Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson told viewers Monday night he’d be away for a few days, headed off for a “long-planned” vacation that began shortly after Carlson addressed the resignation of one of the show’s writers, Blake Neff, who was found to have written racist and sexist messages on an internet message board.
“What Blake wrote anonymously was wrong,” Carlson said. “We don’t endorse those words. They have no connection to the show.”
Carlson’s show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, has been a frequent target of critics, who have called Carlson’s comments on subjects like the Black Lives Matter movement as racist. But the show remains one of the highest-rated shows not just on cable news, but on all of television—as it was Monday night.
On Monday night, FNC’s Sean Hannity finished just behind Carlson with a total audience of nearly 4 million viewers. Among viewers 25-54, the demographic group coveted by national advertisers, Carlson was number one with 691,000 viewers, followed by Hannity with 673,000 viewers.
Fox has managed in recent weeks to capitalize on an atmosphere increasingly focused on politics ahead of the November election—and an absence of typically high-rated sports programming—to skyrocket to the top of the network ratings. And controversy around Carlson has done nothing to dampen his appeal among a fiercely loyal group of viewers.
Fox News has been the top-rated cable network in prime time for 25 straight weeks, with the three cable news networks finishing in the top three positions overall last week, followed by the TLC network and Home and Garden TV.
Mark Joyella has been a news anchor and reporter in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and New York City. He’s also reported for Australia’s top-rated network morning show and worked
Mark Joyella has been a news anchor and reporter in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and New York City. He’s also reported for Australia’s top-rated network morning show and worked in cable news at CNN and Fox. His writing on politics and media has appeared in Adweek, the New York Post, the Orlando Sentinel, BuzzFeed and The Dallas Morning News.