Last week, Dan Bongino announced on his radio show and podcast that he and Fox could not "come to terms" on a new contract.
“Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel,” Bongino said on his podcast Thursday. “It’s tough. It’s tough to say that. You know, I’ve been there doing hits and working there for ten years…so the show ending was tough.
“And I want you to know it’s not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There’s no acrimony. This wasn’t some WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension,” he added.
“We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors,” Fox News said in a statement. The network intends to air “Lawrence Jones Cross Country” in place of Bongino’s program Saturday night while filling 10 p.m. with an encore of the weekday 11 p.m. program “Gutfeld!” Fox News plans to unveil a new schedule in the coming weeks, Variety reported.
“I really enjoyed myself there and you know they were good to me for ten years. I mean they allowed me to do a show called ‘Unfiltered,’ did what we wanted to do over there and covered the topics we wanted to cover. And it’s a sad day. It’s a sad day,” he said.
“They did give me the opportunity to do one last show. I don’t want you to think they like, showed me the door, that’s on me, not on them. But I just thought it was best to kind of go this way for now. Like I said, it’s not acrimonious. I have a great team over there,” he added.
Bongino said his departure was amicable. But was it? Because on Monday, the network announced that it was parting ways with its biggest and most popular host, Tucker Carlson -- who had not one but three shows on the network (his main program on Fox News and two on Fox's streaming network Fox Nation).
“Carlson’s last program was Friday, April 21st, Fox News said, meaning Carlson did not get a chance to sign off to his viewers. The news comes days after Fox News reached a historic 11th hour settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for over $787 million,” said a scoop from Axios.
“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named,” Fox News said in a statement.
“FOX News Media operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio, FOX News Books, the direct-to-consumer streaming services FOX Nation and FOX News International and the free ad-supported television service FOX Weather. Currently the number one network in all of cable, FNC has also been the most watched television news channel for more than 21 consecutive years, while FBN ranks among the top business channels on cable. Owned by Fox Corporation, FOX News Media reaches nearly 200 million people each month,” the statement added.
BREAKING: Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News. This is the biggest mistake Fox has ever made. I don’t know the reason for the exit but the timing couldn’t be worse for Fox. pic.twitter.com/c04unaFcwT
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 24, 2023
Something is going on with Fox, and it's not going to end well for the network that has literally led the cable news ratings for years.
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