According to a report by The New York Times, Fox News and host Tucker Carlson look at minute-by-minute ratings to see if there is an appetite among its audience for talking points embraced by white nationalists.
The Times published a three-part series about Carlson, the highest-rated pundit on cable TV.
Three former Fox employees told the Times that Carlson relied on ratings data. The data is more expensive than other cable newsrooms, but it provides feedback down to the minute on what leads viewers to change the channel or stick around.
Carlson's stories about immigration or warnings of demographic change in the US were a hit.
Another former Fox employee who worked with Carlson told the Times that Carlson was going to double down on white nationalism because of the minute-by-minutes show.
The outlet reported that Fox increasingly focused on minute-by-minute ratings, which showed segments that featured Fox reporters or stories considered unfavorable to Trump were not interesting to viewers.
A former Fox employee told the Times that the network is obsessed with minute-by-minute broadcasts.
In a statement shared with Insider, Justin Wells, a senior executive producer for Carlson's show, said: "Tucker Carlson programming embraces diversity of thought and presents various points of view in an industry where contrarian thought and the search for truth are often ignored."
A Fox spokesman said that they couldn't be prouder of their entire team, whose commitment to excellence in journalism and opinion has led FOX News Media to all-time ratings records and delivered the best in class to our viewers.
The writer of the series on Carlson, Nicholas Confessore, is also a contributor at MSNBC, the Times disclosed.
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