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Joe Kovacs(WND) As the Fox News Channel continues to hemorrhage viewers since it booted top-rated Tucker Carlson off the air, the network is reportedly on the verge of a major shake-up in its schedule.
Among the changes, according to the Drudge Report, is Sean Hannity moving from 9 p.m. Eastern to Carlson’s old time slot of 8 p.m.
“FOXNEWS is preparing to announce an ambitious new schedule, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, a schedule where ever hour of primetime will change!” Drudge reported.
“TOP SOURCE TELLS DRUDGE: ‘IT’S OUR BOLDEST AND MOST FEARLESS LINE-UP EVER’ …”
Drudge also reported both Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld would move to prime time.
Watters, who was formerly a sidekick to Bill O’Reilly, currently hosts one of Fox’s top-rated programs at 7 p.m., and Gutfeld is the marquis name for his own highly-rated show at 11 p.m.
Both actually co-host the channel’s top-rated program “The Five” at 5 p.m.
Mediaite reported that Hannity “broke the record for longest-running cable news prime time host in April of 2022, eclipsing Larry King at 25 years, six months, and 15 days.”
A Fox News spokesperson said in a statement: “No decision has been made on a new primetime line-up and there are multiple scenarios under consideration.”
Carlson was ousted from his popular broadcast last month without explanation, except the network claiming the two had parted ways.
As WND reported, a Fox News producer caught on undercover video by OMG News indicated his removal was part of the network’s settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in connection with 2020 election reporting.
When it comes to recent ratings, Mediaite reported: “MSNBC on Monday beat Fox News in prime time in both total viewers and in the key 25-54 age demographic favored by advertisers. Rachel Maddow beat Hannity at 9 p.m. on Monday and helped boost MSNBC to 1.86 million average prime time viewers and 188,000 prime time demo viewers. Fox came in a close second with 1.72 million prime time viewers and 174,000 prime time demo viewers.
“Carlson averaged 3.25 million in the first quarter of 2023 at 8 p.m., the same hour on Monday brought in 1.62 million total viewers, similar to the average of 1.66 million viewers Fox saw in the week after Carlson’s ouster. A rotating cast of hosts including Brian Kilmeade, Lawrence Jones, Kayleigh McEnany, and currently Will Cain replaced Carlson after his abrupt firing.”
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It was only last week that Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox News corporate parent Fox Corp., noted the broadcast giant had no cause to fiddle with its current strategic course.
“There’s no change to our programming strategy at Fox News. It’s obviously a successful strategy,” Murdoch told investors during a call discussing its recent earnings report.
Variety reported the schedule swapping “would have significant ramifications that would not dovetail with recent Fox News strategy. Gutfeld’s 11 p.m. program has been a break-out success with the network’s viewers, and part of a move that has extended the outlet’s opinion block from 7 p.m. to midnight. Watters’ show at 7 has also been considered successful, and he might seem like a natural successor to Carlson. Watters is also more right-leaning than others on the roster and he got his start making appearances at 8 p.m. on Bill O’Reilly’s show. But people familiar with Fox News say executives have suggested that Watters was doing well in the 7 p.m. hour he began anchoring in 2022 and may not be Carlson’s successor.
“There would also be a question about Laura Ingraham, who has led Fox’s 10 p.m. hour since launching her program, ‘The Ingraham Angle,’ in the fall of 2017. Moving Hannity to 8 would put the veteran host in a different hour for the third time. He has previously anchored both the 9 and 10 slots. In recent months, Fox News has paired Hannity with a live, in-studio crowd, adding new elements to a tenure that has lasted since Fox News launched in 1996, when Hannity was paired with left-leaning co-anchor Alan B. Colmes.”
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