News anchors from around the world often find themselves overshadowed when it comes to discussions about wealth and lifestyle, as top business executives, tycoons, and celebrities from the sports and entertainment industries tend to dominate the spotlight. Pakistani anchors are no exception, as their compensation packages are often overshadowed by those of other prominent figures within their respective fields. However, today’s news takes us away from Pakistan and into the United States.
Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, former White House advisor, are reportedly planning to launch a new media company, as per the Wall Street Journal. Despite receiving a cease and desist letter from Fox News for allegedly breaching his contract by creating content on Twitter, Carlson is said to be “seeking to raise funds” for the new venture. The reported plan involves using Twitter as a platform, where shorter versions of Carlson’s videos would be available to watch, while full videos would require a subscription.
Carlson and Patel, who previously co-founded the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, are aiming to secure hundreds of millions of dollars to finance the venture. They have already assembled a team of financiers, lawyers, and media strategists. The media company would eventually expand to include videos from other hosts, with its own website and mobile app. While videos could be hosted off Twitter, Carlson and Patel have reservations about using YouTube due to concerns about potential censorship.
Meetings have taken place between Carlson, Patel, and Twitter, including discussions about Twitter’s readiness for features like watching videos on television. Carlson turned to Twitter after his abrupt departure from Fox News in April. He announced the launch of a show on the platform in May, which began airing episodes in early June. The report does not provide a timeline for the launch of Carlson and Patel’s new venture.
Letters from Fox News to Carlson, revealed by Axios, state that his contract with the network requires exclusive content production for Fox until December 31, 2024. However, Carlson’s lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon, indicated that he is not following that requirement. Dhillon defended Carlson, stating that he will not be silenced and highlighting his significance as a voice on matters of public interest.
As of Friday morning, Carlson’s show on Twitter has received approximately 467.1 million views across nine episodes, according to Twitter metrics. It’s important to note that Twitter video views are not directly comparable to cable or network news viewership, as Twitter counts a view when a viewer watches at least two seconds of a video with at least 50% of the video player in view.
In April, Carlson was abruptly fired from Fox News following a settlement between the network and Dominion Voting Systems over a defamation lawsuit. His firing was reportedly prompted by an investigation into his behavior, which was sparked by a text message in which he criticized an attack by Trump supporters.
Carlson’s show also faced allegations of a toxic workplace with sexism, as claimed by former producer Abby Grossberg in a now-settled lawsuit. Carlson was the highest-rated anchor at Fox News before his departure, and the network experienced a decline in ratings after he left, with some viewers shifting to right-wing network Newsmax. In June, Fox announced that Jesse Watters would take over Carlson’s former time slot.
** Taking the lead from Forbes
