CNBC Anchor Leaving Network After His Nightly Program Is Canceled

Shepard Smith will no longer be part of the CNBC team. After the cancellation of his The News With Shepard Smith show, the former FOX News anchor is exiting. Per a report from Variety, he’s leaving the network in full. The show will air for the last time later in Nov. 2022. He joined the network in 2019 after working at FOX News for 23 years. His exit from FOX seemingly came to him being one of its few non-partisan voices, leading former President Donald Trump to attack him at times. A new 7 pm business-centered show will replace Smith’s CNBC program early next year. 

CNBC boss KC Sullivan confirmed the news in a staff memo, writing: “The quality journalism Shep and his team delivered each weeknight was exemplary and not lost on us or our 7pm audience. The News increased CNBC’s 7 pm viewership average and attracted the most affluent audience of any primetime cable news program. At a time when misinformation and disinformation is rampant, The News succeeded in providing audiences with the clearest understanding of the facts. Decisions like these are not arrived at hastily or taken lightly. I believe this decision will ultimately help to strengthen our brand and the value we provide our audiences.”

Smith’s tenure at FOX News began in its inception in 1996. During his time there, he hosted several programs, including Fox News, Fox Report, Studio B, and Shepard Smith Reporting.

Smith began his career in television in Gainesville, Florida, before working in Panama City Beach, Fort Myers, Miami, and Orlando. He was also a correspondent for A Current Affair. 

He was previously married to Virginia Donald, a woman he met while attending the University of Mississippi. They divorced in 1993. He came out as gay in 2017. He has no children.