Jesse Watters Primetime

{{Infobox television

| alt_name = Watters World (2015–2022)

| image = Jesse Watters Primetime.png

| image_alt = 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"

| image_size = 250

| genre = Current affairs program

| presenter = Jesse Watters

| country = United States

| location = New York City

| camera = Multi-camera

| runtime = 60 minutes (with commercials)

| num_seasons = 3

| network = Fox News

| first_aired = {{Start date|2015|11|21}}

| last_aired = 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.{{Cite web |title=Jesse Watters Primetime |url=https://www.foxnews.com/shows/jesse-watters-primetime |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}

Format

=Opening and current events segments=

File:Jesse Watters (51774147854) (cropped).jpg

Jesse Watters Primetime comprises an opening segment and several news topics; such topics are presented in a populist format.{{Cite web |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/01/jesse-watters-primetime-fox-populist |title=With Jesse Watters Primetime, Fox Dips Another Toe in the Populist Culture Wars |date=January 28, 2022 |last=Ecarma |first=Caleb |work=Vanity Fair |access-date=June 27, 2023}} The show features guests such as political commentator Clay Travis,{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/business/media/fox-news-dominion-settlement.html |title=Will the Fox-Dominion Settlement Affect Its News Coverage? Don't Count on It. |date=April 22, 2023 |last=Peters |first=Jeremy |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 27, 2023}} Candace Owens,{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/02/02/right-worries-minnie-mouses-pantsuit-will-destroy-our-social-fabric-it-wont/ |title=The right worries Minnie Mouse's pantsuit will destroy our social fabric. It won't. |date=February 2, 2022 |last=Chrisman-Campbell |first=Kimberly |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 27, 2023}} and Dan Bongino.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/08/09/trump-maralago-search-fox-hannity-ingraham/ |title=After Mar-a-Lago search, Fox News, Trump supporters decry 'abuse' of power |date=August 9, 2022 |last=Bella |first=Timothy |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/antiwork-reddit-jesse-watters-fox-news-b2002875.html |title=What everyone's still missing in the antiwork subreddit drama |date=January 28, 2022 |last=Berlatsky |first=Noah |work=The Independent |access-date=June 27, 2023}} In response, Ford was removed as a moderator and r/antiwork shut down for several days.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/anti-work-reddit-abolishwork-fired-b2002606.html |title=Moderator fired from anti-work subreddit after disastrous Fox News interview |date=January 28, 2022 |last1=Flynn |first1=Sheila |last2=O'Connell |first2=Oliver |work=The Independent |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/us/politics/bank-collapse-train-derailment.html |title=The Political Finger-Pointing Behind Bank Collapses and Train Derailments |date=March 14, 2023 |last1=Weisman |first1=Jonathan |last2=Thompson |first2=Stuart |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 27, 2023}}

=Recurring segments=

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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/who-is-jesse-watters-fox-news-host-replaces-tucker-carlsons-8-pm-primetime-broadcast-slot-101687836139765.html |title=Who is Jesse Watters? Fox News host replaces Tucker Carlson's 8 pm primetime broadcast slot |date=June 27, 2023 |last=Sen |first=Sumanti |work=Hindustan Times |access-date=June 27, 2023}} The segment continues an identical segment on The Five.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/11/jesse-watters-the-five-mom-texts/602614/ |title=A Liberal Mom's Critical Texts to Her Son, a Fox News Host |date=November 26, 2019 |last=Pinsker |first=Joe |work=The Atlantic |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Citation |title=Veterans Pete Hegseth and Johnny 'Joey' Jones duel in 'Sink or Swim' | date=May 30, 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCH1B58DHFA |access-date=2023-06-28 |language=en}}{{Better source needed|date=June 2023}} Jesse Watters Primetime continues The O'Reilly Factor{{'}}s "Watters' World" segments with Watters' assistant, Johnny Belisario, conducting man-on-the-street interviews.{{Citation |title=Man on the Street: Do New Yorkers have any idea who Kamala Harris is? #shorts | date=April 4, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbIn1Sm61uM |access-date=2023-06-28 |language=en}}{{Better source needed|date=June 2023}}

Production

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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2022/01/26/jesse-watters-primetime/ |title='Jesse Watters Primetime' heads into the 'ring' with dramatic graphics |date=January 26, 2022 |last=Hill |first=Michael |publisher=NewscastStudio |access-date=June 27, 2023}}

