Soon, weekends on Fox News will appear drastically different, primarily due to the departure of an adored host — but perhaps not the one you’re thinking of.
The beleaguered news network has been under intense scrutiny since the unceremonious departure of host Tucker Carlson in April, but the fact that conservative firebrand Dan Bongino took his talents elsewhere around the same time has been largely overlooked.
Bongino made it plain that he “definitely was not fired” from Fox News, and that his separation was due to the inability of the two parties to agree on a contract extension.
Bongino explained that Fox News’ demand that he work on Saturdays was a major factor in the failure of those negotiations. The preference of Bongino, who has small children, was to record his Saturday program on Friday.
Now? The quasi-departure of ‘The Next Revolution‘ host Steve Hilton appears to have finally triggered some big changes to Fox News’ weekend lineup.
“FOX News Channel (FNC) will debut a new weekend primetime lineup beginning Saturday, June 3, announced Megan Albano, Senior Vice President of ‘The Five’ & Weekend Programming,” the June 1 media release said.
Specifically: “‘The Big Saturday/Sunday Show’ will become ‘The Big Weekend Show,’ airing at 7 PM/ET on Saturdays and Sundays while ‘FOX News Saturday Night’ will premiere at 10 PM/ET. Additionally, ‘The Next Revolution’ will end its 9 PM/ET Sunday run, as Steve Hilton steps back from hosting a weekly show to focus on his new California non-partisan policy organization launching next week. Hilton will remain a contributor across all FOX News Media platforms while Trey Gowdy’s ‘Sunday Night in America’ will move to 9PM/ET.”
Fox News appears to be preserving some of its most successful weekend programming, despite the fact that there are a number of moving elements involved.
“One Nation,” which features Brian Kilmeade of “Fox & Friends” fame, “Lawrence Jones Cross Country,” and “Life, Liberty and Levin” will stay where they currently are.
Kilmeade’s “One Nation” airs on Saturdays at 8 p.m., while Mark Levin’s program airs on Sundays at the same time.
Notably, Lawrence Jones’s program was chosen to replace Bongino’s, which broadcast on Saturdays at 9 p.m.
“We are excited to launch a new dynamic weekend line-up that will further solidify our position as the number one cable news network for more than two decades,” Albano said in the release. “We thank Steve Hilton for his show’s contributions and look forward to continuing to feature his valuable insights across our daytime and prime-time programming.”
The release noted that Hilton is stepping back “to focus on his new California non-partisan policy organization.”
Although the weekend reorganization could help boost ratings on Saturdays and Sundays, it does not explain the decline in Fox News’ viewership on the other five days of the week.
This is one location where Carlson’s absence has been most noticeable.
Fox is also facing demands to boycott the network following Carlson’s departure.
Since the departures of Carlson and Bongino, Fox News has traded victories in the cable news ratings battles with CNN and MSNBC, two of its rival networks that it had previously dominated.