When Tucker Carlson was getting ready to take over as Bill O’Reilly’s replacement at Fox News this spring, he said network boss and 21st Century Fox FOX 0.15% Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch told him, “relax and enjoy yourself.”
Relaxation and enjoyment may have been in short supply inside the halls of Fox News over the past year. Turmoil from sexual-harassment scandals led to the exits of the network’s two top executives, Roger Ailes and Bill Shine, and its biggest star, Mr. O’Reilly.
It raised the prospect among media observers that Fox News’s 15-year run of dominance in cable news could be in jeopardy. Not so fast. Fox may be looking over its shoulder more at rivals CNN and MSNBC, but it has kept its hold on No. 1.
The network finished the quarter that ended in June first in total prime-time viewers and first among those 25 to 54 years old, growing 21% in that key demographic compared with the year-earlier period, according to Nielsen. Mr. Carlson has proved a solid replacement for Mr. O’Reilly, at lower cost, and the round-table show “The Five” is up slightly in the ratings over Megyn Kelly’s “The Kelly File.” Ms. Kelly left for NBC early this year.
Fox News co-president Jack Abernethy said 2017 has been “a great year by virtually all measures.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amid-turmoil-fox-news-holds-on-to-no-1-spot-as-msnbc-surges-1499601601