Tucker Carlson, a former top-rated cable TV host, launched his own media network Monday with a promise to “tell the truth about things that matter.”
In the months following Fox News’ cancellation of his prime-time show “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Carlson turned to Twitter—now X—to share interviews and other video content with his millions of followers. Those videos racked up millions of views, vastly exceeding the audience he reached on TV.
With the launch of Tucker Carlson Network, he is offering exclusive content to subscribers at a cost of $72 per year. In addition to continuing his popular interviews, Carlson plans to produce his own commentaries, an “Ask Tucker” series, behind-the-scenes footage, live events, and eventually full-length films and documentaries.
“News coverage in the West has become a tool of repression,” Carlson said in a formal statement Monday. “Reporters no longer reveal essential information to the public; they work to hide it. We plan to tell the truth about things that matter—clearly and without fear.”
Carlson spoke exclusively Monday with SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” about his new venture. He said he lost the entire library of material he had produced upon leaving Fox News, and now hopes to rebuild it.
Carlson’s website currently includes his “Tucker on X” content, which he plans to continue to produce for nonsubscribers. He spoke to Kelly about his experience on the platform:
The X stuff is not going away. I’ve been amazed at what a great platform it’s been. … The number of people that watch just so dwarfs anything that’s happening on linear television. It’s like a different world. … The thing that I really notice is how international it is. It truly is the world’s last, big free speech platform.
Expanding his reach into podcasting, a corresponding audio-only show, “The Tucker Carlson Podcast,” also went live Monday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms.
Carlson teased the new network in a video posted to X on Saturday. He shared another Monday that recounts a series of events that have eroded Americans’ trust in media:
They told you the guys torching Wendy’s in 2020 were ‘mostly peaceful.’ They said that masks worked. They told you the vax was safe. They tried to convince you that Russia blew up its own pipeline. The corporate media lied too much—and it killed them.
Tucker Carlson Network is led by the host’s longtime friend and business partner Neil Patel, who is the company’s CEO in charge of business operations, and Justin Wells, who is president and responsible for programming and content. Patel founded the Daily Caller news site with Carlson in 2010. Wells served as Carlson’s executive producer at Fox News.
“TCN is centered completely around the unique relationship Tucker Carlson has with millions of people,” Patel said in a written statement to The Daily Signal. “At a time when trust in our national institutions, and especially the media, is in a total freefall, we have built an independent digital media platform devoted to telling the truth without fear. If our launch numbers are any indication, this is something people have been waiting for.”
Carlson posted a new, 25-minute interview Monday with musician Kid Rock that featured his network’s new branding, including a red pill as the logo. In the science fiction movie “The Matrix,” the red pill offers individuals the sober reality of life and being an independent thinker.
Days before Fox News canceled Carlson’s show in April, he delivered remarks at The Heritage Foundation’s 50th anniversary celebration. Carlson’s words from that evening are consistent with the mission of his network. He said in April:
The truth is contagious. Lying is, but the truth is as well. And the second you decide to tell the truth about something, you are filled with this, I don’t want to get supernatural on you, but you are filled with this power from somewhere else.
Try it. Tell the truth about something. You feel it every day. The more you tell the truth, the stronger you become. That’s completely real. It’s measurable in the way that you feel.
>>> Read Tucker Carlson’s Speech Delivered After Last Fox News Show
Carlson isn’t the first popular TV host to pursue his own venture. He reportedly is working with the same company, Red Seat Ventures, that supported two other former Fox News hosts, Kelly and Bill O’Reilly, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported that Carlson raised $15 million in seed funding for his new venture with the help of 1789 Capital.
“Tucker has maintained an important connection with the audience on X,” Wells said Monday. “We look forward to continuing that relationship but also providing people with even more video content through Tucker Carlson Network.”
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