It’s been something of a transitional period for cable news lately, with CNN having recently terminated its allegedly problematic anchor Don Lemon on the same day that Fox News cut ties with Tucker Carlson. The latter network has also been in financial catch-up mode following the $787.5 million lawsuit settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, and amidst Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit that’s aiming for a $2.7 billion payout. One can imagine that any amount of good news is appreciated and welcomed at this point, and it appears there’s at least one big way that Carlson’s exit has allowed for “new” sources of revenue: advertising at 8:00 p.m. ET.
In the years that Tucker Carlson Tonight and its namesake have been cemented in that primetime lead-off hour on Fox News, as a successful replacement for Megyn Kelly, the time slot has been abandoned by dozens of its former advertisers, in large part due to the comments and viewpoints espoused by the host. And in case it wasn’t already crystal clear that Carlson was the key reasoning for the ad company boycotts, his absence from the nightly newsfront has led a growing number of high-profile companies to refocus on that key hour for the replacement show Fox News Tonight. Here’s how Jeff Collins, Fox News Media’s executive vice president of ad sales, explained it to Variety:
