Rupert Murdoch and sons may have shortcomings, but low IQ and impulsiveness are not among them. Surely they have a plan.
My strong hunch is that well in advance of 2024 they want to join Fox News and the Wall Street Journal more closely. This means upgrading the roles of WSJ folks like Kimberly Strassel and Paul Gigot while pushing out comedy and freewheeling opinion. Expect Brett Bair, Britt Hume and Maria Bartiromo to stick around but possibly not those who are irreverent or “loose cannons.”
I have to believe that Tucker Carlson negotiated a magnificent exit. I imagine that any non-compete is immediately null and void, for example, and that TC and his producer keep all of the J6 videos from Speaker McCarthy and all of the content surrounding those videos, as well as anything and anyone else that TC wants to take with him. Carlson will see considerable urgency to get back up and running soon, because his content is red hot.
Fox must know that they are going to lose viewers by the truck load and that TC will immediately catapult any franchise he joins into contention. Fox must also have seen this as inevitable and that taking the hit now is better than taking it any time later. I expect more of the Fox News people out in just the next few weeks. The place will look altogether different by late summer.
As some popular talking heads at Fox exit, we should also not be surprised to see Chris Wallace negotiate a buyout at CNN and return to Fox. Or a return of Megyn Kelly, just for example.
Murdoch and sons have options and can create a new and rigorous brand that serves the center-right, with considerable appeal to independents and the center-left as well. They will take a huge immediate hit but use 2024 as a window to establish themselves and re-build their viewership.