There was never any doubt that Tucker Carlson’s dismissal would be detrimental to Fox News. The concern was how terrible it could get for the cable network.
Since Carlson was dismissed from his primetime broadcasting position a month ago, a variety of statistics have begun to emerge, and none of them are encouraging for Fox News.
In fact, if you are a Fox News executive or investor, some of these figures should scare the living daylights out of you.
The traditional media sector was stunned by Carlson’s announcement on Tuesday that he would be bringing his program (or a version of it) to Twitter, of all places.
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
However, a seismic alert is of little use if no one is present to hear it.
Carlson is unconcerned about it based on the tweet’s astronomically high metrics.
By Thursday morning, over 25 million people had viewed the video. Twitter defines a video view as any moment a video is visible for at least two seconds.
In the meantime, the video-containing tweet has received over 122 million views.
The vast majority of television networks would perpetrate heinous crimes to obtain such astounding social media statistics.
You can comprehend the magnitude of these numbers by comparing the number of views for this video to the number of views for other recent viral stories.
The retired NBA legend Dwyane Wade announced his induction into the Hall of Fame through a video tweet that has received 1.5 million video views and nearly 9 million tweet views.
1st ballot. 🙏🏿 Thank you to the @Hoophall and the voters for the honor. pic.twitter.com/dLwChbAwaX
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) April 1, 2023
Kid Rock destroying stacks of Bud Light in this now-iconic tweet has gathered 11.2 million video views and 52.6 million tweet views.
The profanity in the video that follows may offend some viewers.
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
This trending tweet purports to illustrate the production of a McDonald’s McRib: There have been 8.5 million views of the video.
Can this even be considered food? A McDonald’s worker decides to reveal how a McRib is made. pic.twitter.com/yFraU7JGhp
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 25, 2022
That’s the NBA, Kid Rock, and McDonald’s, all of which were easily surpassed by Carlson’s aforementioned tweet in terms of views and reach. Carlson is not obliterating @joesmith12345 and @Anon9876; rather, his tweet obliterated respectable cultural touchstones.
Here is Tucker Carlson’s first tweet after being dismissed from Fox News, just in case you thought it was a coincidence or he somehow caught lightning in a bottle:
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
This Carlson video has been viewed by over 24.5 million people, and 83.3 million people via tweet.
How could anyone in a position of authority at Fox News not sense the weight of what they have just lost in the face of such horrific numbers?
Even if there isn’t much evidence to support it — at least until Carlson’s new show debuts — it appears quite clear that, at least on Twitter, Fox News requires Carlson far more than Carlson requires Fox News.
There is no reason to assume a miraculous cure is imminent, especially given the network’s difficulties in replacing Carlson’s previous time slot. Fox News videos on Twitter struggle to garner even a tenth as much traction as Tucker Carlson’s videos.
You might simply sigh when you contemplate what might have been had Carlson been planning to retire from Fox News with a fat paycheck instead of working.
Carlson, however, has no such intentions.
Even if it means leaving money on the table at Fox News, he appears desperate to return to the action.
In all candor, this should terrify Fox News just as much, if not more, than the booming analytics accompanying Carlson’s tweets.
A person with influence, power, and a grudge? There are few things more horrifying.