Tucker Carlson and longtime friend and business partner Neil Patel are reportedly planning a new media company that will use Twitter as its backbone, according to a new report published today.
Carlson has been largely silent about his greater plans since being fired by Fox News earlier this year, limiting public knowledge about his plans to the “Tucker on Twitter” monologues and interviews he has posted on the platform.
Now, The Wall Street Journal claims individuals with knowledge of the plan said Carlson will once again team with Patel – the two were college roommates and eventually launched The Daily Caller together – to raise “hundreds of millions of dollars” for a new media company that will prioritize Twitter for its distribution:
Users of Twitter and other platforms would still be able to watch free, shorter versions of his show, interviews and documentaries, but would need to subscribe to watch them in their entirety, the people said. The company would eventually add shows from additional hosts, they said.
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Carlson’s team met with a Twitter team in recent weeks to discuss the endeavor, people familiar with the matter said.
Carlson and Patel’s new company would also have its own website and mobile app, and is exploring other homes beyond Twitter for its content as well, some of the people said.
Carlson famously brought his programming to Twitter citing new owner Elon Musk’s claim to be a “free speech absolutist” as a key motivator.
He has repeatedly stressed that he has no deal or contract with Musk or Twitter, and would not accept one if offered. Musk has echoed the statements, saying that Twitter has no direct relationship with Carlson beyond the same type of arrangement available to every other Twitter user.
Carlson’s “Tucker on Twitter” episodes have received hundreds of millions of views, at times eclipsing viewership of Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address, since he began releasing them.
After tens of millions of views, Carlson created a tutorial informing his traditional cable TV viewers how to watch him on the social media platform.
This week Carlson hosted an Iowa presidential event featuring multiple Republican candidates for president. The event did not include former President Donald Trump, who Carlson has repeatedly praised since leaving Fox News.
