There was never any question that Fox News would suffer as a result of Tucker Carlson’s abrupt termination. The worry was how bad it would be for the cable network or could get.
Since Carlson was fired from his primetime broadcast spot last month, a variety of figures have started to trickle in, and none of them bode well for Fox News.
In fact, some of these figures ought to frighten the living daylights out of you if you’re a Fox News executive or investor.
Tuesday’s announcement by Carlson that he would be bringing his show (or a version of it) to Twitter, of all places, shocked the traditional media sector.
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
A seismic announcement, however, serves little use if no one is present to hear it.
Based on some eye-popping metrics that tweet has generated, Carlson is unconcerned about it.
By Thursday morning, the video had received over 25 million views. (A video view, as defined by Twitter, is any time a video is visible for at least two seconds.)
Meanwhile, the tweet containing the video has received over 122 million views.
The majority of television networks would commit terrible atrocities to get such staggering social media statistics.
You can understand how big those numbers are by comparing the number of views for that video to some other recently circulated stories that were definitely viral.
Dwyane Wade, a retired NBA legend, announced his induction into the Hall of Fame with a video tweet that has received 1.5 million video views and just under 9 million tweet views.
1st ballot. 🙏🏿 Thank you to the @Hoophall and the voters for the honor. pic.twitter.com/dLwChbAwaX
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) April 1, 2023
Kid Rock destroying stacks of Bud Light in this now-iconic tweet has gathered 11.2 million video views and 52.6 million tweet views.
The profanity in the video that follows may offend some viewers.
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
This trending tweet purports to depict the manufacturing process for a McDonald’s McRib: The video has received 8.5 million views.
Can this even be considered food? A McDonald’s worker decides to reveal how a McRib is made. pic.twitter.com/yFraU7JGhp
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 25, 2022
That’s the NBA, Kid Rock, and McDonald’s, all of which Carlson’s aforementioned tweet handily outperformed in terms of views and reach. Carlson is not crushing @joesmith12345 and @Anon9876; instead, his tweet destroyed some respectable cultural touchstones.
Here is Carlson’s first tweet after being fired from Fox News, just in case you thought it was a coincidence or that he somehow managed to catch lightning in a bottle:
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
Over 24.5 million people have seen that Carlson video, and 83.3 million people have seen it via a tweet.
How could anyone in charge of anything at Fox News not feel the weight of what they just lost when they look at those horrifying numbers?
Even if there isn’t a lot of data to support it—at least until Carlson’s new show officially debuts—it appears quite obvious that, at least in the Twitter space, Fox News needs Carlson much more than Carlson needs Fox News.
There is no reason to believe any type of miracle cure is imminent, not to mention the difficulties the network has had filling Carlson’s previous time slot. Fox News videos on Twitter are struggling to gain even a tenth of the traction that Carlson’s videos are generating.
Look, you might just shrug when you consider what might have been if Carlson were preparing to ride off into the sunset with a hefty paycheck from Fox News instead of working.
Carlson, though, has no such plans.
In fact, even if it means leaving money on the table at Fox News, he is apparently itching to get back into the action.
And to be completely honest, that ought to frighten Fox News just as much—if not more—than the roaring analytics accompanying Carlson’s tweets.
An individual with clout, power, and a grudge? Few things are more terrifying.
