Special Report with Bret Baier (formerly Special Report with Brit Hume) is an American television news 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.[1]
Format
The program reports on the day's events, usually focusing on political stories out of the nation's capitol, particularly on the President, Congress, 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 this sometimes includes the "Common Ground" segment, where a Democratic and Republican lawmaker come together to discuss legislation they're working on together.[2] After the halfway point in the program, and after a short break for current headlines, Baier has a segment called "Outside the Beltway" where he reads headlines from FOX affiliates around the country. He also often presents a segment called "Beyond our Borders" where he reads headlines from stories around the world.
The best-known part of Special Report is Baier's discussion with "All Star Panel", a two-segment roundtable with a panel of three political reporters and columnists.
The program sometimes ends with a segment called "A Special Day" where Baier recognizes a historic anniversary or pays tribute to an important American. On Tuesdays, Baier ends with a segment called "Tuesday X'tras" (formerly "Tuesday Tweets") where he answers question asked on X (formerly known as Twitter) X[3] and at the end of the week, the show ends with a segment called "Notable Quotables" where the funny and significant quotes from the week are shown in a humorous fashion.[4] 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,"[5] which he later changed to, "Straightforward news in uncertain times." As of April 2024, Baier uses Hume's classic "fair, balanced and unafraid" sign-off.
The show originated in 1996 and was originally hosted by Brit Hume, who was, at the time, Washington, D.C. managing editor 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, then-Vice PresidentDick Cheney, and then-ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, 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,[5] would become the full-time host after the holidays,[6] while Hume moved to a new role as senior political analyst for the network. Chris Wallace and Shannon Bream are occasional substitute anchors.
Brit Hume 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.[7]
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.[8]
On January 13, 2020, the show launched new graphics and a new logo.
