Viewership numbers for Fox News in the week following the network's dismissal of its top-rated host, Tucker Carlson, reveal that it was probably the dumbest decision the network has made in quite some time.

According to figures tweeted by former CNN media analyst Brian Stelter -- who himself was fired because nobody watched him -- “Fox News viewership at 8 pm ET: Tucker’s finale: 2.65 million. Monday: 2.59 million. Tuesday: 1.70 million. Wednesday: 1.33 million.”

But wait, says former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in a follow-up tweet, that's not the way to look at it. In fact, taken in proper context, Fox's viewership has tanked even more, and she's calling it a "bloodbath."

“You can’t compare Tucker’s Fri night ratings to this week’s Mon/Tue. (Fridays in prime are where ratings go to die.) Compare his last Mon/Tue to this week’s Mon/Tue. It’s a bloodbath: they lost HALF their audience," she tweeted on Thursday.

In a video segment from her own SiriusXM program the same day, Kelly went on to explain that she has heard from her own network sources that Carlson has not been "fired," but rather simply taken off the air. Megyn Kelly says Tucker Carlson could still be under contract with Fox and has to "negotiate" an exit from the network.

Either way, it seems rather clear that Fox News has made a horrible mistake regarding Carlson, and it's not clear at all, at this point, that the network -- once the cable news ratings king -- will be able to recover. Time will tell.