Fox News gave some well-deserved promotions to two of the network’s biggest stars in the fallout from the shock firing of extFox News star Tucker Carlson. After a short tryout period, Fox News has picked Jesse Watters to take over the most visible timeslot for the network.
Laura Ingraham will also move timeslots and will take over Jesse’s old hour. Rising star Greg Gutfeld will be promoted to primetime and will take over Laura’s old timeslot.
The new lineup will debut July 17th. CEO Suzanne Scott said: “FOX News Channel has been America’s destination for news and analysis for more than 21 years and we are thrilled to debut a new lineup. The unique perspectives of Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld will ensure our viewers have access to unrivaled coverage from our best-in-class team for years to come.”
Fox News issued a statement that said: “Kicking off the network’s primetime programming at 7 PM/ET will be cable news’ highest-rated woman Laura Ingraham with her pivotal Washington, D.C. based show The Ingraham Angle.
“The program has been the top-rated show in the 10 PM/ET timeslot since it launched in 2017. “A former litigator and Supreme Court law clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, Ingraham joined FNC in 2007 as a contributor, providing political and legal analysis to FNC’s daytime and primetime programming.
“Jesse Watters will move to 8PM/ET with his signature opinion program Jesse Watters Primetime. The show originally launched last year in the 7 PM/ET timeslot and earned the title of the fastest growing cable news program, crushing the competition across the board with 2.6 million viewers and 270,000 in the 25-54 demo year to date.
“In addition to hosting Primetime, Watters is also a co-host of The Five, the 5 PM/ET roundtable discussion program that has been number one in cable news and all of cable for the last seven consecutive quarters.
“An iconic part of FNC’s primetime lineup since the network launched in 1996, Sean Hannity will remain in his 9 PM/ET timeslot with Hannity. In 2021, Hannity broke records as the longest-running primetime cable news host in history.
“FNC’s late-night program Gutfeld! hosted by Greg Gutfeld will move to 10 PM/ET. Launched in 2021, Gutfeld! delivered its most-watched year ever in 2022 and continues to upend the genre, becoming the first late-night show to unseat CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in viewers since 2017 while also besting ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
“Dubbed the “King of Late Night” by Newsweek, the program has been number one for 27 straight months, posting double digit gains in all categories with an average of 1.8 million viewers, 273,000 in A25-54 year to date. Notably, Gutfeld! has the highest median income in late night with those aged 25-54 and 18-49 and is the number one late night program with upscale viewers (100k+) in total viewers and the younger demo. In addition to hosting Gutfeld!, he is also a founding co-host of the number one cable news show, The Five.
“FNC’s Trace Gallagher will close out the network’s primetime coverage at 11 PM/ET with newscast FOX News @ Night. Each night Gallagher covers major news events through that hour and serves as a primetime news hour for the Mountain and Pacific time zones as well as a sign off report for the east coast. An FNC original, Gallagher joined the network when it launched in 1996 and has covered some the biggest breaking news stories over the last 27 years,” the network said.
