Shepard Smith Moving to CNBC Following Fox News Exit

Veteran news anchor Shepard Smith will begin a new job at CNBC starting this fall, almost one year after leaving Fox News behind. Smith will anchor his own nightly show on the network, The News with Shepard Smith. The hourlong program will air Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET and tackle the biggest news stories of the day. Additionally, Smith will also serve as CNBC’s chief general news anchor and chief breaking general news anchor, as well as host and executive editor of his new series.

“Gathering and reporting the news has been my life’s work,” Smith wrote in a statement. “I am honored to continue to pursue the truth, both for CNBC’s loyal viewers and for those who have been following my reporting for decades in good times and in bad. CNBC Chairman Mark Hoffman, a journalist himself at his core, presented me with CNBC’s vision for a fact-based, hour-long evening news program with the mission to cut through the static to deliver facts, in context and with perspective.” He also called the network “a great home for my newscast,” and closed with his excitement “to be working with the exceptional talent at CNBC and eager to build a team focused on uncovering the news behind the headlines.”

Hoffman himself cautioned that “if we’re not careful life-altering decisions will be made based on half-truth, rumor, misdirection or worse” given the current national situation. “We aim to deliver a nightly program that, in some small way, looks for the signal in all the noise. We’re thrilled that Shep, who’s built a career on an honest fight to find and report the facts, will continue his pursuit of the truth at CNBC.”

Much of Smith’s statement echoed the one he gave back in October of 2019 when he abruptly announced his exit from Fox News after more than two decades on the air. “Gathering and reporting the news has been my life’s work,” Smith said to his audience at the time. “33 years. The past 23 right here, since the day we launched in 1996. The opportunities afforded this guy from small-town Mississippi have been many. After praising the network for allowing him to travel to the far reaches of the globe, Smith marveled at the fact he’d “witnessed and reported on the events that shaped our reality.”

Following Smith’s resignation, a rotating group of anchors substituted for him, including Bret Baier, Chris Wallace, Brit Hume, Shannon Bream, Martha MacCallum, Bill Hemmer and John Roberts. By December, the network announced that Hemmer would helm Smith’s old spot.