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Not to be confused with Fox and His Friends.
Fox & Friends
Genre Talk program / National News
Presented by Weekdays
Steve Doocy
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Brian Kilmeade
Weekends
Tucker Carlson
Anna Kooiman
Clayton Morris
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 15
Production
Location(s) New York City
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 180 minutes
Release
Original channel Fox News Channel
Picture format 720p (16:9 HDTV)
Original release February 1, 1998 – present
External links
Website

Fox & Friends is a conservative[1][2][3][4] American early-morning news and opinion talk show on the Fox News Channel. It begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the latest Fox News Live headlines and news of the morning and continues with a variety of segments including current events, interviews, updates of news stories with correspondents, right-leaning analysis from the hosts, and entertainment segments.[5][6]

History[edit]

Fox & Friends evolved from Fox X-press, Fox News Channel's original morning news program.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, an additional hour was added to the beginning of the weekday show, but branded as a separate show called Fox & Friends First. It was the first Fox News show to air live for the day, starting at 6:00 a.m. It was discontinued on July 13, 2008 and replaced with an additional hour of Fox & Friends[7] The Fox & Friends First title was reintroduced on March 5, 2012, also as a separate show airing one hour before the main three-hour program, but using a separate slate of rotating anchors.[8]

Characteristics of the show[edit]

At the top and bottom of each hour, the show highlights current 'Breaking News' after which a meteorologist in 'The Weather Center' reviews the national weather forecasts. If there are extraordinary conditions to be discussed, they refer to it as 'The Extreme Weather Center'. The show features a casual format with the hosts and guests typically sitting on the set's 'curvy couch.'[9]

After the show has ended for the day, a short online-only web show named After The Show Show which features behind-the-scenes footage not shown on air, is streamed on the Fox News website. It lasts from less than 3 minutes to 10 minutes.[10]

Recurring segments[edit]

  • The 'Summer Concert Series' features a live music concert in the Fox News Channel Plaza each Friday from Memorial Day weekend though Labor Day weekend.[11][12]
  • 'Normal or Nuts' is a segment in which psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow answers viewer questions posed via Facebook or Twitter.[13][9]
  • On 'Rebuildiing Dreams', real estate attorney Bob Massey offers non-legal advice on buying, selling, listing and pitfalls related to real estate transactions.[9]
  • 'So Sue Me' is a segment in which Peter Johnson, Jr. (an appellate and trial lawyer) offers his perspective on current events with legal implications.[9]

Ratings[edit]

The New York Times has reported the show is one of the most successful on the network.[14] After the arrival of Elizabeth Hasselbeck in September 2013, the show climbed 23 percent in total viewers compared to its average for the third quarter of 2013, and 22 percent in the key 25-54 news demo. For Hasselbeck’s first four weeks on the show, “Fox & Friends” averaged 1.226 million total viewers, up from the 1.058 that the show averaged for the third quarter of the year.[15][16] In comparison, morning shows from both CNN and MSNBC combined to average 792,000 viewers. The show saw a slight drop in early 2014 but still has managed to draw over 10 million viewers.[17]

Political stance[edit]

The New York Times wrote that Fox & Friends "has become a powerful platform for some of the most strident attacks on President Obama."[14] The program has provided a platform for conspiracy theories about Obama's religion and, in May 2012, aired a 4-minute video attacking Obama's record as President.[14] The video was widely criticized as a political attack ad masquerading as journalism,[18][19] TIME television critic James Poniewozik wrote: "It’s hard to imagine a more over-the-top parody of Fox raw-meat-hurling, fear-stoking, base-pleasing agitprop."[20]

In response, a Fox News exec vice-president 'disavowed' the video, blaming an associate producer and that the video 'slipped by' senior managers at the network.[21] Fox stated that the show was entertainment and "does not pretend to be straight news."[14] Citing anonymous sources, the New York Times reported that some reporters, producers and executives at Fox were 'embarrassed' by the show, which remains by far the highest-rated cable show in its time slot as of June 2012.[14]

On October 5, 2013, while covering the government shutdown which had led to the closing of a veteran's museum, presenter Kooiman claimed that President Obama had offered "to pay out of his own pocket for the museum of Muslim culture". The story seemed to have been sourced from a spoof news website National Report, and the following week an on-air apology was made for "reporting a story based on poor research that was not true".[22]

Left-leaning media watch-dog groups such as Media Matters and Right Wing Watch feature thousands of articles criticizing the content of Fox & Friends for biased and problematic reporting.[23] As of August 2015, non-partisan fact checker Politifact had analyzed fifty-six Fox & Friends stories and 109 statements (by hosts and guests) that had received predominantly false, mostly false, or "pants on fire" ratings.[24]

Personalities[edit]

Weekdays[edit]

Weekends[edit]

Regular contributors[edit]

Guest or substitute hosts[edit]

  • Scott Brown, former United States Senator, Fox News Contributor.

