Jesse Watters, the Fox News host who has taken over the prime-time slot left vacant after Tucker Carlson's sudden departure earlier this year, debuted in the timeslot of the controversial former anchor on Monday night.
It was a successful launch for the presenter, who took first place in the prime-time lineup, leaving CNN's Anderson Cooper and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough trailing behind, according to data from Adweek. Yet his ratings were lower than those reached by his predecessor.
According to Adweek, Watters had a total of 2.5 million viewers on Monday night, compared to Cooper's 686,000 and Scarborough's 1.3 million. Among the viewers aged between 25 and 54, Watters also had more viewers than the two other hosts, with a total of 161,000 compared to Cooper's 120,000 and Scarborough's 139,000.
Last week, on July 10, Fox News and MSNBC shared first place in terms of ratings in the prime-time slot.
While it is a positive result for the Fox News presenter on his debut night in the slot when compared to his competitors, his ratings remain lower than Carlson's average of 3.2 million in the first quarter of 2023, before he left the network.
For Watters, a humorist who first rose to fame as a sidekick to Bill O'Reilly, taking the slot once occupied by Carlson was a big break—but the promotion appears to have caused him to lose viewers in certain demographics.
On Monday, July 10, Watters had 191,000 viewers in the 25 to 54 demographic in his usual 7 p.m. timeslot—more than the 161,000 reached this Monday at prime-time. He got slightly fewer total viewers at 7 p.m., at 2.19 million, showing that on average he made a gain by moving to Carlson's former slot.
Rival network Newsmax saw a surge in viewers after Carlson's departure, reporting a five-fold increase in the week following Fox News' announcement that the anchor was leaving, as reported by the Washington Times.
According to data shared by Fox News in a press release shared with Newsweek, Watters grew the time slot 60 percent vs. FOX News Tonight, which aired in the 8 p.m. hour from April 24 through July 14. Additionally, the overall primetime lineup grew by 39 percent in total viewers. He also posted a 50 percent increase against the June 2023 average in viewership.
Fox News said that Watters occupied 56 percent of the audience share on Tuesday, with his show being number one in primetime and second overall after The Five.
Despite Fox News' promise that Watters would bring his "fresh take on the major headlines of the day," the host remained faithful to Carlson on his debut night, offering some of the same rhetoric as the former anchor.
Like Carlson before him, Watters' timeslot featured criticism of trans people and unsubstantiated allegations against President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, a common target for Republican hardliners and Fox News.
Talking about cocaine found at the White House on July 2, Watters said he hoped "Hunter's not involved with the coke." The president's son has previously admitted to struggling with substance addiction.
Newsweek has contacted Fox News for comment via email.
Update 7/19/23, 9:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include data provided by Fox News.
