Tucker Carlson made the brutally grim prediction that mainstream media and cable news will meet its downfall in the next decade.
The ex-Fox News anchor – who has thrived hosting his show on X ever since his departure from the network in 2023 – said in an interview released Monday that the networks will become extinct in the near future.
‘There’s nothing shallower, dumber, more repetitive, more controlled than cable news. I think I can say that with authority,’ he told The Chief Nerd on X show, citing his decades at MSNBC, CNN and Fox News.
He then made a stunning prediction about the future of mainstream media entering a ‘freer, more open period.’
‘The people who work at NBC News will not have careers in journalism 10 years from now,’ he said.
He added that they have became ‘corrupt’ by the experience and ‘will not evolve.’
Notably, MSNBC may no longer resemble itself in the coming months, as parent company Comcast looks set to spin it and a group of entertainment networks off from the NBC brand. CNN has also looked to slash salaries and staff.
The salaries for key talent appear set for cutbacks, mirroring rivals CNN, with Rachel Maddow signing a new deal that will slash her pay from $30 million annually to $25 million.
Tucker Carlson believes that mainstream media and cable news will meet its downfall in the next decade
Carlson relished in the idea that the cable networks would be gone soon, saying they’re largely just complaining about the public no longer believing them, which he described as ‘just dogs barking.’
‘I would just start by saying that there’s nothing more corrupt than what we have no so I’m glad it’s going away. They have no credibility, they’re corrupt.’
He ‘100%’ credited Elon Musk for creating this change and Joe Rogan for launching ‘a new kind of podcast’ where people could get information.
‘If the world were fair, everyone in the media would be tipping their hat to them,’ he said of Rogan.
Everything appears to be up for grabs at MSNBC especially, save for Maddow, who an anonymous executive called ‘ratings Viagra,’ regularly drawing significantly more viewers than the rest of the network’s primetime lineup.
A source told The Ankler that the Morning Joe rebrand of making peace with Donald Trump is part of the network having a come-to-Jesus moment going too far to the left during the election.
‘We were so Harris propaganda that when she lost, viewers were shocked. It turned into one giant circle jerk and echo chamber. If MSNBC wants to be of service to its viewers, they can’t keep them in fantasy land.’
However, keeping the liberal star Maddow for even one night a week on the air was non-negotiable.
The salaries for key talent appear set for cutbacks, mirroring rivals CNN , with Rachel Maddow signing a new deal that will slash her pay from $30 million annually to $25 million
Carlson relished in the idea that the cable networks would be gone soon, saying they’re largely just complaining about the public no longer believing them, which he described as ‘just dogs barking’
‘No one else can do what she does. You can’t build a brand like it overnight.’
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Comcast’s move to spin off its NBCUniversal networks would have been a staggering move years ago, with its fleet of channels previously among the company’s most profitable assets.
But the decision will see channels including MSNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, and Golf Channel branched off onto a separate entity – and separate balance sheet.
Comcast executives said that they will not spin off all channels, and will keep Bravo, the Peacock streaming service and the NBC broadcast network under the parent company.
But by shedding its expensive networks, Comcast is hedging its bets that it can expand its movie studio and theme park industries without being dragged down by the struggles of traditional television news.
The announcement this week from Comcast is indicative of the significant changes the media industry has been hit with in recent years, which has also seen a swathe of outlets forced to downsize their staff numbers.
CNN is mulling making Kaitlan Collins its chief White House correspondent, a new report has claimed.
The potential move – said to be still be in ‘discussions’ – comes amid rampant rumors of lay-offs at the network to save its flailing reputation.
CNN is reportedly mulling making Kaitlan Collins, 32, its chief White House correspondent, according to two people familiar with the matter. The talks, they said, are part of a greater plan to overhaul CNN’s political coverage
The architect of the reported shuffle is reportedly CEO Mark Thompson, who was hired late last summer to right a sinking ship following the failures of predecessor Licht, who was fired after less than a year after promising to air impartial coverage
The possible shakeup was reported Monday by Semafor. The publication said it spoke with two people familiar with the matter.
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The talks, they said, are part of a greater plan to overhaul CNN’s political coverage. The shift will reportedly seek to lean into the spectacle of Donald Trump’s second presidency, as opposed to shying away from it.
Collins has surfaced as a clear candidate thanks to connections garnered from her days as a White House reporter during Trump’s first term, both sources said.
CNN boss Mark Thompson has made it clear the station’s new mission is to not default toward anti-Trump coverage, in contrast to former CNN president Jeff Zucker.
Replacement Chris Licht attempted the same, but was fired after less than a year in June 2023 following a series of layoffs and a botched town hall that coincidentally had been headed by Collins.
The latter has been pegged as one of the primary reasons for Licht’s ouster, as it was widely panned for Collins’ hapless efforts to fact-check the president.
The Ankler reported that officials had been mulling a pay cut for anchor Wallace, who had been making $7 million-a-year.
Puck was reportedly told by insiders that Wallace was told by CNN brass that his two struggling shows would be nixed and his salary clashed if he would sign on for another year.
Meanwhile, famous faces like Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett are taking home annual salaries of $20million and $6million, respectively, with Collins, despite being a relative newcomer, not far behind.