Tucker Carlson is joining a long list of nightly news hosts who once commanded huge audiences before quick departures from their networks. They have continued their careers elsewhere with mixed results.
Bill O’Reilly, the onetime host of the Fox News show “The O’Reilly Factor,” was fired in 2017 amid a sexual harassment scandal. Mr. O’Reilly now hosts “No Spin News,” a political opinion podcast that ranks No. 71 in Apple’s top podcast charts for news shows in the United States, according to Chartable, a podcast insights company.
Mr. O’Reilly also runs a news and commentary website, billoreilly.com, where he livestreams interviews with politicians, writes opinions pieces and hawks merchandise. The site had 1.2 million visits last month, according to SimilarWeb, a web traffic monitoring company. (Fox News’s flagship news site had 329 million visits during the same period.)
Glenn Beck, the former Fox News host, departed in 2011 to begin his own online news venture. That included The Blaze, a news and video website that had 12 million visits last month, according to SimilarWeb. He also hosts “The Glenn Beck Program,” a radio show and podcast that ranked No. 13 in Apple’s top podcast charts for news shows in the United States, according to Chartable.
Chris Cuomo, the former CNN host, was fired in 2021 amid an inquiry into his efforts to help his brother, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, navigate sexual harassment accusations. The anchor now hosts “CUOMO” on NewsNation, a subscription television news network. The site had five million visits last month, according to SimilarWeb. Also in 2021, two top editors at NewsNation resigned amid staff complaints of a right-leaning tilt to its coverage and abysmal ratings.
