Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former White House adviser Neil Patel are reportedly in the process of raising funds to establish a new media company, potentially using Twitter as its backbone.
What Happened: The new venture, as WSJ reports, is expected to be anchored by extended versions of the free videos that Carlson has been posting on Twitter since his departure from Fox News.
The company aims to be driven by subscriptions, with plans to add shows from additional hosts in the future. The company is also exploring other platforms beyond Twitter for its content.
Carlson and Patel, who were roommates at Trinity College and co-founders of the conservative Daily Caller news site, are seeking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for this venture, according to WSJ. They are said to have already lined up financiers, lawyers, and media strategists to work on the new company.
See Also: Is A Tucker Carlson Fueled Conspiracy Theory Fox’s Next Legal Headache?
Why It Matters: This move comes after Carlson’s departure from Fox News in April, amid a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, as reported by Benzinga.
The new media venture could see Carlson compete for audience more directly with other news personalities on platforms like YouTube and Rumble, as well as TV networks such as Fox News and Newsmax, WSJ noted.
The potential partnership with Twitter could serve as a test case for the social media network’s video ambitions under Elon Musk, who has expressed his desire for Twitter to be a haven of free speech.
This development could also complicate Twitter’s efforts to rebuild relationships with advertisers, many of which pulled back from the platform after Musk’s acquisition in October.
Carlson’s team is wary of relying on YouTube for distribution due to concerns about potential censorship, according to the Journal. They have also discussed the possibility of having a set of big brands sponsor Carlson’s show.
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