Tucker’s choice: Three basic options for his future platform

It appears that Tucker Carlson may be hamstrung for the moment, unable to negotiate a move to a new home because Fox News reportedly still has him under contract, paying him $10 to $20 million a year while blocking him from creating and broadcasting new content on their platforms or anywhere else. While courts tend to look unfavorably on contracts with noncompete clauses and other provisions that gag people, in effect keeping them in  involuntary servitude, the company has the resources to drag out a fight in court that could keep Carlson silenced as the wheels of justice slowly grind for years.

Such a move to gag Tucker would risk  a blowback from its core audience that would dwarf in scale and intensity the current calls for boycott, and could permanently damage the prospects of what had been the golden cash cow of the restructured Murdoch empire.

Gagging important voices at the cost of tens of millions of dollars a year, purely out of ideology or spite, is not a good look for a company seeking the loyalty and affection of conservatives. 

As Wolf Howling points out on these pages today, the Murdochs’ timing was atrocious:

Could there be a more fundamental act of disloyalty to Fox’s viewers? Could it have come at a worse time, when conservatives rightly feel that they face an existential threat from progressives set upon a coup?

All of this spells enormous opportunity for Tucker Carlson. As I see it, he has 3 different directions to choose from, in finding his new home, though he could mix elements from each into a blended approach.

1. Stay with a cable/satellite platform, just not on Fox News.
2. Move to an existing social media platform, such as Twitter, which, under Elon Musk’s ownership, could innovate a tweet-based platform that generates substantial revenue for Carlson.
3. Create a new streaming service accessed via Roku boxes and similar streaming interface devices.

Here are some preliminary thoughts on each.

A cable/satellite platform

Zero Hedge reported:

 San Diego-based One America News CEO and founder Robert Herring Sr. has an offer for Tucker Carlson: $25 million to join the network.

“Maybe Fox News’ loss could be @OANN’s gain,  Founder and CEO @RobHerring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation,” the network tweeted on Monday, hours after we learned that Lachlan Murcoch had fired the #1 cable news host from Fox News.

 

Tucker Carlson Leaves Fox Nation
Maybe Fox News’ loss could be @OANN‘s gain, Founder and CEO @RobHerring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation.https://t.co/O5KmsPyhyx#OAN #TuckerCarlson #FauxNews #FoxNews @TuckerCarlson pic.twitter.com/MEU3f5CG77

— One America News (@OANN)

 

When reached for comment, Herring told Times of San Diego via email: “It would be great if we could get Tucker! I might give him around $25 million. And he would be well worth that!”

Carlson was making between $15 and $20 million a year hosting “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” according to Forbes.

href=”https://twitter.com/OANN/status/1650564564315148289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 24, 2023

 

I can’t imagine Tucker Carlson accepting this offer. OAN doesn’t have nearly enough clearance on cable and satellite systems to ring him a large audience, and I wonder about its ability to come up with the necessary cash on a continuing basis. And the sum mentioned is not enough more than he receives from Fox currently.

Newsmax, which has considerably greater availability on cable and satellite systems is a more realistic possibility, and according to TMZ, is offering to let Carlson control more than just his program if he joins them.

Newsmax, wants him to be more than just the face of the network, and it’s putting on a full-court press to land him.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the news channel is doing everything it can to sweeten the deal for Tucker to come on board — including floating the idea of letting him program the whole channel, not just his own show.

That would be a pretty enticing deal point … in addition to having his own primetime show, Tucker would have a say over what shows lead into and out of his show, which can be key in achieving bigger TV ratings.

While our sources stress Newsmax hasn’t formally offered Tucker a job — he can’t have formal discussions due to his current Fox News contract — we’re told the network execs have made it clear to people around him, they would basically give him a big say in rebranding their channel.