Former personalities[edit]

  • E. D. Hill, Weekdays co-host from 1998 to 2006, replaced by Gretchen Carlson.
  • Dave Briggs, Weekend co-host, left at the end of 2012 to join NBC Sports Network [25]
  • Gretchen Carlson, Weekdays co-host from 2006 to 2013, replaced by Elisabeth Hasselbeck; currently hosting the weekday afternoon The Real Story.[26]
  • Alisyn Camerota, Weekend co-host, left the program on September 28, 2013, to be the co-host of a new weekday version of America's News Headquarters airing on the network.[27] Left Fox News in March 2014 and joined CNN in July 2014.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Thompson, Ethan, and Jason Mittell. "Fox & Friends: Political Talk." How to Watch Television. 168-76. Print.
  2. ^ Nisbet, Matthew C. "Communicating Climate Change: Why Frames Matter for Public Engagement." Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 51.2 (2009): 12-23. (subscription required)
  3. ^ Meagher, Richard. "The “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy”: Media and Conservative Networks." New Political Science 34.4 (2012): 469-84. (subscription required)
  4. ^ Stelter, Brian (July 9, 2013). "Conservative Voice Goes From ‘View’ to Fox News". New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2015. 
  5. ^ "TV Shows - Fox and Friends". TV Guide.com. Retrieved August 1, 2015. 
  6. ^ Wemple, Eric (27 March 2013). "Fox News all day: Hard, and conservative". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 August 2015. 
  7. ^ "Changes at Fox & Friends". TVNewser. Retrieved 14 July 2008. 
  8. ^ "Fox & Friends First Goes on the Air". TVNewser. Retrieved 5 March 2012. 
  9. ^ a b c d "Fox and Friends - Index". Fox and Friends. Retrieved 3 August 2015. 
  10. ^ "Fox and Friends After the Show Show". Video Fox News. Retrieved 3 August 2015. 
  11. ^ Vinson, Christina (23 May 2014). "Fox News’ All American Summer Concert Series Features Exciting Country Artists". Taste of Country. Retrieved 3 August 2015. 
  12. ^ "All American Summer Concert Series". Fox News Channel. Retrieved 3 August 2015. 
  13. ^ "Celebrity Profiles - Keith Ablow". TV Guide. Retrieved 3 August 2015. 
  14. ^ a b c d e Peters, Jeremy (June 20, 2012). "Enemies and Allies for 'Friends'". New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  15. ^ "Fox and Friends' Gets Double-Digit Ratings Boost with Elizabeth Hasselbeck". THE WRAP Covering Hollywood. October 15, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2014. 
  16. ^ "Fox and Friends jump 22% with Elizabeth Hasselbeck". Deadline Hollywood. October 15, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  17. ^ "Cable News Ratings". TV by the Numbers. February 13, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2014. 
  18. ^ Stelter, Brian (May 30, 2012). "Obama Video on Fox News Criticized as Attack Ad". New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  19. ^ Zurawik, David (May 30, 2012). "With Romney now official, Fox News gets shamelessly political". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  20. ^ Poniewozik, James (May 31, 2012). "Fox News Produces Greatest Fox News Parody Video Ever". TIME. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  21. ^ Bauder, David (June 4, 2012). "Controversial Fox News video: personnel hardball?". BusinessWeek. Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  22. ^ "Fox & Friends Host Anna Kooiman Apologizes for Airing Phony Muslim Museum Story". mediaite.com. October 14, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
  23. ^ "Profile - FOX & Friends". Media Matters. Retrieved May 18, 2015. 
  24. ^ "Profile - Fox and Friends". Politifact.com. Retrieved 1 August 2015. 
  25. ^ "Dave Briggs Leaves ‘Fox and Friends’ With Emotional On-Air Farewell [Video]". Inqusitir. December 30, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2012. 
  26. ^ "Elisabeth Hasselbeck leaving "The View" to join Fox". cbsnews. Retrieved July 10, 2013. 
  27. ^ Weprin, Alex. "‘The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson’ To Debut At 2 PM On Fox News September 30". mediabistro.com. Retrieved September 28, 2013. 

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Fox & Friends First
Fox & Friends
6 AM ET - 9 AM ET
Succeeded by
America's Newsroom

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