Fox News, CNN, MSNBC firings take US cable news by storm
3 Min Read
Top personnel from three of the top US cable news networks were fired unexpectedly and within days and hours of each other.
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Tucker Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio on March 2, 2017, in New York. (AP)
US cable news is faced with a new drama as a series of top personnel firings, all of which occurred in the past 24 hours, has taken the news industry by surprise.
The firing of two cable news anchors and one CEO across Fox News, CNN, and NBCU has shown just how chaotic the industry has become.
Less than a day after NBCU CEO Jeff Shell was fired unexpectedly, two cable news anchors, Fox News' star primetime host Tucker Carlson and CNN's Don Lemon, were also fired citing various reasons.
Tucker Carlson
On Monday, Fox News announced that the network and its star primetime host have "agreed to part ways." Carlson has worked for Fox News for over a decade and never got the chance to sign off to his viewers as his last show aired on Friday, April 21.
According to Fox News, the network had reached the decision to part ways with Carlson a few days after the network reached what was dubbed, by Axios, a "historic 11th hour settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for over $787 million." Fox News has been subjected to a defamation lawsuit over voting machines; a lawsuit which has allegedly implicated Carlson and others.
Don Lemon
Not long after, CNN reported that Don Lemon had been fired. In turn, the network's anchor said via a Twitter post he was "stunned" after his agent informed him of the network's decision.
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) April 24, 2023
As for the case of Lemon, it has been reported that CNN's decision came following a number of on-air blunders one of which targeted the 2024 presidential contender Nikki Haley. It is important to mention that Lemon did apologize for that mistake.
Jeff Shell
NBCU CEO Jeff Shell was unexpectedly fired a few days prior to the two anchors. His firing was grounded in allegations of an inappropriate workplace relationship.
Despite the reasons, Shell's departure was more unexpected and will inevitably, according to media reports, have "significant implications for NBCU."
Shell had assumed a larger role at NBCU's Peacock streaming service as NBCU's parent company Comcast experienced escalating competition from other streamers.
According to reports, Mike Cavanagh, president of Comcast, will take over for Shell in the interim and is allegedly set to remain in that position for the foreseeable future.
Cable news networks take another hit
The bottom line is that cable news networks continue to witness plummeting ratings as large numbers of viewers flock toward streaming. This information gets further grounded as prime time viewers, last year, had collectively, and across the three main networks aforementioned, fallen by around 14%, said Axios. The ongoing drama only made the existing difficulties more challenging and added more pressure on network personnel to do more with less.
Read more: Fox News subject to defamation law suit over voting machines
