ELISABETH HASSELBECK TO JOIN FOX NEWS CHANNEL AS FOX & FRIENDS CO-HOST
Gretchen Carlson Moves to Daytime to Anchor Solo One-Hour Program
FOX News Channel (FNC) has signed Elisabeth Hasselbeck of ABC’s The View as co-host of top-rated FOX & Friends (6:00-9:00 AM ET), announced Bill Shine, Executive Vice President of Programming for FOX News. She will join Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade on the curvy couch in mid-September. Current FOX & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson will now anchor a one-hour signature daytime program beginning in early fall.
In commenting on the announcement, FOX News Chairman & CEO Roger Ailes said, “Elisabeth’s warm and engaging personality made her a star on The View. She has proven to be an excellent conversationalist and I am certain she will make a great addition to our already successful morning franchise.”
Hasselbeck added, “I have been a long-time fan of Fox & Friends and am excited to be joining their team in September as it is an honor to call the FOX News Channel my new television home.”
Since November 2003, Hasselbeck served as a co-host on the daytime Emmy award-winning talk show, The View, on ABC, created by Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie. She and her co-hosts were chosen as Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” in May 2009 and in July 2009, the program was ranked #11 on Forbes’ “30 of the Most Influential Women in Media.” Additionally, she was a keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in both 2004 and 2008, and has interviewed Presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama. Hasselbeck is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, The G-Free Diet and the cookbook, Deliciously G-Free and has also served as a contributor to ABC’s Good Morning America since 2010.
ABC’s Barbara Walters commented, “We have had ten wonderful years with Elisabeth and she will now be swimming in new waters. We will miss her and wish her everything good.”
Regarding Carlson’s move to daytime, Ailes said, “Gretchen’s contribution to FOX & Friends is well-known and her strong interviewing skills make her a natural fit for our daytime programming.”
Carlson added, “I am excited to further advance my career and am thrilled to have the opportunity to host my own show in daytime and look forward to showcasing my skills as an interviewer and journalist in a more in depth manner.”
In June 2005, Carlson joined FNC and a year later, she became co-host of Fox & Friends. Prior to FNC, she served as a correspondent and co-anchor of CBS News’ Saturday Early Show. Before her tenure there, Carlson served as an anchor/reporter for KXAS-TV (NBC) in Dallas, TX, WOIO-TV (CBS) in Cleveland, OH, WCPO-TV (ABC) in Cincinnati, OH, and WRIC-TV (ABC) in Richmond, VA. The recipient of the prestigious American Women in Radio and Television “Best Series” award for her 30-part series on domestic violence, Carlson also won two Emmy awards for her work at CBS News. Before embarking on a television career, she was the first classical violinist to be crowned Miss America in 1989.
FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. A top five cable network, FNC has been the most watched news channel in the country for more than eleven years and according to Public Policy Polling, is the most trusted television news source in the country. Owned by 21st Century Fox, FNC is available in more than 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.
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