Did Tucker Carlson Just Kill Cable News?

Tucker Carlson is back, or about to be back, but not on cable news. 

The ex-Fox News prime-time host will host a show on Twitter. 

“You can’t have a free society if people aren’t allowed to say what they think is true,” Carlson said in a video shared on his Twitter Tuesday. “Speech is the fundamental prerequisite for democracy,” he said, adding, that is “why it’s enshrined in the first of our constitutional amendments.”

“Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world, the only one, is Twitter—where we are now,” Carlson said. 

Fox News canceled Carlson’s 8 p.m. show abruptly at the end  of April. Since then, ratings for Carlson’s former time slot on Fox News are widely reported to have fallen by about 50%. Fox News’ 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. hours are also reported to be down more than 20%. 

Cable television has long been on the decline, but Carlson’s announcement may be the beginning of the end for cable news as viewers ditch expensive cable packages for streaming services and social media-hosted content. 

On today’s edition of the “Problematic Women” podcast, we discuss what Carlson’s announcement means for cable news and whether Carlson’s older fan base will follow him to Twitter. 

Also on today’s show, the situation on the southern border is about to get much worse with the end of Title 42. We break down the expected number of migrant encounters and what Republicans in Congress are doing to address the border crisis. Plus, the Biden administration is pushing electric vehicles. Will Americans make the switch? And as always, we’ll be crowning our “Problematic Woman of the Week.”

Listen to the podcast below:

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