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Fox Nation boosted by Roseanne Barr special

"Cancel This!" is the comedian's first television stand-up special in nearly two decades.

"Cancel This!" is the comedian's first television stand-up special in nearly two decades.

Fox News Media‘s subscription streaming service Fox Nation grew its viewership this week, fueled in large part by a series of programs featuring comedian Roseanne Barr, including a comeback stand-up special that is exclusive to the service.

The special, “Cancel This!,” was first promoted during Fox’s telecast of the National Football League’s NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles in late January, and is Barr’s first televised stand-up special in nearly two decades.

Fox also promoted the special during its broadcast of Super Bowl LVII this past Sunday, and the commercial spots appeared to help draw significant interest to the program.

A person familiar with the matter said “Cancel This!” grew Fox Nation’s unique viewership and minutes watched by double digits, and had triple the amount of viewership compared to Super Bowl Sunday.

The stand-up special was the most-watched program on Fox Nation for the first full day of its debut, and outpaced Fox Nation’s other topi program, “Yellowstone One-Fifty,” a documentary series hosted by “Yellowstone” actor Kevin Costner. (Except for Costner’s appearance, Yellowstone and Yellowstone One-Fifty are separate, unrelated shows.)

The second most-watched program on Fox Nation this week is “Who is Roseanne Barr?,” part of an ongoing documentary series that takes an in-depth look at celebrities and other notable figures. Another program,  “Roseanne: The Interview,” debuted this week and is an extended version of Sean Hannity’s interview with the comedian from 2018.

Specific viewership data for the three programs was not released.

Fox Nation costs $6 a month or $65 a year, with a two-year subscription offered at the discount price of $100 a year. Based on Fox Corporation’s financial earnings report, The Desk previously estimated Fox Nation to have over 1 million subscribers.

The service primarily offers programming that caters to right-of-center television viewers who fall within the demographic courted by Fox News Media’s news and commentary programs. Replays of popular prime-time programs from the Fox News Channel — including “Hannity” and “Tucker Carlson Tonight” — are offered on the streaming service alongside exclusive programs like “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,” “Canceled in the USA,” “Kelsey Grammer’s Historic Battles for America” and a revival of the docuseries “Cops.”

The Roseanne Barr stand-up special is not the first time Fox Nation has offered programming centered around a celebrity who faced intense scrutiny and consequences over public statements. Last year, the streaming service debuted “Sharon Osbourne: To Hell and Back,” which offered an in-depth, first-hand account of Osbourne’s career, including her time spent on the CBS daytime panel program “The Talk.”

Fox Nation is the only direct-to-consumer streaming service offered domestically by Fox News Media, and one of two in the Fox Corporation portfolio. The other Fox service, Tubi, offers free access to thousands of movies and TV shows, and generates revenue through advertisements.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys covers the business of broadcast and streaming TV, radio broadcasting, social media, technology and telecommunications. A journalist for over 15 years, Matthew previously worked at Thomson Reuters, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTXL in Sacramento and McNaughton Newspapers. He received 9 California Journalism Awards between 2018 and 2020, and is a member of IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors).
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