Tucker Carlson’s Media Company Signs 1st Advertising Deal With ‘Anti-Woke’ Marketplace App

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 15, 2023. Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

Former Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson’s new media venture has made a key breakthrough by signing its first advertising partnership deal with a conservative-friendly shopping app, according to company executives.

Mr. Carlson’s digital media company, Last Country Inc., has inked a partnership deal with Public Square, also known as PublicSq., according to an Oct. 24 joint announcement by the two companies.

“We are proud to announce that our new media venture will be partnering with PublicSq. as our first advertiser,” Last Country CEO Neil Patel said in a statement.

The two companies will work together to create content that highlights the unique mission of PublicSq., according to the announcement.

Often described as “anti-woke,” Public Square bills itself as the largest “traditional-values-driven marketplace in the country,” with more than 70,000 businesses on the platform and roughly 1.6 million consumer members.

“PublicSq. is thrilled to collaborate with Last Country, Inc. as we build an ecosystem of alternatives to the existing commerce and media incumbents,” Public Square CEO Michael Seifert said in a statement.

“This partnership is the first of its kind, and we believe it will significantly outpace our return on investment than that from traditional advertising.”

The agreement includes collaborative content segments that will air on Tucker Carlson’s show on X and, when it launches, Last Country’s own platform.

The content partnership will launch in November and will initially last for one year.

While other terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, CNBC cited Mr. Seifert as saying the deal is worth at least $1 million.

“We can’t wait to be a part of the new media landscape being created by Tucker while building a patriotic economy,” Mr. Seifert said in a post on X. “Onward and upward.”

Rumors of a deal between Public Square and Mr. Carlson’s show on X go back to July, when Public Square first went public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Comedian Roseanne Barr, who recently launched a new show on X and counts Public Square among her advertising partners, praised their business relationship in a message on social media.

“We have really enjoyed our partnership so far with @officialpsq,” she wrote on X. “@tuckercarlson will make a great partner for them as well!”

Last Country Inc. Launches

Earlier this year, Mr. Carlson was ousted from Fox News, where he was the host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” one of cable’s most popular programs.

His program was the second-most-watched cable news program in 2022, drawing an average of 3.3 million viewers per night.

After his ouster, he began posting free video content on X. His first episode, released on June 6, has garnered 121.5 million views, with subsequent episodes routinely drawing tens of millions of views.

For some of his episodes—such as his presidential debate night interview with former President Donald Trump—views have run into the hundreds of millions.

An illustration photo of Tucker Carlson's interview with former U.S. President Donald Trump that aired on X (formerly Twitter) on the same night of the first Republican Presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, as seen on a smartphone ahead of the debate on Aug. 23, 2023. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

As Mr. Carlson’s content took off on X, reports emerged in July that he had teamed up with Mr. Patel to raise funds for a new media company—later revealed to be called Last Country Inc.—with speculation that the business model would be driven by subscriptions.

Mr. Carlson and Mr. Patel are no strangers to joint business ventures. In 2010, the two jointly founded The Daily Caller, although Mr. Carlson later sold his stake in the media venture about 10 years later, according to reports.

Seed Funding Secured

More recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that Last Country made its first major funding breakthrough with a $15 million investment by 1789 Capital.

The outlet reported that the goal of the initial investment round was to get Mr. Carlson and Mr. Patel’s media company to a point where they could show a proof of concept for their business model—and open the door to further funding rounds.

The investing company—1789 Capital—was co-founded by Chris Buskirk and Omeed Malik, who told the Journal that their venture capital firm seeks opportunities in several areas, including in what they said was a “parallel economy” in which companies such as Last Country use existing business models to reach conservative-leaning audiences.

Another area of focus for 1789 Capital is investing in companies that are bringing jobs back to the United States as part of the broader trend of deglobalization and reordering of supply chains.

The third is what Mr. Malik described as capital-seeking companies left out in the cold because of politicized investment decisions by the collective “ESG cult.”

ESG refers to the “environmental, social, and governance” framework that started as soft guidelines but which some experts say has turned into heavy-handed mandates that push controversial “social justice” ideologies and refuse to invest in startups that don’t toe the “woke” line.

A near-obsession by some ESG advocates to put left-leaning ideologies ahead of business imperatives in investment decisions is presumably what Mr. Malik meant by calling the movement a “cult.”

“What we are focused on is opportunities that we think have developed in the market because other forms of institutional capital have become politicized,” Mr. Buskirk told the Journal.

He said he believes that 1789 Capital could benefit from the broader backlash against woke companies pushing leftist agendas, such as the Bud Light boycott driven by the beer brand’s marketing partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

“Where’s the money going to go?” Mr. Malik said. “I want us to be the beneficiary of it.”