept Carlson employed by the network through 2029 was being negotiated when he was fired, according to a report in the Independent.
Currently, a former prominent Fox News host believes he knows why Carlson was fired.
Bill O’Reilly, the former Fox News presenter who previously had the coveted primetime 8 PM time slot, asserted that he thinks Carlson was dismissed because the network is dealing with a number of litigation pertaining to the 2020 election during an interview with Chris Cuomo of News Nation.
A recent case between Fox News and Dominion was resolved with a hefty $787 million payout. Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News booker, also filed a current case against the network.
“Because the pending litigation was harpooned this morning. Carlson didn’t know. It just happened. And that’s the nature of television news, the most wicked industry in the United States of America,” O’Reilly said.
“Tucker Carlson took over from me. For the first three years, his ratings were soft. He lost about a million, maybe a little bit more of my audience, and then in 2020 he took a hard right turn,” O’Reilly said. “Carlson basically programmed for a very hard right audience and his numbers came up.”
Reports that surfaced soon after the news of Carlson’s dismissal clarified who had ultimate say in severing connections with the top host.
According to a recent report, Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corporation, and Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox News Media, decided to terminate Carlson on Friday night.
Scott then told Carlson of the choice on Monday morning.
Fox News made news last week when it revealed that host Dan Bongino has split relations with the news organization, shocking both his supporters and those of the most popular cable company.
According to a report published earlier this week, Carlson thinks his termination was motivated by the Murdoch family’s intention to sell the network.
“Carlson has told people he doesn’t know why he was terminated. According to the source, Scott refused to tell him how the decision was made; she only said that it was made ‘from above.’ Carlson has told people he believes his controversial show is being taken off the air because the Murdoch children intend to sell Fox News at some point,” according to the report.
