Dan Bongino, Trey Gowdy Debut During Busy TV Weekend

PublishedJune 8, 2021 3:59 PM EDT|UpdatedJune 8, 2021 3:59 PM EDT

After President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office, I explained in a column that while there was a lengthy list of cable news losers, there were select individual personalities who had benefitted from the change in political leadership. With Donald Trump gone, there is more separation between the stars and the pack.

Dan Bongino and Trey Gowdy are among the hosts who I predict will join Tucker Carlson, Rachel Maddow, and Bill Maher as the early post-Trump winners. Over this weekend, both Bongino and Gowdy launched new weekly Fox News programs.

Bongino's Unfiltered led the weekend in cable news, with wins in both total viewership (1.8 million) and the 25-54 demographic (307,000). The key number to watch is the 25-54 demo. As with his new radio show, Bongino has the opportunity to draw a younger TV audience because of his reach on social media.

Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy debuted to 1.3 million. I was particularly interested to see Gowdy's format.

When previewing the show, Gowdy told OutKick he plans to approach the program as if it's a courtroom trial. He said:

I look at live TV like the courtroom. You have interesting witnesses. They’re called guests on television, not witnesses, but you ask them different questions. Then you let the jury — in this case, the audience — make up its mind. So, I think the new show got a start there, at 7 pm.

I ask questions for a living. That’s what I’ve always done. That’s what I did before I got to Congress. That’s what I do now. That’s what I wrote my last book on. That’s what I will do on Sunday nights.

Here’s the most important thing: to hear other sides besides my own. I can’t think of a single issue for which there are not at least two sides. Oftentimes, there are six sides. I’m welcome to mine, and you are welcome to yours. We are better as a country if we understand where other folks are coming from.

Other numbers from the weekend are still trickling in, which include the NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, and Belmont Stakes. Eyes now turn to the PPV sales for Floyd Mayweather's (sort of) win over Logan Paul.