Fox’s Brit Hume to Stop Anchoring ‘Special Report’ After Election
Brian Stelter
Brit Hume, the pre-eminent political anchor on the Fox News Channel, intends to step down from his nightly newscast after the presidential election, three people close to him said this week.
Brit Hume on Fox News in March. (Fox)Mr. Hume, 65, has expressed an interest in “reducing his role” but will likely remain with Fox News as a panelist on “Fox News Sunday,” two of the people said. The people requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of his contract negotiations, which are ongoing.
Mr. Hume’s departure from “Special Report” would represent one of the most dramatic changes to Fox’s powerhouse schedule since the channel’s inception nearly 12 years ago.
Mr. Hume did not respond to requests for comment. A Fox News spokeswoman would not discuss contractual talks.
Mr. Hume was the most prominent anchor recruited by Roger Ailes before Fox News debuted in 1996, and he has remained a cornerstone of the network ever since, serving as the baritone voice of Washington news. He anchors election coverage and, as Washington managing editor, helps oversee news coverage in the nation’s capital.
While the other cable news channels have repeatedly tinkered with time slots, Fox’s 6 to 11 p.m. schedule — comprised of Mr. Hume, Shepard Smith, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, and Greta Van Susteren — has remained remarkably stable for most of the decade. The consistency has helped make Fox one of the most popular channels on cable for six straight years.
In the second quarter of 2008, “Special Report” attracted 1.34 million viewers a night, making it Fox’s fourth most popular program. While other Fox shows have tilted toward tabloid-type stories, the 6 p.m. hour of “Special Report” has remained the network’s political show of record, acting as an alternative to the evening newscasts that are broadcast at the same time.
Mr. Hume has been an unbridled supporter of Fox and a believer that the network acts as a counterweight to liberal bias on other networks. At Fox, he has helped shape the coverage of President Clinton’s impeachment, the 2000 election stalemate, and the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Mr. Hume previously spent 23 years as a reporter for ABC News, including eight years as the chief White House correspondent.
Mr. Hume’s future at Fox has been the subject of speculation both inside and outside the network’s Washington bureau for some time. Mr. Hume’s wife Kim, the longtime bureau chief in Washington, left Fox News in 2006.