Readers of a certain generation will remember Loose Change—a shoddily produced 2005 documentary that cost $2,000 to make and declared that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks. It was a viral sensation—one of the earliest on the internet—but didn’t make much; its creator gave it away for free online.
Tucker Carlson’s five-part YouTube series, The 9/11 Files, shares much in common with that movie.
It hawks the same sort of conspiracies: “Why did some reporters announce attacks before they happened? How did foreign governments know more than U.S. intelligence? And who profited from airline stock trades right before the attacks? We uncover the strange facts, hidden intelligence, and unanswered questions that demand a new investigation into 9/11,” reads the fourth episode’s synopsis.
And it, too, has garnered an enormous audience, with the series drawing nearly 14.4 million views in just five months.
But unlike Loose Change, Carlson has found a way to capitalize on his conspiracies. A 60-second host read on The Tucker Carlson Show is listed at $45,000, with a minimum commitment of $450,000, according to the website for Red Seat Ventures, which manages Carlson’s business. The cost for every 1,000 ad impressions, or CPM, is $36, and there’s a guaranteed 1.25 million impressions.
