The aftershocks are still reverberating from Monday's surprise announcement that Fox News dumped its most highly-rated show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and banished its host. It is a rarity when a big box tv outlet bites the hand that feeds it, and Carlson was a cash cow for Fox. Speculation is rampant about his next move. Yesterday evening, April 27 – at the perhaps significant hour of 8 PM – Carlson’s Twitter account released its first post since the firing, where the conservative stalwart bemoaned how “unbelievably stupid” much of the debate seen on TV actually is.
“War, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, natural resources,” are the issues that Tucker says have not been seriously debated for the last five years. He exclaimed that such topics are verboten in the American media, and that “both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them.”
Cryptic clues aside, make no mistake – where Mr. Carlson lands will be telling and may even indicate the rumblings of a more significant earthquake than merely the dismissal of one television host.
Carlson on the Rocks?
Carlson's program represented more than one conservative voice in a wilderness of leftists. The program was bold and edgy and often broke the news rather than just following it. For sure, the 53-year-old firebrand pitched out controversial topics and postulated conspiracy-tinged conclusions, but the ratings revealed the truth about the show – people watched it in vast numbers.
The one thing that Carlson is not is controllable, which perhaps is what ultimately did him in at the big box News Corporation built by Rupert Murdoch, now run by his offspring. It is the very definition of a "large, corporate-or gazillionaire-owned and thoroughly homogenized entity – like fast-food or retail chains, only with media," as Liberty Nation's Joe Schaeffer explained. In hindsight, it's a wonder Carlson lasted as long as he did at NewsCorp.
Tucker Carlson (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
So what's next for Carlson? Certainly, every conservative media outlet is scrambling to get their mitts on the Yale law school grad. Within hours of his firing, One America News Network posted an article that included a pitch for Carlson to join the OAN crowd. "One America News founder and CEO Robert Herring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation to become a part of the OAN team," was the not-too-subtle olive branch.
Certainly, Newsmax will be trying to woo Mr. Carlson to its network, so the bidding process begins. But Carlson is no newbie to the world of journalism. He has a long history working for other networks, from CNN to MSNBC to PBS. It just could be he's had enough of the dog and pony show and would like to run a shop of his own for a change. And now would be a perfect time to initiate such a move.
Meanwhile, leftist big-box tv outlets are conducting a purge of their own. On the same day Carlson was summarily given the boot, CNN's Don Lemon got the heave-ho, as their new owners attempt to tack center. Fox appears to be trying to figure out who they are and where they want to go. They gave Chris Wallace an ignominious send-off not so long ago, and now Carlson. Will the real Fox News please stand up?
The Tucker Carlson Media Empire?
Perhaps Carlson has had enough of the tube and will retreat to his old days of writing for other publications. He could go Joe Rogan and podcast his way through middle age. Or he could decide to go old school and write and then syndicate his work. The real question is: Why would he want to put himself under the thumb of another big or even medium-sized media outlet? He's pretty much been there and done that, and he doesn't seem to be the kind of person who does the same thing over and over again in search of a different result.
To begin the Tucker Carlson media empire, he needs two key elements – talent and money – and he has both. There's no point trying to put a number on Carlson's net worth – the numbers are all over the place, but suffice it to say he's loaded. More importantly, he is great friends with people who believe in him and have money to burn. This is the obvious choice for someone of Carlson's professional caliber and temperament. But who knows? It just may be Tucker Carlson has had enough of the big show and will decide to call it a day. Maybe he’ll spend his days fishing and hunting from his rural perch in Maine – but I doubt it.
