Tucker Carlson's exit from Fox News has ben accompanied by speculation that the host might take one-third of his audience with him, as supporters wait to hear where he might land.
Demonstrating his pull, Carlson recently posted a silence-breaking video to Twitter after his ignominious departure from Fox, with the tweet attracting more than 80 million views as of time of publication.
One commentator suggested that the figures from the one social media post had dwarfed the viewership that Carlson's former employer received at about the same time.
The Claim
A tweet by user @MattWallace888, posted April 28, 2023, viewed 231,000 times, said: "Tucker Carlson now has more views on his 1 Twitter video than EVERY show on Fox News in the last 24 hours COMBINED!"
The Facts
Looking at figures published by MediaITE the day after the Tucker Carlson clip was posted, 23 million people watched Fox News across its programming, far less than the total views for Carlson's tweet. About a day after Carlson posted, his tweet had been viewed 68.7 million times.
However, the comparison between a Twitter clip and a TV network is not like-for-like.
Firstly, while the view of the tweet containing the clip had many more views than Fox News' total viewership, the clip's views were lower.
As of May 5, 2023, it has been watched 23.9 million times, only slightly higher than Fox's figures for April 28, 2023. On the day @MattWallace888 sent his tweet, the clip had been seen about 20 million times.
Further, the collation of television ratings and viewings is more complex, relying on households agreeing to share their viewing habits with Nielsen. Nielsen National TV data is the rating figure that is typically reported by the media.
Twitter metrics, on the other hand, are easier to monitor and set a low bar for what counts as a view. As explained by Twitter: "Anyone who is logged into Twitter who views a Tweet counts as a view, regardless of where they see the Tweet [e.g. Home, Search, Profiles, etc.] or whether or not they follow the author. If you're the author, looking at your own Tweet also counts as a view."
Additionally, a view can be counted twice if watched on different platforms by one individual, such as on a tablet and a phone.
Those watching Fox News might be more likely to be deliberately tuning in, whereas Twitter views count anyone who might have seen Carlson's tweet, even if they don't seek out his content.
There is also the likelihood that a proportion of the views might have been "hate-watching" or simply those tuning in for a first-hand update on one of the biggest stories in American news media.
In addition to broadcasts of a Fox News show, its content will also be edited down and shared on sites like YouTube and Facebook as clips that would boost overall viewership beyond broadcast by millions.
So, while Fox might not have received as many total views on the day of broadcast, other views across platforms would have boosted its total audience.
Actual television ratings, based on the percentage of households watching a program, analyze engagement with even more sophisticated rigor.
Using "Average Audience Metrics," they are calculated by taking the total number of households or viewers that tuned in for each minute of a program, adding them together, then dividing by the total duration of the program in minutes.
For example, a 30-minute program would be calculated by taking the total household/viewer number for minutes 1, 2, 3...30, adding up all 30 numbers, then dividing by 30 for the average minute audience.
The rating, reported as a percentage, would mean a program's household rating of 3.5 meant that an average of 3.5 percent of homes in the U.S. with TVs were watching the program.
National TV ratings also include ratings from some digital apps and services and from viewings after a live show has ended.
Although these kinds of ratings do not appear to be the basis of the claim made by @MattWallace888, it demonstrates the relative analytical rigor applied to viewership figures on television versus those recorded for a Twitter clip.
Further, Twitter's active daily users (thought to be somewhere around 200 million) is larger than Fox News' (as a television broadcast channel alone). It is further proof of why comparing the total viewership of Carlson's Twitter clip and the viewership of Fox News is not a like-for-like comparison.
A spokesperson for Fox News sent Newsweek a series of statistics claiming to show the station's leadership versus its competitors. It did not provide a comment about the claim on Twitter.
Preceding his departure from Fox News, a clip appeared of Carlson making a number of claims, including that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had advised: "help the economy, get an abortion."
Newsweek found the claim to be a misquote of a wider point Yellen had made about the economic impact of repealing Roe v. Wade, made before the landmark ruling was dissolved in 2022.
The Ruling
Needs Context.
The combined views of the tweet Tucker Carlson sent dwarfed Fox News' combined viewer figures the day after it was posted.
However, the clip within it was viewed fewer times than the Fox News viewership total. Further, Twitter's larger user base, the reasons why people watched the clip, and the audience the clip could attract (even among those who might not have wanted to watch it) versus the reach of one broadcast news network, means this is not a like-for-like comparison.
FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
