Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News, and now another conservative news outlet, Newsmax, wants him to be more than just the face of the network, and it's putting on a full-court press to land him.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the news channel is doing everything it can to sweeten the deal for Tucker to come on board -- including floating the idea of letting him program the whole channel, not just his own show.
That would be a pretty enticing deal point ... in addition to having his own primetime show, Tucker would have a say over what shows lead into and out of his show, which can be key in achieving bigger TV ratings.
While our sources stress Newsmax hasn't formally offered Tucker a job -- he can't have formal discussions due to his current Fox News contract -- we're told the network execs have made it clear to people around him, they would basically give him a big say in rebranding their channel.
Newsmax has some competition for Tucker ... as we first reported, NewsNation is showing early interest as well.
Our sources acknowledge it's too early to know for sure where Tucker will pop up next, and it might not even be at a TV network ... but we're told whatever he does, it's going to be big, disruptive, and will create a seismic shift in the conservative media landscape.
In the meantime, we're told he's cheerful following his Fox News firing ... and he's not dwelling on what he lost, but instead moving forward and hoping FNC does the same.