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Jesse Watters Primetime
Gray text "Jesse Watters" in uppercase with closed apertures and bolded atop a black box with white text containing "Primetime" in uppercase, illuminating sun above the I of "primetime"
Also known asFox News Primetime (2021–2022)
GenreCurrent affairs program
Presented byJesse Watters
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons3
Production
Production locationNew York City
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time60 minutes (with commercials)
Original release
NetworkFox News
ReleaseJanuary 24, 2022 (2022-01-24) –
present

Jesse Watters Primetime, known as Fox News Primetime from 2021 until 2022, is an American conservative talk show and current affairs program hosted by The Five co-host and political commentator Jesse Watters. The program airs live weekdays at 8 p.m. ET and has been a part of FNC's lineup since January 24, 2022.[1]

Format

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Opening and current events segments

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Jesse Watters, the eponymous host of Jesse Watters Primetime

Jesse Watters Primetime comprises an opening segment and several news topics; such topics are presented in a populist format.[2]The show features guests such as political commentator Clay Travis,[3] Candace Owens,[4] and Dan Bongino.[5] In one segment, Watters interviewed Doreen Ford, a moderator of the subreddit r/antiwork. Watters repeatedly mocked Ford, creating a publicity crisis for the subreddit.[6] In response, Ford was removed as a moderator and r/antiwork shut down for several days.[7] Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Watters said that the bank was "a woke Biden bank" and that the company held Lesbian Visibility Day and Pride Month seminars.[8]

Recurring segments

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Jesse Watters Primetime features a segment entitled "Mom Texts", in which Watters reads text messages his mother—noted to be a liberal—has sent him.[9] The segment continues an identical segment on The Five.[10] The show closes out the week with a game segment called "Sink or Swim", where two Fox news personalities join the show and take turns answering questions about different headlines throughout the week.[11][better source needed] Jesse Watters Primetime continues The O'Reilly Factor's "Watters' World" segments with Watters' assistant, Johnny Belisario, conducting man-on-the-street interviews.[12][better source needed]

Production

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Jesse Waters Primetime features a design akin to an extreme sports show. The show is taped from Studio M at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The studio features a "video chandelier" with a heavy duty lift system. Watters' desk is positioned in front of the video chandelier; rather than displaying graphics on the screen, graphics are overlaid on top of the screen. An alternative shot uses a video wall.[13]

History

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Watters's involvement at Fox News and Fox News Primetime (2015–2022)

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In 2003, Watters became involved in the production of The O'Reilly Factor. He became known on the program for man-on-the-street interviews in a segment entitled, "Watters' World".[14] "Watters' World" was promoted to a monthly special in November 2015 through the 2016 presidential election,[15] before being promoted to a weekly program in January 2017.[16] In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, Fox News began a shift in its programming, giving greater prominence to opinion shows. In January 2021, Fox News shifted The Story with Martha MacCallum earlier in the day; MacCallum's show was identified as news programming.[17] During the transition, Fox News filled the slot with a rotation of personalities under the Fox News Primetime banner, including Maria Bartiromo, Katie Pavlich, and Trey Gowdy.[18] Watters, a co-host of The Five, was selected to be Fox News Primetime's permanent host in January 2022, forgoing Watters' World for the position.[19] In the show's debut episode on January 24, Watters garnered an average of 3.8 million viewers, beating out Tucker Carlson Tonight. The following day, Watters averaged 3.6 million viewers.[2] By the end of 2022, Jesse Watters Primetime was the third most watched cable news show, behind Tucker Carlson Tonight and The Five, according to Adweek.[20]

Tucker Carlson's departure (2023–present)

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On April 24, 2023, Fox News announced that Tucker Carlson had "agreed to part ways" with the network.[21] Carlson's departure resulted in a downturn in the network's ratings as the timeslot was filled by a rotation of personalities under the Fox News Tonight branding.[22] On June 26, Fox News announced that Watters would take over Carlson's timeslot alongside other changes to the network's programming schedule,[23] following speculation that he would take the timeslot.[24] The Five co-host Greg Gutfeld previously stated to The Wall Street Journal that he would no longer appear on The Five or host Gutfeld! if he were to take Carlson's timeslot.[25]

On July 15, 2024, the show aired its highest rated episode to date, with 5.5 million viewers. This was the program's first episode since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, as well as its first day broadcasting at the 2024 Republican National Convention.[26]

Reception

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California governor Gavin Newsom blamed Watters' comments for the attack on Paul Pelosi. Watters rebuked Newsom by stating that he was responsible for the attack by not deporting the perpetrator David DePape.[27]

Watters's engagement in the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory has attracted controversy. Following the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting, Watters claimed that drag shows were designed to change the mainstream opinion of "sex with children", among other sexual activities.[28] During a November 2022 episode, Watters pointed to a statistic claiming more unmarried women vote Democratic, resulting in controversy from single women, who pointed to an episode of The Five in which he claimed to have flattened his co-worker's tires just to ask her on a date.[29] Speaking about homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area, Watters called homeless people "bags of flesh mutating on the sidewalk" and—in a remark considered Islamophobic—he referred to San Francisco as a "fentanyl caliphate".[30] Similarly, he posed that homeless people choose to be homeless in a February 2022 episode.[31]

