FOX NEWS CHANNEL TO HOST A TOWN HALL WITH 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JULIÁN CASTRO ON JUNE 13
‘Special Report’s’ Bret Baier and ‘The Story’s’ Martha MacCallum to Moderate
NEW YORK – May 30, 2019 — FOX News Channel (FNC) will present a town hall with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and former HUD Secretary Julián Castro on Thursday, June 13th, announced Jay Wallace, President and Executive Editor of FOX News and FOX Business Network. Moderated by Special Report’s Bret Baier and The Story’s Martha MacCallum, the one hour town hall will originate live from Phoenix, Arizona from 6:30-7:30PM/ET and discuss the top issues surrounding the 2020 election cycle. Additionally, an abbreviated version of Baier’s Special Report will air from 6-6:30PM/ET while MacCallum’s The Story will run from 7:30-8PM/ET with the town hall running in between both programs.
In making the announcement, Wallace said, “Our town halls have been overwhelmingly successful which continue to prove that FOX News is the destination for Democratic presidential candidates. We look forward to hosting Julián Castro and having another informative conversation that will no doubt help shape the 2020 race.”
The forthcoming event with Secretary Castro will mark the sixth presidential town hall of the current election season hosted by FNC and the fifth with a Democratic presidential candidate. FOX News Sunday’s Chris Wallace will moderate the next town hall with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on June 2nd in Dubuque, Iowa.
In April, Special Report’s Bret Baier and The Story’s Martha MacCallum co-moderated the network’s inaugural 2020 presidential town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), which garnered nearly 2.6 million viewers making it the highest-rated event of the election cycle, according to Nielsen Media Research. They also moderated a town hall with former Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, who is contemplating a run for President. In May, Baier and MacCallum co-hosted Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar for a town hall in Milwaukee, WI which topped cable news competition in the timeslot for that evening and outpaced CNN’s previous town hall with her. Most recently, FNC presented a town hall with 2020 presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg on May 19th in Claremont, NH moderated by Chris Wallace, which also beat the cable news competition across the board and out-rated CNN’s previous town hall with him.
Baier and MacCallum have played pivotal roles throughout the network’s election coverage, including interviewing candidates, moderating 2016 presidential debates, co-moderating town halls, and co-anchoring during major political events, such as the 2019 State of the Union and midterm election night in November 2018. Their coverage that night was the highest-rated midterm election programming in cable news history with 7.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC is a unit of FOX News Media and has been the most watched television news channel for 17 consecutive years. According to a 2019 Suffolk University poll, FOX News is the most trusted source for television news or commentary in the country, while a 2019 Brand Keys Emotion Engagement Brand Analysis survey found that FOX News was the most trusted cable news brand. Owned by FOX Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.
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