Bret Baier, Shepard Smith, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren
Signed to Long-Term Contracts
Megyn Kelly will move to FOX News Channel’s (FNC) primetime lineup upon her return from maternity leave, announced Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO, FOX News. Additionally, the network has signed long-term deals with Bret Baier, Shepard Smith, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren. A new schedule will be announced at a later date.
In making the announcement, Ailes said, “Megyn is an exceptional talent who has successfully filled and surpassed each role we have given her at the network. Her ability to command the screen, delve into the facts and lead a debate is what makes her one of the most sought-after anchors in the business.”
Kelly added, “Roger Ailes hired me nine years ago when I was new to this business and he had little other than instinct to suggest it might work out. I was grateful to him then, remain so today, and am excited for this next opportunity.”
Since February 2010, Kelly has anchored the network’s daytime news program, America Live (1-3PM ET), while appearing in a weekly primetime segment on The O’Reilly Factor entitled The Kelly File. Last fall, she co-anchored FOX News Channel’s 2012 election night coverage, alongside Bret Baier, which delivered more than 12 million viewers and finished second among all of the broadcast and cable networks. Kelly also co-anchored FNC’s primetime coverage of the Republican and Democratic conventions live from Tampa, Fla. and Charlotte, N.C. Prior to that, she co-anchored the network’s 2012 coverage of the presidential primaries and moderated two GOP presidential debates.
While a correspondent based in Washington, D.C., Kelly was on site reporting on the Virginia Tech campus massacre and covered the Duke University rape case involving three of the school’s lacrosse players. Reporting from Durham, North Carolina, she broke new details that would ultimately help exonerate the defendants. Prior to this, she covered the Supreme Court and provided wall-to-wall coverage of the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Chief Justice John Roberts. In 2009 and 2010, Kelly also co-hosted FNC’s coverage of the confirmation hearings of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Before joining FNC in 2004, Kelly served as a general assignment reporter for ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Syracuse University and a J.D. from Albany Law School, where she graduated with honors and served as editor of the Albany Law Review. Kelly then practiced law as a corporate litigator at Jones Day before transitioning into broadcast television.
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.
