Over the course of the hour, there were no commercials, nor were there commercials in Sean Hannity’s hour that began at 9 p.m. No reason was given for this, although Carlson did mention that unusual pattern toward the end of his show. Why not air commercials? Well, one reason would be to keep people glued to Fox News — and therefore not changing the channel to a network that was showing the hearing.
For much of the show, the hearing was shown on-screen as Carlson and his guests spoke over it. Often, the view was not of the committee members, witnesses or the video display at the front of the hearing room. Instead it was often a shot of the audience. One NBC News producer went back after the fact and synced Carlson’s show with what was being shown in the hearing room. During footage showing rioters breaking into the Capitol, Fox switched to the camera showing the audience. When the hearing showed information that didn’t need sound, Fox more than once cut away from it.
Not having commercials meant having more guests. And what a lineup! A who’s who of the Carlsonverse. The Federalist’s Sean Davis. Former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Fox News’s favorite Democrat. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the Conservative Political Action Coalition, recently back from Hungary. Michael Tracey. And, at the end of the hour, Darren Beattie — the guy booted from the Trump administration who wrote that first Ray Epps story.
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