By Aditya Soni and Helen Coster
(Reuters) -Tucker Carlson's new subscription-based streaming video service featuring interviews and commentary went live on Monday, priced at $9 per month, as the former Fox News host looks to capitalize on his popularity among conservative viewers.
Access to both free ad-supported and paid video content will be available on The Tucker Carlson Network website, according to a statement. Carlson's non-subscriber video content will continue to be available on X, formerly called Twitter, with audio versions available as a podcast.
Carlson parted ways with Fox News in April, after parent company Fox Corp settled for $787.5 million a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over false claims of election fraud.
Since June, Carlson has been releasing videos on Elon Musk's X social media platform. His interview on Aug. 23 with former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had opted out of a Republican primary debate on Fox News the same night, drew over 74 million views on X, according to statistics on the platform.
Carlson and his team had explored launching the streaming service through X, but the social media company was not able to move quickly enough to build the technology needed for the service, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Neil Patel will be the new venture’s chief executive officer, according to the statement. Patel was chief policy adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney and with Carlson co-founded the conservative Daily Caller news site, of which he remains publisher.
Justin Wells, Carlson’s former executive producer at Fox, will serve as president, overseeing all programming and content.