Fox News still struggling beneath a collapse in ratings after the dismissal of former prime-time powerhouse Tucker Carlson appears to be pivoting to another of its more prominent hosts in an effort to coax spurned viewers back from competitors such as Newsmax.
On Wednesday, the announcement went out via Fox Corporation’s publicists that an enormous change to the network’s weekend schedule will find none other than Mark Levin moved to the Saturday Night prime time 8 PM slot which will provide him with greater visibility, doubling his existing schedule footprint that currently sits at Sunday 8 PM.
Fox’s executive vice president of primetime programming Meade Cooper reportedly led the charge to make the change.
He told the press in a statement, “Since joining the network in 2017, Mark has provided our audience with thought-provoking analysis on America’s core values and their impact on current events.”
Levin responded to the news with humility saying: “It’s an honor to join the other outstanding hosts on Saturday in bringing the most intelligent, informative, and entertaining programming to the nation. Thank you to our loyal audience and Fox News.”
As previously reported by Conservative Brief, Fox News’ ratings have been slowly rebounding after collapsing nearly completely following Carlson’s exit, but Sean Hannity, whom the network seemed to lean on struggled to beat out MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in the 8 PM timeslot.
“Fox News said ‘Life, Liberty & Levin’ is the highest-rated primetime program in cable news on Sundays, averaging 1.4 million viewers and 104,000 in the 25-54 demographic, the audience most coveted by advertisers,” Variety reported, adding, “Levin is also a host of ‘The Mark Levin Show,’ one of the nation’s largest syndicated radio programs, which airs on more than 300 stations across the country. Levin served in the Reagan administration, and worked as an associate director of presidential personnel, deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of Interior, and deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, among other positions.”
Forbes reported, “Last week, MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show drew 2.35 million viewers, beating Fox News competitor Hannity by 100,000 viewers, one of only four MSNBC hours to break into the top 40 most-viewed cable shows last week; The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell, Deadline: White House and The Beat with Ari Melber was in spots 37, 38 and 39, respectively. A reshuffled Fox News line-up helped the network’s primetime ratings jump 26% last week, Nielsen data shows, buoyed by an interview with former President Donald Trump and Jesse Watters’ shift into the 8 p.m. spot once held by Tucker Carlson.”
In his first Saturday outing, Levin highlighted his new book The Democrat Party Hates America providing a breakdown of his assessment of the party called by the American Thinker; “a great service to the Republic.”
