Fox execs 'overly optimistic' about bounce-back following recent turmoil: expert

Hopes that Fox News viewers will come flocking back to the conservative network after an April filled with chaos may be misplaced, suggests a political analyst.

Following the $787.5 million paid by Fox to settle Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit, network executives turned around and fired Tucker Carlson, the host of their most popular prime-time show. That has sent evening ratings into an ongoing death spiral.

According to a report from Newsweek, Thomas Gift, the founding director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, said the network will continue bleeding viewers as they turn to alternatives like Newsmax.

As Gift explained, the network has thrived in the past after popular hosts like Bill O'Reilly were booted, but this time things are entirely different.

"It's hard to overestimate Carlson's importance to Fox News. The massive ratings that he was able to bring in, combined with the precipitous drop in viewership at the 8 p.m. EDT hour since he left, is reflective of just how much Carlson had become the face of the Fox News franchise," he stated.

Continuing in that vein, he added, "The network's leadership seems to think he's replaceable, but that might prove overly optimistic. Just because in the past viewers have stuck with Fox News after, for example, the departure of Bill O'Reilly or Megyn Kelly doesn't mean they'll continue to do so post-Carlson. That's especially true now with the growth of so many new alternative outlets, like Newsmax, where viewers can get their right-wing fix."

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