Tucker Carlson’s Promising New Show Could Be Dangerous For Elon Musk

Tucker Carlson Launches New Show On Twitter To Massive Numbers

 On Tuesday 6th June, Tucker Carlson, formerly of Fox News launched his much-anticipated new show on Elon Musk’s Twitter platform.

The first episode of the show which was posted on Tucker Carlson’s official Twitter account, was a low-tech ten-minute video and it was a massive success at least as far as viewership is concerned.

Within the first four hours of the premier, the video had amassed over 27 million views. Within 24 hours the video had upward of 80 million views and counting.

In comparison, Tucker Carlson’s former show on Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, averaged 3.25 million viewers in March, his last full month at Fox according to Yahoo News.

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In the video, Tucker talked about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UFOs, who killed JFK, and what really went down on 9/11. The video appeared to be broadcasting from what appeared to be a wooden cabin home studio with the label ‘Tucker on Twitter’ at the bottom right of the screen.

Elon Musk, retweeting the episode, praised Tucker’s venture on his platform and called for more to follow in his footsteps. “Would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform!” Musk wrote.

Conservatives also quickly came out to congratulate Tucker, saying that his monologue “broke the media matrix.” However, not everyone was impressed as critics labeled the production “amateurish.”

Conservative political columnist Benny Johnson was impressed showing his excitement on Twitter. He wrote, “No ads or interruptions. No pricy subscriptions. Watch on demand. The result? – 17M views – 90K RTs – 25K comments In under 180 mins.”

‘Tucker broke the corporate media monopoly matrix tonight & it’s never coming back,’ he added.

One of the critics of Tucker’s new show is Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters. In a tweet, Gertz wrote, “That Tucker video is bleak. It’s jarring how his schtick just does not work without the Fox bells-and-whistles.

He was maybe the most powerful man in rw [right wing] media; now he’s just another streamer with half-baked opinions peddling conspiracy theories. He’s Alex Jones in jacket and tie.”

On May 9, Tucker Carlson, who has been repeatedly accused of adopting racist and anti-immigrant stances, announced that he would be launching the show on Twitter. His reason is that it is one of the few “platforms left that allow free speech.”

However, while the launch will show that Tucker has a viable audience, his presence on the platform could spell danger for Elon Musk and Twitter.

How Tucker’s Show Is Bad For Twitter

Via his new show, Tucker Carlson was able to reach viewership numbers that some cable news houses would only dream of. However, according to experts, his new show will likely turn off both users and advertisers.

According to Melissa Ingle, a former senior data scientist at Twitter, (before layoffs), Twitter may see a small boost to user numbers thanks to Carlson’s presence on the platform.

“Social media thrives on engagement. More engagement encourages retention but is negatively correlated with quality.” Melissa said. The show might initially be sought after by users but in the long run, it could lose engagements due to quality dips.

However, viewers are not the only thing at risk for Elon Musk. Advertisers too may want to avoid being associated with his content.

During his time at Fox News, advertisers had avoided the 8 pm slot when his show aired. After he left the show, Variety reported that advertisers once again flocked to the slot.

Melissa supported this notion, saying that “Carlson, while he can drive engagement, is highly toxic. Advertisers are reluctant to be associated with him.”

Musk’s platform for months has been struggling to keep advertisers. If the arrival of Tucker was to alienate more, this would only make Twitter’s financial troubles worse.