Julian Phillips

History

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 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.

Characteristics of the show

Since inception, the show is a talkshow format, featuring two male cohosts and a female cohost. Currently, Steve Doocey, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade cohost the show.

At the top and bottom of the 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.'

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.

Recurring segments

Ratings

The New York Times has reported the show is one of the most successful on the network. 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. In comparison, morning shows from both CNN and MSNBC combined to average 792,000 viewers.

Political stance

The New York Times wrote that Fox & Friends "has become a powerful platform for some of the most strident attacks on President Obama." 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. The video was widely criticized as a political attack ad masquerading as journalism, 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."

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. Fox stated that the show was entertainment and "does not pretend to be straight news." 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.

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".

Weekdays

Weekends

Regular contributors

Former hosts