Politico reports the lawyers, Nancy Erika Smith and Martin Hyman, pushed back on Ailes' statement on Wednesday evening responding to Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit. Ailes called the suit "defamatory" and said it was filed in retaliation for ending her contract due to low ratings.
"Gretchen Carlson's allegations are false,” Ailes said in the Wednesday statement released through Fox News Channel. “This is a retaliatory suit for the network’s decision not to renew her contract, which was due to the fact that her disappointingly low ratings were dragging down the afternoon lineup."
According to Politico, the numbers cited by Carlson's lawyers in this case appear to be household ratings, not the total viewer or demo viewer numbers typically used by cable news channels. In the most recent quarter, the 2 p.m. hour in which Carlson hosted was Fox News' lowest rated dayside hour in that core adults 25-54 demo.
In June, “CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin” won more viewers in adults 25-54 than Fox News (CNN’s 190,000 to Fox’s 186,000). Carlson’s show did notch a 25% year-to-year gain compared to a 26% lift for Baldwin. Baldwin’s 2 p.m. hour almost beat Carlson’s in the demo for the second quarter as well, according to Nielsen.
Since Carlson’s departure last month, Fox News has filled “Real Story” with rotating hosts.
Carlson filed the lawsuit in New Jersey Superior court, alleging among other things, that Ailes had explicitly asked for a sexual relationship and that he had made other inappropriate comments to her over the past several years. The complaint included direct quotes, leading some to speculate as to whether the comments were on tape.
No comments:
Post a Comment