OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
It appears that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is not taking his departure from the network too harshly.
A new photo has surfaced of the network’s former most popular host laughing in a golf cart with his wife. The photo was published by The Daily Mail, who spoke with the former host.
“Retirement is going great so far,” the 53-year-old said as he left his $5.5 million beach home in Boca Grande, Florida on Tuesday night, The Daily Mail reported.
“I haven’t eaten dinner with my wife on a weeknight in seven years,” he said to reporters before quipping when asked about his future plans.
“Appetizers plus entrée,” he said.
The Daily Mail reported:
Dad-of-four Carlson zoomed off in a golf cart without elaborating on reports that he was ‘blindsided’ by Monday’s shock announcement that he was ‘parting ways’ with Fox – despite being the network’s biggest prime-time star.
But DailyMail.com understands that he spent Tuesday huddling with right-hand man Justin Wells – who lost his executive producer gig – as the cable news veterans plotted their next move. Former Fox host Glenn Beck and Jeremy Boreing, the founder of the conservative media company, The Daily Wire, have both said they’d love to offer a job to Carlson, who courted controversy by arguing against US involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and rejected the notion that January 6 was an insurrection.
Sources say, however, that Carlson is unlikely to make any significant moves while powerhouse Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman negotiates his exit package with Fox Corp brass. Freedman is also representing axed CNN anchors Don Lemon – who was fired the same day as Carlson – and Chris Cuomo, who wants a $125 million payout for wrongful termination.
Tucker spotted yesterday in Florida pic.twitter.com/i7oj27q45P
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 26, 2023
Carlson broke his silence after his unceremonious exit from Fox News.
His brief statement came after he was informed by Politico that officials with the Department of Defense celebrated his departure from Fox News.
“Ha! I’m sure,” he said when informed that Pentagon officials were thrilled with his departure from the network.
Politico reported: “From maternity flight suits to diversity policies to Ukraine aid, the military was a favorite punching bag for Tucker Carlson. Now that he’s off the air, some Pentagon officials are quietly cheering his departure. Carlson’s criticism of Biden-era personnel policies appealed to many of the rank-and-file, which has a large bloc of conservative members. But at the upper levels of the Defense Department, news of Carlson’s firing from Fox News on Monday was met with delight and outright glee in some corners.”
“We’re a better country without him bagging on our military every night in front of hundreds of thousands of people,” said one senior DoD official, who like others interviewed for this story was granted anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive topic.
“Good riddance,” said a second DoD official.
As far as Fox News, the network is paying a price for not having Carlson on its 8 PM show anymore.
Not only was Carlson the network’s ratings king, but he managed to pull record numbers of the key 25-54-year-old demographic that is so important to advertisers.
On the first night a fill-in host replaced him in the time slot, however, that key demo abandoned the network in droves, according to the latest viewership figures.
Show Buzz Daily data show that Carlson’s replacement program, hosted by anchor Brian Kilmeade, “garnered fewer ratings in the key age demo on its first night compared to Carlson’s average a week prior on Monday, April 17,” The Daily Caller reported.
According to the data, the program received a rating of 0.24 in the 25-54 age group, whereas Carlson’s show earned a rating of 0.37 in the same demographic on April 17th.
In terms of total viewership, the program had an average of almost 2.6 million viewers, which is lower than Carlson’s show on Monday, which had an average of approximately 3.7 million viewers.
Cable News Rankings Mon Apr 24
1⃣@TheFive @DanaPerino @GregGutfeld @JudgeJeanine @HaroldFordJr @JasonInTheHouse*
2⃣@Maddow
3⃣@Kilmeade*
4⃣@SeanHannity
5⃣@JessePrimetime @WillCain*
6⃣@BretBaier
7⃣@IngrahamAngle
8⃣@NicolleDWallace
9⃣@AriMelber
🔟@GutfeldFox! pic.twitter.com/XI7MP5SXSz— RoadMN 📈 (@RoadMN) April 25, 2023
When it aired on Friday, April 21, Carlson’s final episode drew in a total of 2.65 million viewers, surpassing the viewership of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” and MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes.” According to Adweek, in 2022, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” ranked second in total cable news viewership with 3.3 million viewers in total. The program’s ratings were second only to Fox News’ non-primetime program, “The Five.”
“Fox News has consistently dominated cable news in ratings in recent years, prevailing over its main competitors CNN and MSNBC. Carlson’s show repeatedly topped the network’s shows by exceeding multi-million total viewership,” The Daily Caller noted further.
Fox News itself has not explained its decision to move on from Carlson, though there has been much speculation.
“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,” Vanity Fair reported.
The New York Times, meanwhile, allegedly quoted “sources” who said Carlson rankled colleagues, was unpopular inside the Fox News world, and regularly touched on subjects like the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that made upper management uncomfortable.
