Fox News is doing their own Cupid Shuffle as they swapped people around in the primetime hours of programming. This is all taking place following the breakup with famous former host Tucker Carlson who’s now doing his own videos on Twitter. The new lineup for Fox News primetime hours may throw some people off, but the changes probably aren’t that big for the typical viewers.
Laura Ingraham will be on at 7pm.
Jesse Watters takes over Tucker Carlson’s 8pm.
Sean Hannity will remain at 9pm.
Greg Gutfeld will take the screen at 10pm – all times EST.
The updated Fox News primetime schedule will start on July 17, as reported on Deadline.
Deadline also revealed that other networks have seen a slight improvement in viewership ever since Tucker Carlson and Fox News broke up like high school sweethearts. The primetime report by Deadline said:
A scheduling shakeup had been anticipated since Fox News pulled Carlson’s show in April, leaving the 8 p.m. ET hour with a series of rotating hosts. But they have generally drawn about half of Carlson’s audience, while Newsmax has had a ratings bump during the time period and MSNBC has improved its performance.
The changes also reflect what have been two success stories for Fox: Jesse Watters Primetime, which debuted early last year in the 7 p.m. time slot that previously had a rotating series of opinion hosts, and Gutfeld!, which greatly improved on the numbers for a newscast in the 11 p.m. ET slot. In May, Watters’ show was second in total viewers among all cable news shows, while Gutfeld! was second in the 25-54 demo. Fox News’ The Five, which airs at 5 p.m. ET, topped in both categories. Watters and Gutfeld are also regulars on that show.
Some Fox News fans were also worried about other hosts and if they would leave or get fired. As of now, it seems like Hannity and Ingraham aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. They have bills to pay and this is their job, plus it’s hard to see them working anywhere else at this point in their careers. Fox News called Ingraham an “integral part of the Fox News lineup” in a statement they issued.
Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld are two prominent male voices who inject humor into their dialogue, so there may be hope for the 8pm hour that Jesse Watters can do something big with it. However, despite Jesse Watters being a big name himself, Tucker Carlson’s shoes may prove to be too big to fill.
There’s really just no one out there who can be a Tucker Carlson replacement and do the same things he did. Tucker Carlson is one-of-a-kind and there is no replacement, there’s only the next guy or gal up.
Photo: CC Gage Skidmore