out with the old
Tucker Carlson Tonight is being replaced by Fox News Tonight
With Tucker Carlson now out at Fox News, his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, is being replaced by a new program called Fox News Tonight, the network announced Monday.
Earlier in the day, Fox News revealed that Carlson, the top-rated prime-time host in cable news, was leaving the network, after they "agreed to part ways." Fox News Tonight will fill the weeknight 8 p.m. time slot, with different Fox News personalities anchoring the program until a permanent host is chosen. For Fox News Tonight's first episode on Monday, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade sat in the chair, and briefly touched on Carlson's exit. "I wish Tucker the best," he said. "I'm great friends with Tucker and always will be."
Carlson took over the time slot in 2017, after Bill O'Reilly was fired following an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him. The conservative Carlson is "one of the most influential voices in Republican politics," The Washington Post notes, and in the first quarter of 2023, his show averaged 3.25 million viewers.
He frequently aired controversial segments on Tucker Carlson Tonight and during his specials on the streaming service Fox Nation; in December 2018, he lost more than two dozen advertisers after saying immigration makes the United States "dirtier," and in 2021, Fox News commentators Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes left the network after Carlson's special Patriot Purge suggested the Jan. 6 Capitol attack was a "false flag."
The final episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight aired on Friday, and Carlson signed off by telling viewers, "We'll be back on Monday. In the meantime, have the best weekend with the ones that you love."