Today was a very eventful day for the media industry. Indeed, conservative TV host, Tucker Carlson, announced today that he was parting ways with Fox News, the giant conservative media production. This announcement did not sit well with investors who held shares in Fox News stocks. Tucker Carlson is considered, by many, as one of the greatest TV hosts in media history. During his time at Fox News, Tucker Carlson gathered a massive audience for the conservative media production. According to Forbes, in February 2023, Tucker Carlson helped propel Fox News to its 104th consecutive weekly rating victory over CNN and MSNBC, with an average prime-time audience of 2.5 million viewers and 359,000 viewers in the key demo. He, clearly, was an asset to the media corporation and his departure created a massive slump in the company’s stock price.
Fox News Stock Price on April 24, 2023
Source: Google Finance
Prior to the announcement, Fox News' stock price was at $33.65 a share. Following the announcement around 11.30 AM Eastern Standard Time, the stock price of Fox News declined to $31.93 a share. This drop in prices represents a 3% decline. This decline could be translated as a $962 million loss in market value following the announcement. The split between Carlson and Fox News comes just one week after the company settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million because of the network’s spread of inadequate information related to the 2020 US Presidential election and unfound claims of election fraud.
The mere fact that the company’s stock price slumped after the announcement of Carlson’s departure clearly demonstrates how impactful and important he was at Fox News. The 53-year-old conservative anchor was not just a popular presenter, but also a historically influential one. His shows frequently set the agenda for conservatives and, by extension, the Republican Party. His program offered took a socially conservative stance on immigration, crime, gender, and sexuality and the whole “woke” movement. For many conservative Republican voters, Tucker Carlson was the journalist of reference for the conservative movement. He was undeniably Fox’s top-rated TV host.
Some already speculate that Tucker Carlson could potentially team up with Donald Trump and become his vice president in the general elections against the Democrats if Trump were to win the Republican nomination. This is, at least, what conservative podcaster Patrick Bet David, believes although he asserted that there is no indication that Tucker Carlson will necessarily get politically involved in the 2024 elections. If he, however, did get involved and teamed up with Trump, this could increase President Trump’s chances to rally more right-leaning voters. We do not know yet what will be Carlson’s future. For Fox News, we can expect its stock price to rise again in the forthcoming days.
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