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‘All Voices Under One Roof’: Cable News Emigres Like Mark Halperin, Megyn Kelly Find Success With Populist Media Model

Broadcast news talent once flocked to work under the umbrella of cable news companies, but now some of the brightest in the industry are surprised themselves.

Co-founders of Daily Callers Tucker Carlson and Megin Kelly are key examples. The Fox News pair is once a star facing the network’s well-paid, head-on with its own independent media equipment.

Carlson’s new venture, The Tucker Carlson Network (TCN), attracts over 1 million subscribers on YouTube. Carlson’s own personal YouTube channel, released shortly after Fox Ouster in 2023, won nearly four times that. (Related: Dan Crenshaw says he’ll lie about it soon)

On her side, Kelly carved out her own internet niche and won millions of viewers on her own broadcast, The Megyn Kelly Show.

Rather than counting plays on podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple, both Carlson and Kelly regularly earn millions of views on YouTube shows alone. Carlson also uploads all episodes to X, where he regularly receives millions of impressions.

As of April 14th, the April 10th episode with Romanian politician Karin Georgek has seen over 3 million impressions of X.

Carlson and Kelly are doing very well, juxtaposed with the evaluation of previous broadcasters.

Fox News dominated the first quarter of 2025, gaining an average of over 3 million primetime viewers per night. According to To adweek. Its liberal competitors were pale in comparison, with CNN and MSNBC combining about half of them.

Fox News improved its first quarter 2024 figures, but the media giant has grown significantly budget than smaller independent operations.

“I think the way to do that is just a relic,” Steve Krakauer, a journalist and media critic who produces The Meggin Kelly Show, told the Daily Caller.

He pointed out the glamour and appeal of legacy broadcast media, contrasting it with the relatively low-cost products of popular podcasts.

“Joe Rogan even called out her daddy and they got to this lovely mix, it feels professional and refined, but it feels new. And I think I’ll go a long way to the sense of intimacy that comes with a new medium,” Krakauer said.

Kelly passed through that intimacy and Polish needle and revelled it Starting her own media networkMK Media, hosts three additional creators.

One such creator is fellow cable news refugee Mark Halperin, a veteran news producer and former political director for ABC News.

Halperin, which was kicked out by NBC in 2017 following sexual harassment allegations, is making waves with its innovative new YouTube talk show.

With financial support, Halperin launched “2way” in October 2024. This platform combines Halperin’s expertise.

The show’s unofficial mantra is “peace, love, understanding.” Repeated by Halperin shows the different paths they take in a media environment that is leaning towards political polarization.

Recognizing that the media is becoming increasingly tribal, Trenine claimed there is a market for “two-way” products.

“What we think is unique and there’s a market, if you can bring people you get along, then we can get into shows that we don’t think about. How do we create a contrasting, viral clip of Scott Jenning? (Related: Bush-era Republicans Grown Growns Grown as Anti-Trankers – Scott Jennings went a different path)

The platform has yet to explode in the ways of Carlson and Kelly, but the “two-way” is steadily growing. The platform currently has nearly 70,000 subscribers on YouTube. Most of the time, it will be available seven months after its hard launch in October. Additionally, they were able to build an engaged user base.

“People are looking for real communities and want to see people talk about politics and government in a way that is not divided.

Halperin is part of the success of the show’s success comes from his willingness to listen to someone else’s point of view.

“No one we don’t wear. When bin Laden was alive, there were people who wanted an interview with Bin Laden and others who didn’t.

“We are centric and we don’t want to give a medium, independent voice, but those voices are welcome, but we embrace the people on the far left and far right, and it’s very different,” he continued.

Halperin’s record retreats his claim. “2way” hosts voices to the right, including former Republican Ohio Gov. Mike Kasicz and the Daily Caller Senior Editor. Amber Dukeleft-wing magicians like current Democratic California Rep. Locanna and former Democrat Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan.

“There are a few platforms that try to become centralists, and clearly there is a platform on the far left, on the far right. All the voices are under one roof,” Halperin said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v = kbvmnhreqw

Following the trends in podcasts, “2way” also appears to have a relatively low production value. The two-day call-in show hosted by Halperin, Spicer and Turrentine features video calls for all three personalities, and often receives questions from guests who are also video calls.

Viewers claimed by Turrentine were conditioned to view low-production value content during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, creators decided that audiences were far more interested in content quality than set design.

“At the end of the day, what people want is to be entertained,” he told the caller.

“In the news business, it’s insight. What do you know? How can you learn about this? How can you get different aspects, how can you think about this? And I think it’s unique that you can bring to the market. (Related: Here’s how Stephen A. Smith will do in the fictional 2028 election against Vice President J.D. Vance)

But on his part, Halperin didn’t want to downplay his efforts to make the show come true.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the curation of our products, video elements, and distractions about stills and graphics,” he said.

“I think it’s quite refined, so I’d like to see the correct soundbite play on our platform rather than the wrong soundbite played on a very smooth produced platform. I think we are excellent enough. I think we’ll make up for that with a really sophisticated curation,” Halperin explained.

Just as Halperin and countless others have shown the success of podcasting platforms, the left is following. Don Lemon, a former CNN star whose network x the same week that Fox cut his connection with Carlson, is extremely active on YouTube and Instagram, posting daily live streams to both platforms.

Even democratic lawmakers are tackling this trend. Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched his own podcast in February as the leftists were trying to find their own Joe Rogan.

Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Besher jumped on the trend, dropping the first episode of his new podcast in early April to a much smaller fanfare than Newsom (3,690 viewers as of April 14th).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d74c34nwewm

Democrats would not be as successful as Republicans and independents were in the new media field, Krakauer assumed.

“They’re not near the biggest names of these levels,” he told the caller.

“THis category is completely broken in the new media field. These are not political shows, but they are. It is now recognized as on the right side, but I think that’s a bit interesting,” Krakauer said.

Krakauer claimed that five years ago it was indicating that some people thought the right-wingers, like Rogan and Comedian Theo von’s, were considered liberals.

“Chuck Todd will start a podcast and try to compete with this?” Krakauer asked jokingly.

“They can do it for 15 years and don’t have as many downloads as Joe Rogan. It’s just there. There’s something about having a real necessary touch with a new medium,” concluded Krakauer. “You know, Jim Acosta doesn’t have any close proximity to Logan or Theo Fon, or frankly, Tucker.”

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