Brit Hume took over Fox News’ “On the Record” Tuesday night following Greta Van Susteren’s surprise decision to leave the network, and ratings went up by double digits across the board.
If viewers were tuning in to see whether Hume would address the Van Susteren situation, they were in luck as 2.4 million people tuned in to hear the veteran broadcaster tell viewers, “I count Greta a friend and I’m sorry to see her go.”
It’s clearly not an apples-to-apples comparison, and it’s also only one episode, but viewers don’t exactly seem turned off by Hume. Tuesday’s “On the Record” averaged 429,000 in the key demo of adults age 25-54, up 83 percent compared to the same day last year. The show also grew 38 percent in total viewers in the same period.
Hume dominated his cable news competition on Tuesday, as CNN’s “Outfront with Erin Burnett” averaged only 828,000 total viewers and 249,000 in the demo and MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” drew 1.17 million viewers and 268,000 in the demo at 7 p.m. ET.
That time slot for Fox News was up 20 percent in viewers and 30 percent in the demo on Tuesday compared with 2016 to date.
Van Susteren wrote a Facebook post on Tuesday explaining that the network “has not felt like home to me for a few years,” and saying she wants to continue her broadcasting career.
“On Thursday night, I made my decision and informed Fox News of my decision that I was leaving Fox News Channel per my contract,” Van Susteren wrote.
The former “On the Record” host added, “I took advantage of the clause in my contract which allows me to leave now. The clause had a time limitation, meaning I could not wait.”