‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ scores big on first night

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Fox’s latest new program, “Jesse Watters Primetime,” raked in 3.8 million viewers on its debut Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 — making it one of the most watched shows that day.

It easily beat its two 7 p.m. eastern competitors — “The ReidOut” on MSNBC (1.2 million viewers) and “Erin Burnett OutFront” on CNN (700,000).

At 3.8 million, “Watters” managed to beat the network’s top rated “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” though Carlson was first in the adults 25-54 demo.

The show is hosted by Jesse Watters, who is also a co-host of “The Five,” which was the only Fox show that day with more viewers. He previously hosted “Watters’ World” on weekends.

The show doubled viewership year over year.

Like with all new shows, ratings are typically very high for the first weeks as viewers tune in to see what’s new — but the numbers often drop off significantly before flattening out once the hype dies down.

The 7 p.m. hour opened up Jan. 18, 2021, when the network announced a series of schedule changes. The network effectively canceled “Bill Hemmer Reports,” moving him to “America’s Newsroom,” at 3 p.m. eastern to make way for “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” but left the 7 p.m. hour filled with a generic “Primetime” branded show that featured a rotating cast of hosts, including Watters.

Watters was named to the spot permanently earlier in 2022.