Special Report (Fox News program)

Special Report with Bret Baier
Genre Political news/talk program
Presented by Bret Baier (2009-present)
Brit Hume (1998-2008)
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Location(s) Washington, D.C.
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 60 minutes
Release
Original network Fox News Channel
Picture format 480i NTSC
720p (HDTV)
Original release January 26, 1998 – present
Chronology
Preceded by Fox News Live
External links
Website

Special Report with Bret Baier (formerly Special Report with Brit Hume) is an American television news and political commentary program appearing on Fox News Channel, currently hosted by Bret Baier. It airs live each Monday through Friday at 6:00pm ET. The show focuses on both reporting and analysis of the day's events, with a primary focus on national political news. The show has been a part of the Fox News program lineup since 1998 and is the number one cable news broadcast in its time slot.[1]

Brit Hume hosted the show from its debut in 1996 until his retirement in December 2008. He has since appeared on the program as a panelist commentator.

Origins and history

The show originated in 1996 and was originally hosted by Brit Hume, who was, at the time, Washington, D.C. managing editor for the network. Hume hosted the program through December 23, 2008, when he hosted his final show before officially stepping down as anchor. The last fifteen minutes of Hume's final program served as a tribute to Hume, including kind words from former President George H.W. Bush, then-President George W. Bush, then-Vice President Dick Cheney, and then-ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, as well as several Fox News reporters, and allowed him some final thoughts. Hume announced Bret Baier, who substituted for Hume on Fridays beginning in fall 2007,[2] would become the full-time host after the holidays,[3] while Hume moved to a new role as senior political analyst for the network. Chris Wallace and Shannon Bream are occasional substitute anchors.

On June 15, 2009, the show launched in high definition with new music and graphics.[4]

From its inception, Special Report has broadcast live from the network's Capitol Hill studio in Washington. However, on some occasions, such as the night of a significant election, the program will broadcast from the network's New York studios.

The program is among the top five of all ad-supported news shows on cable, and draws more than two million viewers per evening.[5]

Format

The show reports on the day's events, usually focusing on political stories out of the nation's capitol, particularly on the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court.

A typical show begins with news stories featuring various Fox News correspondents, followed by an interview conducted by Baier with political newsmakers or pundits. After the halfway point of the show (and a short break for current headlines), Baier presents a segment referred to as "the Political Grapevine" — a collection of short items, sometimes humorous, about minor political happenings. Baier sometimes uses this segment to point out oddities in coverage of a story by competing news media. (In the early days of the Iraq War, this segment was referred to by Brit Hume as "the Wartime Grapevine.")

The best-known part of Special Report is Baier's discussion with "The Fox All-Stars", a two-segment roundtable with a panel of three political reporters and columnists.

The show ends with a comedic clip, known as "the kicker", usually taken from the preceding night's shows by David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, or sometimes Saturday Night Live. Brit Hume would usually sign off with, "That's Special Report for this time, please tune us in next time, and in the meantime, more news is on the way — fair, balanced and unafraid." When Bret Baier became host, he signed off with, "Your source for news, tonight and every night,"[2] which he later changed to, "Straightforward news in uncertain times." As of January 2010, Baier uses Hume's classic "fair, balanced and unafraid" sign-off.

"Fox All-Star" Panel members

References

Preceded by
The Five
Fox News Channel Weekday lineup
6:00 PM 7:00 PM
Succeeded by
On the Record
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