Fox News weekends are going to look a lot different soon, and it’s largely thanks to the departure of a beloved host — though perhaps not the one you’re thinking of.
The beleaguered news network has been under intense scrutiny following the unceremonious departure of host Tucker Carlson in April, but buried amid the outrage of that (still unexplained) firing was the fact that conservative firebrand Dan Bongino also took his talents elsewhere around the same time.
The key difference, of course, is that Bongino made it clear that he “definitely was not fired” from Fox News and his separation simply involved two sides being unable to come to a contract extension.
Bongino explained that one of the key issues at the root of those failed negotiations was Fox News wanting him to work Saturdays. Bongino, who has young children, preferred prerecording his Saturday show 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.”
That’s certainly a number of moving parts, but Fox News also appears to be leaving some of its more successful weekend programming untouched.
“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.
Did you stop watching Fox News after Tucker was ousted?
Yes: 77% (1917 Votes)
No: 23% (583 Votes)
Kilmeade’s “One Nation” airs at 8 p.m. on Saturdays while Mark Levin’s show airs at the same time on Sundays.
Notably, Lawrence Jones and his show were tapped to replace Bongino’s, which aired at 9 p.m. on Saturdays.
“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.”
While the weekend shakeup could certainly help bolster ratings on Saturdays and Sundays, it still doesn’t account for the dip in Fox News’ viewership during the other five days of the week.
That’s one place that Carlson’s departure has been most noticeable.
Fox is also grappling with calls to boycott the network in the wake of Carlson’s departure.
Since the departures of Carlson and Bongino, Fox News has found itself trading ratings wins with CNN and MSNBC, two of its rival networks that it had traditionally trounced in the the cable news ratings wars.
