RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday, January 23rd, Luciano Huck had his moment of prominence at the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland. According to Folha de S. Paulo, he spoke on the panel concerning the street protests in Latin America.
He was referred to as “the next president of Brazil” by YouTuber Raiam Santos and by the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra.
The host of the television variety show ‘Caldeirão’ has not yet confirmed his pre-candidacy to the 2022 presidential elections, but has increased his involvement in political events and continues giving speeches that befiit those with political ambitions.
In Davos, he mentioned social assistance cases featured in his show to stress the need to fight inequality.
Luciano Huck’s likely turn to political life is a source of both expectation and apprehension at the Globo Group. There are concerns that the network will be accused of being behind his potential candidacy.
The Marinho family (which owns Globo) intends to reiterate its neutrality and impartiality. It will not officially support a presidential candidate, as TV stations in various countries do, such as the United States.
The host’s potential departure would hurt Globo. Huck’s ‘Caldeirão’ show enjoys isolated leadership in IBOPE (Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics) viewership and generates one of the highest returns among the network’s weekly shows. Finding a replacement would not be feasible.
The network would need to find a new show format for the schedule and assign an equally charismatic host to prevent a significant drop in audience.