Following the death of Elizabeth II, Watters brought up president Joe Biden's comment comparing Elizabeth II to his mother at the 2021 G7 summit and claimed that former president Donald Trump and Elizabeth II "never had a better time". Historian Brooks D. Simpson called Watters' statements "abject desperation"; other figures who criticized him include actress Heather Thomas, senior advisor A. J. Delgado, and author Ellen Hopkins.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "Jesse Watters Primetime". Fox News. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Ecarma, Caleb (January 28, 2022). "With Jesse Watters Primetime, Fox Dips Another Toe in the Populist Culture Wars". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  3. ^ Peters, Jeremy (April 22, 2023). "Will the Fox-Dominion Settlement Affect Its News Coverage? Don't Count on It". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  4. ^ Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly (February 2, 2022). "The right worries Minnie Mouse's pantsuit will destroy our social fabric. It won't". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  5. ^ Bella, Timothy (August 9, 2022). "After Mar-a-Lago search, Fox News, Trump supporters decry 'abuse' of power". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  6. ^ Berlatsky, Noah (January 28, 2022). "What everyone's still missing in the antiwork subreddit drama". The Independent. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  7. ^ Flynn, Sheila; O'Connell, Oliver (January 28, 2022). "Moderator fired from anti-work subreddit after disastrous Fox News interview". The Independent. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  8. ^ Weisman, Jonathan; Thompson, Stuart (March 14, 2023). "The Political Finger-Pointing Behind Bank Collapses and Train Derailments". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  9. ^ Sen, Sumanti (June 27, 2023). "Who is Jesse Watters? Fox News host replaces Tucker Carlson's 8 pm primetime broadcast slot". Hindustan Times. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  10. ^ Pinsker, Joe (November 26, 2019). "A Liberal Mom's Critical Texts to Her Son, a Fox News Host". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  11. ^ Veterans Pete Hegseth and Johnny 'Joey' Jones duel in 'Sink or Swim', May 30, 2023, retrieved June 28, 2023
  12. ^ Man on the Street: Do New Yorkers have any idea who Kamala Harris is? #shorts, April 4, 2022, retrieved June 28, 2023
  13. ^ Hill, Michael (January 26, 2022). "'Jesse Watters Primetime' heads into the 'ring' with dramatic graphics". NewscastStudio. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  14. ^ Jensen, Erin (January 10, 2022). "Jesse Watters named host of Fox News' 7 p.m. hour; will continue on 'The Five'". USA Today. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  15. ^ "'Watters World' Primetime Specials Set For Fox News Channel Through Election Day". Deadline Hollywood. November 11, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  16. ^ Concha, Joe (January 5, 2017). "Jesse Watters gets weekly program on Fox". The Hill. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  17. ^ Steinberg, Brian (January 10, 2022). "Jesse Watters Will Take Over Fox News' 7 PM Hour". Variety. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  18. ^ Battaglio, Stephen (January 18, 2021). "Fox News launches new opinion show with Bartiromo, Gowdy and Pavlich among the hosts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  19. ^ Johnson, Ted (January 10, 2022). "Jesse Watters Named Permanent Host Of Fox News' 7 PM Hour". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  20. ^ Cheung, Brian (April 17, 2023). "Fox could likely survive a nine-figure loss to Dominion, media analysts say". NBC News. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  21. ^ Barr, Jeremy; Ellison, Sarah (April 24, 2023). "Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News after Dominion lawsuit disclosures". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  22. ^ Graham, David A. (April 24, 2023). "Tucker's Successor Will Be Worse". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  23. ^ Steinberg, Brian (June 26, 2023). "Jesse Watters Takes Over Tucker Carlson Timeslot in Fox News Primetime Overhaul". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  24. ^ Barr, Jeremy (May 1, 2023). "Fox News is bleeding viewers at 8 p.m. after ousting Tucker Carlson". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  25. ^ "Fox News unveils primetime lineup with Jesse Watters in Tucker Carlson's former time slot". ABC News. June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  26. ^ "Media Relations | Fox News". Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  27. ^ O'Connell, Oliver (November 1, 2022). "Gavin Newsom blames Fox News for 'creating culture' and 'dehumanisation' that led to Paul Pelosi attack". The Independent. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  28. ^ Romo, Vanessa (June 26, 2023). "Post-Tucker Carlson, Fox News hopes Jesse Watters will bring back viewers". NPR. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  29. ^ Clark, Meredith (November 10, 2022). "Women react to Fox News warning that Democrats are trying to 'keep women single'". The Independent. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  30. ^ Pengelly, Martin (June 26, 2023). "Jesse Watters to take Tucker Carlson's prime-time slot at Fox News". The Guardian. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  31. ^ Graziosi, Graig (February 11, 2022). "Homeless people want to be homeless, says Fox News anchor". The Independent. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  32. ^ Kilander, Gustaf (September 9, 2022). "Fox host skewered for claiming the Queen 'never had a better time' than when she met Trump: 'Abject desperation'". The Independent. Retrieved June 27, 2023.

Further reading

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Preceded by Jesse Watters Primetime
8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. 		Succeeded by
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