'' Special Report with Bret Baier'' (formerly ''Special Report with Brit Hume'') is an American television

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

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.

Format

The program reports on the day's events, usually focusing on political stories out of the nation's capitol, particularly on the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, 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

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, 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 James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host and executive producer of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-night talk show that premiered on ABC on January 26, 2003, ...

, or sometimes ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

.'' 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," 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. Fill in hosts for Baier include Mike Emanuel,

Shannon Bream Shannon Noelle Bream ( DePuy; born December 23, 1970) is an American journalist and attorney who appears on Fox News Channel. In 2022 she became the host of the program ''Fox News Sunday''. Prior to hosting Fox News Sunday she was the host of ...

, Trace Gallagher, John Roberts, Gillian Turner and

Bill Hemmer William G. Hemmer (born November 14, 1964) is an American journalist, currently the co-anchor of ''America's Newsroom'' on the Fox News Channel, based in New York City. Early life and education On November 14, 1964, Hemmer was born in Cincin ...

"Fox All-Star" Panel members

Brit Hume Alexander Britton Hume (born June 22, 1943), known professionally as Brit Hume, is an American journalist and political commentator. Hume had a 23-year career with ABC News, where he contributed to ''World News Tonight with Peter Jennings'', ''N ...

- Fox News senior political analyst *

Susan Page Susan Lea Page (born February 12, 1951) is an American journalist and biographer, and the Washington DC Bureau Chief for ''USA Today'' newspaper. Early life Page, a native of Wichita, Kansas, is a 1973 graduate of Northwestern University's Med ...

- Washington bureau chief for ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' *

Ben Domenech Ben Domenech (born January 1, 1982) is an American writer, blogger, editor, and television commentator. He is the co-founder and publisher of ''The Federalist'' and host of ''The Federalist Radio Hour'', and writes ''The Transom'', a daily subs ...

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

contributor, editor at large of ''The Spectator'' * Mara Liasson -

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

national political correspondent *

Juan Williams Juan Antonio Williams (born April 10, 1954) is a Panamanian-born American journalist and political analyst for Fox News Channel. He writes for several newspapers, including ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'', and ''The Wall Street ...

senior political analyst * Charles Lane - ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' Staff Writer * Trey Gowdy - Former South Carolina Congressman, host of ''Sunday Night in America w/Trey Gowdy'' *

Katie Pavlich Catherine Merri "Katie" Pavlich (born July 10, 1988) is an American conservative commentator, author, blogger, and podcaster. Early life and education Pavlich was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to a family of Croat and German descent. She grew up i ...

- Fox News contributor, editor at ''Townhall'' *

Harold Ford Jr. Harold Eugene Ford Jr. (born May 11, 1970) is an American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman who served from 1997–2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party ...

- Former Tennessee Congressman, co-host of '' The Five'' *

- Host of ''

Fox News Sunday ''Fox News Sunday'' is a Sunday morning talk show that has aired on the broadcast Fox network since 1996, as a presentation of Fox News Channel. It is the only regularly scheduled Fox News program carried on the main Fox broadcast network. Ho ...

'' *

Howard Kurtz Howard Alan Kurtz (; born August 1, 1953) is an American journalist and author best known for his coverage of the media. Kurtz is the host of Fox News's '' Media Buzz'' program, the successor to ''Fox News Watch''. He is the former media writer f ...

- Host of ''

Media Buzz ''Media Buzz'' (stylized #media''buzz'') is an hour-long news media criticism program hosted by Howard Kurtz. The show airs live on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM and generally discusses politics and pop culture issues from a moderate perspective. Th ...

'' *

Kimberly Strassel Kimberley Ann Strassel (born July 24, 1972) is an American conservative columnist and author who is a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, ''Wall Street Journal'' editorial board. She writes a weekly column, "Potomac Watch", which ap ...

- ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' columnist * Jason L. Riley - ''

'' writer *

Morgan Ortagus Morgan Deann Ortagus (born July 10, 1982) is an American television commentator, financial analyst, and political advisor who served as spokesperson for the United States Department of State from 2019 to 2021. She previously held government posi ...

- Former Department of State spokesperson *

Guy Benson Guy Pelham Benson (born March 7, 1985) is an American columnist, commentator, and political pundit. He is a contributor to Fox News, political editor of Townhall.com, and a conservative talk radio host. Benson served as a Fellow at the Georgetow ...

- host of ''The Guy Benson Radio Show'' * Mollie Hemingway - Senior editor of ''

The Federalist ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The co ...

'' *

Byron York Byron York (born December 5, 1955) is an American conservative correspondent, pundit, columnist, and author. Education York holds a B.A. from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and an M.A. from the University of Chicago. Career ...

- chief political correspondent for the ''

Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is o ...

'' * Gillian Turner - Fox News Washington correspondent * Charles Hurt - ''

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' writer * Jennifer Griffin - Fox News Chief national security correspondent * Jessica Tarlov - Democratic strategist, co-host of '' The Five'' *

Hugh Hewitt Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network and an attorney, academic, and author. A conservative, he writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is ...

- Radio talk show host * Leslie Marshall - Fox News contributor, radio talk show host * Josh Kraushaar - senior political correspondent for

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

* Charles Krauthammer - (In Memoriam) ''

'' political columnist (1998—2018)

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 A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edit ...

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 George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, then-

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Dick Cheney, and then-

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

anchor

Charles Gibson Charles deWolf Gibson (born March 9, 1943) is an American broadcast television anchor, journalist and podcaster. Gibson was a host of ''Good Morning America'' from 1987 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2006, and the anchor of ''World News with Char ...

, 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, would become the full-time host after the holidays, while Hume moved to a new role as senior political analyst for the network.

Chris Wallace Christopher Wallace (born October 12, 1947) is an American broadcast journalist. He is known for his tough and wide-ranging interviews, for which he is often compared to his father, ''60 Minutes'' journalist Mike Wallace. Over his 50-year care ...

and

are occasional substitute anchors.

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. 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. On January 13, 2020, the show launched new graphics and a new logo.

References

External links

*
The Daily Bret on FoxNews.com
*
Fox News Live Stream
{{FoxNewsChannelPrograms Fox News original programming 1998 American television series debuts 1990s American television talk shows 2000s American television talk shows 2010s American television talk shows 2020s American television talk shows 1990s American television news shows 2000s American television news shows 2010s American television news shows 2020s American television news shows English-language television shows