Tucker Carlson reportedly looking for investors in digital media venture
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Tucker Carlson is reportedly looking to raise funds to create a media company.
Carlson and Neil Patel, Carlson’s former college roommate and White House adviser, are said to be looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to launch the venture.
A Wall Street Journal report provides additional details about the potential company, which will reportedly continue to use Twitter.
Carlson has been posting “Tucker on Twitter” videos to the social media platform featuring his commentary. The videos initially proved popular but have since been dipping in views.
According to reports, Carlson will continue to use Twitter as a platform for his videos but wants to post additional, longer content behind a paywall that would require a subscription to view.
Carlson was fired from Fox’s conservative commentary channel in April 2023.
He is reportedly looking to work with some of his fellow former Fox staffers.
It’s not clear what investor funds would be used for — though it could include the cost of staffers to help produce content, production equipment and marketing costs.
No additional details, including potential subscription costs or subscriber forecasts, were available.
It remains to be seen if the venture could be impacted by a potential downfall of Twitter.
Elon Musk, who has voiced support for conservative views, bought Twitter in 2022 and took it private. Since then, he has initiated a series of changes that have been heavily criticized, including un-banning certain accounts for spreading false or offensive information, gutting the P.R. team and other extensive layoffs.
Included in those layoffs were key members of the tech team, causing the platform to experience bouts of shaky performance and other issues.
Musk has pushed a move into video content such as Carlson’s.
Twitter, meanwhile, has lost a huge amount of its value. Its revenue, mainly from advertising, is down as advertisers left the service over content and political concerns. Musk has toyed with other ways to make money, including charging for its Twitter Blue service and access to various parts of its API.
Meanwhile, Facebook parent Meta launched a similar service called Threads that racked up record signups since being released in early July 2023.
Given Twitter’s potential instability from a financial and technical standpoint, Carlson’s venture could be a shaky proposal for investors.
The effort appears to be poised to monetize content through selling subscriptions, essentially creating a mini streaming service featuring Carlson. Such a venture could expand to include other personalities.
It’s possible that the free, public videos could also feature advertising or native marketing.
Carlson’s former employer created and launched streamer Fox Nation, which is reportedly profitable. It charges $5.99 a month.
This could be a sign that mostly-conservative viewers are willing to pay a monthly fee for this type of content.
However, there are also signs that the subscription-based streaming market is softening, which could make Carlson’s effort challenging.