Tucker Carlson launched his streaming service on Monday, charging users $9 a month for five original shows starring the former Fox News host. Carlson explored launching the subscription service on X, where he’s been hosting a show for several months, but Elon Musk’s platform couldn’t develop the technology quickly enough, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Tucker Carlson Network is the new streaming platform that is home to exclusive all-new content from Tucker Carlson,” said Tucker Carlson’s website. The streaming service claims to be “the sworn enemies of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink,” built to combat traditional journalists who, allegedly, “hate the truth.”
Fox News ousted Tucker Carlson back in April when his unflattering comments about Fox executives and Donald Trump surfaced in a lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. Carlson took his right-wing audience to Elon Musk’s free speech platform X, where an interview with Donald Trump received roughly 15 million views. The chance to host content from television’s top-rated news anchor was a huge opportunity for Musk, but Carlson has chosen to go independent. Some of Carlson’s free content will continue to be available on X.
Tucker Carlson Network creates a universe of right-wing content with Tucker Carlson at its epicenter. “The Tucker Carlson Encounter” is a show with friendly sit-down interviews, though it sounds like a terrifying experience you might have in a Florida parking lot. The long-form show features guests such as Kid Rock, David Portnoy, Alex Jones, Marjorie Taylor Green, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
A Tucker Carlson streaming service on X made all the sense in the world (and simultaneously, none at all) but the platform’s technology proved to be a limiting factor according to the Wall Street Journal’s sources. X increasingly attracts a right-wing audience and Carlson’s clips racked up hundreds of millions of views. Of course, a view on X only means it appeared while someone was scrolling and it’s fairly meaningless. Launching TCN on X would also have brought significant payment revenue to the platform, where Musk is ultimately trying to grow the business. The technological limitations of X could hinder Musk’s vision for an “everything app” that captures shopping, video, payments, podcasts, and whatever his artificial intelligence, Grok, does.
“Tucker Carlson Uncensored” seems to be the new network’s premier show, with the familiar Fox News style spin and analysis that Carlson is famous for. The look of many of the shows feels as if you’re sitting with Carlson in a hunting ranch rather than a TV studio; a much more casual setting to discuss the host’s favorite topics like “woke politics” or the fall of white men.
News-focused streaming services have not historically worked, as CNN+ failed after just one month in 2022. Carlson’s streaming service also features interviews with right-wing stars like Javier Milei, Andrew Tate, and Donald Trump. One episode of “TC Shorts” on the platform features a drive through South Central LA with Ice Cube.
Is this what people want to drop nine bucks a month on? Well, it’s cheaper than X.