Tucker Carlson: A Hard Sell for Twitter

Tucker Carlson’s announcement that he is moving to Twitter isn’t getting an enthusiastic reception on Madison Avenue, as many advertisers are already skittish about spending on the Elon Musk-owned social-media platform, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Carlson said Tuesday that he is launching a show on Twitter, just weeks after Fox News canceled his nightly telecast. Carlson was one of Fox’s most popular anchors, but his controversial brand of programming repelled blue-chip advertisers, and he was the target of organized advertiser boycotts.

Several ad buyers said the arrival of Carlson will make it even harder for Twitter—which has faced an exodus of advertisers—to lure brands back.

“Tucker’s transition to Twitter will terrify advertisers,” said Brendan Gahan, chief social officer at digital-ad agency Mekanism. Carlson’s move will “likely further taint Twitter’s image and keep advertisers away,” Mr. Gahan said.

After Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter last year, many advertisers paused their spending out of concern that he might weaken content moderation, or because of the uncertainty surrounding the company’s direction under its new leadership. Advertising represented almost 90% of Twitter’s revenue in 2021, the last full year it publicly reported financial results, before Musk took the company private.

There have been some signs of improvement. In an April interview with the BBC, Musk said many advertisers had returned to the platform or indicated they planned to do so. Among the brands that have resumed spending on Twitter are Oreo maker Mondelez and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, according to the companies.

Many other advertisers have remained on the sidelines, say top ad-buying executives. Companies such as General Motors, United Airlines and Boston Beer say they have kept in place a pause on Twitter spending.

Of the top 100 advertisers on Twitter before Musk bought the company, 37 spent nothing on Twitter advertising during the first quarter of this year, according to market-intelligence firm Sensor Tower, while an additional 24 brands reduced their average monthly Twitter ad spending by 80% or more.

A person close to Twitter said the company is betting that Carlson can help the platform draw and engage a bigger audience. His show might make it harder to persuade advertisers who left Twitter to return, the person said, but he doesn’t expect it to lead to a further exodus.