Fox News' Rating Slump Continues With a New Network Claiming Dominance

Matt Vespa | May 09, 2023 6:35 AM

There’s no sugar-coating it; Fox News is still reeling from its disastrous move to dismiss Tucker Carlson. The longtime host was a ratings king for the news network amid their months-long legal fight with Dominion Voting Systems, the company accused by many of rigging the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favor. They slapped Fox with a $1.6 billion lawsuit, which was set to hear opening arguments before the network brass opted to settle for $787 million. It’s a decision that caused heartburn among liberal America, who were lusting for a courtroom battle. The legal action was seen as one that could deliver a tactical nuclear strike against Fox News.

In the aftermath, Carlson got cut, with much speculation surrounding his dismissal. Some of it revolved around editorial clashes with producers and the brass. Still, The New York Times alleges, through leaked text messages, that the Fox News host’s indelicate remarks about the January 6 riot on the day of the incident, and the commentaries that followed, were the impetus for network heads to pave the way for Tucker’s exit. The ratings dip was immediate, and now it’s become more pronounced.

MSNBC beat Fox News in demo ratings at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm on Friday by an average of 35 percent in each time slot.

Fox News is suffering a cataclysmic primetime ratings drop following its firing of Tucker Carlson. https://t.co/XkNaMCBFap
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 8, 2023

Fox News is bleeding viewers so badly right now that both MSNBC (Chris Hayes) and CNN (Anderson Cooper) had more in-demo viewers during the 8pm time slot on Friday. https://t.co/ebAbJEedD9
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 8, 2023

Of all networks, MSNBC is claiming dominance. In all the primetime slots last Friday, the liberal network beat Fox by an average of 35 percent. Sean Davis of The Federalist aptly noted that this showing is “cataclysmic” for Fox News.