Special Report (TV program)
Special Report with Bret Baier (formerly Special Report with Brit Hume) is an American television news and political commentary program, hosted by Bret Baier since 2009, that airs on Fox News Channel. It is broadcast live each Monday through Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET. The program focuses on both reporting and analysis of the day's events, with a primary focus on national American 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]
Special Report with Bret Baier | |
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Genre | Political news and talk |
Presented by |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Production locations | Washington, D.C. |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | Fox News Channel |
Original release | January 26, 1998 – present |
External links | |
Website |
Format
The program 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 in the program, and after 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 program 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 September 2020, Baier uses Hume's classic "fair, balanced and unafraid" sign-off.
"Fox All-Star" Panel members
- George Will - Washington Post columnist
- Fred Barnes - Editor of the Weekly Standard
- Nina Easton - Washington Bureau Chief for Fortune Magazine
- Stephen F. Hayes - Weekly Standard columnist
- Bill Kristol - Editor of the Weekly Standard
- Mara Liasson - NPR national political correspondent
- Tom Rogan - Washington Examiner columnist
- Judith Miller - Journalist for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
- Kirsten Powers - Democratic political analyst and New York Post/Daily Beast columnist
- Bill Sammon - Fox News' Vice President of News and Washington Managing Editor
- A. B. Stoddard - Associate Editor of The Hill
- Juan Williams - Fox News senior correspondent
- Elliott Abrams - senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
- K. T. McFarland - Fox News national security analyst
- Michael E. O'Hanlon - senior fellow at The Brookings Institution
- Paul Wolfowitz - visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
- Karen Tumulty - Washington Post national political correspondent
- Jonah Goldberg - National Review contributing editor
- Charles Lane - Washington Post Staff Writer
- Lisa Boothe - Washington Times contributor
- Charles Krauthammer - Washington Post political columnist
Program Origins & Changes/Announcements
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.
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.
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]
On January 13, 2020, the show launched new graphics and a new logo.
References
- Fox News pays tribute to Brit Hume on YouTube
- Respectfully, Hume Torch Is Passed - washingtonpost.com
- Bret Baier to be Named Host of "Special Report" TVNewser. Retrieved on December 23, 2008. Archived January 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Taxes, reform, protests and…freedom - FoxNews.com
- Fox News' Audience Doubles Down on MSNBC, CNN in August Multichannel. Retrieved on September 23,2012.
External links
- Official website
- The Daily Bret on FoxNews.com
- About Special Report with Bret Baier on FoxNews.com
- Special Report with Bret Baier at IMDb
- Fox News Live Stream
Preceded by The Five |
Fox News Channel Weekday lineup 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM |
Succeeded by The Story with Martha MacCallum |