Fox’s Carlson debuts at No. 1 in O’Reilly’s spot

Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” came in as the No. 1 cable news show during its Monday night debut replacing Bill O’Reilly in the channel’s 8 p.m. weekday slot, according to early Nielsen numbers.

Carlson’s first show in “The O’Reilly Factor” time slot pulled in 3.2 million viewers, including 636,000 in the highly coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic. The preliminary numbers serve as an early indication that Carlson’s show could succeed in the high-profile time slot, although a full account of the ratings will be released later this week.

{mosads}O’Reilly, who previously hosted “The O’Reilly Factor,” was removed from the network last week amid allegations that he sexually harassed female employees of the network.

A New York Times report published earlier this month revealed that O’Reilly and 21st Century Fox, Fox News’s parent company, paid about $13 million to five women who had allegedly been harassed by O’Reilly. 

In the wake of the report, more than 50 advertisers pulled ads from O’Reilly’s show — the top-rated cable news show at the time. After announcing his ouster last week, the channel moved Carlson to the 8 p.m. hour.