{"id":3204,"date":"2023-07-11T22:08:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T22:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/?p=3204"},"modified":"2023-07-11T22:08:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T22:08:54","slug":"just-in-fox-news-stock-downgraded-as-post-tucker-slide-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/11\/just-in-fox-news-stock-downgraded-as-post-tucker-slide-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"JUST IN: Fox News Stock Downgraded As Post-Tucker Slide Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fox Corporation\u2019s stock has been downgraded by Wells Fargo from Equal Weight to Underweight. This decision comes in the wake of a noticeable decline in Fox News viewership, particularly following the departure of popular host\u00a0Tucker Carlson<\/a>\u00a0in April.<\/p>\n

Analyst Steve Cahall\u00a0cited<\/a>\u00a0\u201cecosystem risks\u201d surrounding Fox News as a key factor in the downgrade.<\/p>\n

\u201cFox\u2019s earnings are mostly Fox News earnings, and Fox News is facing viewership and share pressures,\u201d Cahall noted. He also highlighted the impact of escalating cord-cutting trends and programming challenges on the network\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

A stock rated as \u201cunderweight\u201d means that the financial analyst or investor believes the stock should make up a smaller percentage of a diversified portfolio compared to its current representation in the market or in the benchmark index.<\/p>\n

The departure of Tucker Carlson, who hosted the 8 p.m. slot, has had a significant impact on the network\u2019s ratings. The network\u2019s viewership during this hour has reportedly dropped from a three million viewer average to a 1.65 million viewer average since Carlson\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 viewership numbers were down 19% from January to June compared to the same period two years ago. The network\u2019s share of cable news primetime viewership, which was 52% for 2020-22, slid to a low of 38% in June \u201923 post-Tucker Carlson. Furthermore, Fox News\u2019 share of conservative news viewers has fallen from 94% to 84%.<\/p>\n

Following Carlson\u2019s release, Fox Corporation\u2019s stock has experienced a\u00a0sharp decline<\/a>\u00a0since April, dropping as much as 5 percent, which resulted in a loss of nearly a billion dollars in market value.<\/p>\n

Aside from the changes in Fox News\u2019 primetime slot, Cahall also warned of overarching media industry hurdles that could further impact Fox\u2019s bottom line. He noted that while TV has better top-line growth compared to direct-to-consumer channels, there is less ability to reduce costs, which threatens long-term growth.<\/p>\n

In response to these challenges, Fox News announced a new primetime lineup last month, set to go into effect on July 17. Jesse Watters will take over Carlson\u2019s coveted 8 p.m. slot, while Laura Ingraham and Greg Gutfeld will move to the 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. slots respectively. Sean Hannity will remain at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

Cahall also pointed out that Fox gets approximately 50% of its estimated revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 from US affiliate fees, which is among the highest in the media coverage universe. He estimated a 7-8% cord cutting, with a downside bias.<\/p>\n

The future of Fox News remains uncertain. While the new lineup could potentially drive a rebound, Cahall believes that Fox News is a \u201cShow Me\u201d viewership story.<\/p>\n

The decision to part ways with Carlson had come less than a week after Fox Corporation and Dominion Voting Systems had reached a $787 million settlement in April. This settlement had followed the revelation of private text messages from Fox hosts, including Carlson, criticizing Fox News management. Carlson\u2019s departure had caused shock and surprise among viewers and industry observers, as he was one of the network\u2019s most popular hosts, known for consistently high ratings on his cable news show.<\/p>\n

Former President Donald Trump, a frequent guest on Carlson\u2019s show, stated that Carlson was a \u201cvery good person\u201d and \u201cvery talented.\u201d Trump also posted on Truth Social, a social media platform he recently launched, lamenting Carlson\u2019s departure as a \u201cbig blow to cable news and to America.\u201d He described Carlson as \u201cinsightful, interesting, and ratings gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was rumored that the decision to remove Carlson from Fox News\u2019 lineup had come directly from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of Fox Corp., further adding to the intrigue surrounding the unexpected departure of the top-rated host, who seems to be enjoying the last laugh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fox Corporation\u2019s stock has been downgraded by Wells Fargo from Equal Weight to Underweight. This decision comes in the wake of a noticeable decline in Fox News viewership, particularly following the departure of popular host\u00a0Tucker Carlson\u00a0in April. Analyst Steve Cahall\u00a0cited\u00a0\u201cecosystem risks\u201d surrounding Fox News as a key factor in the downgrade. \u201cFox\u2019s earnings are mostly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-daily-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3205,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions\/3205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}