Will Cain, co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” is the next Fox News host to take a turn subbing in Tucker Carlson’s old 8 p.m. primetime spot, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
Cain is the fourth host to hold down the fort while Fox News searches for a permanent replacement for Carlson, who was booted along with ratings juggernaut “Tucker Carlson Tonight” last month in the wake of Fox’s legal settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Brian Kilmeade was the first in rotation, followed by Lawrence Jones and Kayleigh McEnany (who wrapped her turn this week).
Cain shares “Fox & Friends Weekend” hosting duties with Rachel Campos-Duffy and Pete Hegseth on Saturdays and Sundays from 6 a.m.-10 a.m., and brings a strong sports background as a former ESPN contributor; his Fox News Audio show “The Will Cain Podcast” is a fusion of politics and sports.
On Sundays in particular, “Fox & Friends Weekend” leads the cable-news pack, averaging over a million viewers and outdrawing CNN and MSNBC in the 25-54 demo through the first quarter. Cain normally commutes from his Texas home to do “Fox & Friends Weekend,” though it looks like he’ll be in the Big Apple for all of next week.
Ratings for Fox’ 8 p.m. hour have fallen precipitously since the demise of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which was still hovering around 3 million nightly viewers in its latter days. As Fox rolls out fill-in hosts, the primetime slot has lost roughly half its audience, falling at times behind competitors like MSNBC’s “All in With Chris Hayes.”
But the real test will come with a permanent 8 p.m. host at Fox, which has still easily remained the most-watched network in cable news overall since Carlson’s April 24 exit, and is still the overall 8 p.m. ratings winner in viewers and the 25-54 demographic. So far there’s no indication that the current rotation of substitute hosts constitutes a tryout, and Fox has not commented on the state of its search.