History

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

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".{{Cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2022/01/10/fox-news-names-jesse-watters-primetime-news-hour-anchor/9158432002/ |title=Jesse Watters named host of Fox News' 7 p.m. hour; will continue on 'The Five' |date=January 10, 2022 |last=Jensen |first=Erin |work=USA Today |access-date=June 27, 2023}} "Watters' World" was promoted to a monthly special in November 2015 through the 2016 presidential election,{{Cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2015/11/jesse-watters-world-primetime-specials-fox-news-channel-1201618791/ |title='Watters World' Primetime Specials Set For Fox News Channel Through Election Day |date=November 11, 2015 |work=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=June 27, 2023}} before being promoted to a weekly program in January 2017.{{Cite web |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/312913-jesse-watters-gets-weekly-program-on-fox/ |title=Jesse Watters gets weekly program on Fox |date=January 5, 2017 |last=Concha |first=Joe |work=The Hill |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/jesse-watters-fox-news-channel-7pm-1235150274/ |title=Jesse Watters Will Take Over Fox News' 7 PM Hour |date=January 10, 2022 |last=Steinberg |first=Brian |work=Variety |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-01-18/bartiromo-gowdy-pavlich-fox-news-opinion-show |title=Fox News launches new opinion show with Bartiromo, Gowdy and Pavlich among the hosts |date=January 18, 2021 |last=Battaglio |first=Stephen |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2022/01/jesse-watters-fox-news-7-pm-hour-1234907280/ |title=Jesse Watters Named Permanent Host Of Fox News' 7 PM Hour |date=January 10, 2022 |last=Johnson |first=Ted |work=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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. 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/fox-likely-survive-nine-figure-loss-dominion-analysts-say-rcna79364 |title=Fox could likely survive a nine-figure loss to Dominion, media analysts say |date=April 17, 2023 |last=Cheung |first=Brian |publisher=NBC News |access-date=June 27, 2023}}

=Tucker Carlson's departure (2023–present)=

On April 24, 2023, Fox News announced that Tucker Carlson had "agreed to part ways" with the network.{{Cite news |first1=Jeremy |last1=Barr |first2=Sarah |last2=Ellison |title=Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News after Dominion lawsuit disclosures |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/04/24/tucker-carlson-leaves-fox-news/ |date=April 24, 2023 |access-date=April 24, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Graham |first=David A. |date=April 24, 2023 |title=Tucker's Successor Will Be Worse |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/fox-news-bigger-any-host/673833/ |access-date=April 24, 2023 |work=The Atlantic |language=en}} On June 26, Fox News announced that Watters would take over Carlson's timeslot alongside other changes to the network's programming schedule,{{Cite web |url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/jesse-watters-fox-news-primetime-overhaul-tucker-carlson-1235654502/ |title=Jesse Watters Takes Over Tucker Carlson Timeslot in Fox News Primetime Overhaul |date=June 26, 2023 |last=Steinberg |first=Brian |work=Variety |access-date=June 26, 2023}} following speculation that he would take the timeslot.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/05/01/fox-news-ratings-drop-tucker-carlson/ |title=Fox News is bleeding viewers at 8 p.m. after ousting Tucker Carlson |date=May 1, 2023 |last=Barr |first=Jeremy |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/fox-news-unveils-primetime-lineup-jesse-watters-tucker-100384203 |title=Fox News unveils primetime lineup with Jesse Watters in Tucker Carlson's former time slot |date=June 26, 2023 |publisher=ABC News |access-date=June 27, 2023}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Media Relations {{!}} Fox News |url=https://press.foxnews.com/2024/07/5141 |access-date=2024-07-17 |language=en}}

Reception

{{Missing information|2=anything other than slander and negative attacks|date=May 2024|section}}

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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gavin-newsom-fox-pelosi-jesse-watters-b2215270.html |title=Gavin Newsom blames Fox News for 'creating culture' and 'dehumanisation' that led to Paul Pelosi attack |date=November 1, 2022 |last=O'Connell |first=Oliver |work=The Independent |access-date=June 27, 2023}}

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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/06/26/1184409760/fox-news-jesse-watters-tucker-carlson-ingraham-hannity-gutfeld |title=Post-Tucker Carlson, Fox News hopes Jesse Watters will bring back viewers |date=June 26, 2023 |last=Romo |first=Vanessa |publisher=NPR |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fox-news-jesse-watters-single-women-b2222537.html |title=Women react to Fox News warning that Democrats are trying to 'keep women single' |date=November 10, 2022 |last=Clark |first=Meredith |work=The Independent |access-date=June 27, 2023}} 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".{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/26/fox-news-jesse-watters-replaces-tucker-carlson |title=Jesse Watters to take Tucker Carlson's prime-time slot at Fox News |date=June 26, 2023 |last=Pengelly |first=Martin |work=The Guardian |access-date=June 27, 2023}} Similarly, he posed that homeless people choose to be homeless in a February 2022 episode.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/homeless-fox-news-jesse-watters-b2013477.html |title=Homeless people want to be homeless, says Fox News anchor |date=February 11, 2022 |last=Graziosi |first=Graig |work=The Independent |access-date=June 27, 2023}}

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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fox-news-host-queen-trump-b2163720.html |title=Fox host skewered for claiming the Queen 'never had a better time' than when she met Trump: 'Abject desperation' |date=September 9, 2022 |last=Kilander |first=Gustaf |work=The Independent |access-date=June 27, 2023}}