A Fox News comedy show had the last laugh on liberal naysayers this week by debuting with top ratings.
The chatter: At the beginning of the week, the launch of Greg Gutfeld’s new talk show, “Gutfeld!,” was heralded with derision by liberals.
- The Daily Beast slammed “Gutfeld!” as “deeply unfunny” and “bizarre,” while Vulture commented on the show’s set’s “egregiously fake” plants and recommended writers study TikTok for tips on comedic timing.
- On Twitter, left-leaning comedians and commentators took aim, comparing “Gutfeld’s” set design to the comic-strip Garfield and claiming “real” comedians will not be fans.
The results: “Gutfeld!” easily topped time-slot competitors, pulling in 1.68 million viewers compared to the 1.21 million for “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams.”
- “CNN Tonight With Don Lemon” came in at a distant third with 678,000 viewers.
- “Gutfeld!” hit 318,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic, outperforming time slot competitors.
Context: Fox News’ foray into the late-night format comes as the cable ratings giant faces challenges from the right and the mainstream.
- But the center-right outlet has stated unambiguously that it will hold its ideological line.
- Meanwhile, its competitors suffer from steep declines following Donald Trump’s departure from the White House.
