Newly arrived Fox News host Tucker Carlson will take over the coveted 9 p.m. time-slot left by the departure of Megyn Kelly, who is heading to NBC later this year.
The 47-year-old host of Tucker Carlson Tonight joined the network just two months ago as a replacement for outgoing host Greta van Susteren. His 7 p.m. show has been a hit, averaging 2.8 million total viewers and posting strong ratings in the key 18-49 demo, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Carlson will begin hosting the 9 p.m. hour on Monday, January 9. Kelly’s last day at the network is Friday, January 6.
“In less than two months, Tucker has taken cable news by storm with his spirited interviews and consistently strong performance,” Fox News chief Rupert Murdoch said in a statement. “Viewers have overwhelmingly responded to the show and we look forward to him being a part of Fox News’ powerful primetime line-up.”
The move to 9 p.m. on cable’s most-watched network is Carlson’s biggest television gig yet; he hosted CNN’s The Spin Room and later, its innovative talk show Crossfire, before moving on to MSNBC for several years with his own show, called The Situation with Tucker Carlson, later renamed Tucker. In 2010, he founded the conservative news website The Daily Caller.
The Drudge Report was the first to report the news of Carlson’s promotion.
Meanwhile, Martha MacCallum will take over Carlson’s 7 p.m. slot with a new show titled The First 100 Days, which will center on President Donald Trump’s first three months in office, and Fox News reporter Shannon Bream will appear on America’s Newsroom opposite Bill Hemmer.
“Martha is a versatile and skilled anchor who has proven to be an essential component of our news programming. For the last 12 years, our viewers have trusted her reporting and we are pleased she will be part of our primetime line-up for the first 100 days of the new presidency,” Murdoch said in a statement.
Kelly, one of Fox News’s two biggest stars next to Bill O’Reilly, is leaving the network for her own daytime news show and Sunday night newsmagazine show on NBC. Her start date at the new network has not yet been announced.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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