Fox News announced on Monday that Laura Ingraham, the popular conservative radio host, will host a primetime program on the network. The announcement confirmed a scoop from CNN’s Brian Stelter and Hadas Gold last week.
Ingraham’s show will be titled The Ingraham Angle and air at 10 PM ET, or Sean Hannity’s current timeslot. Hannity will move to 9 PM ET and The Five, which was moved to primetime in the post-Bill O’Reilly lineup reshuffle, will move back to its original 5 PM timeslot. The Five struggled at 9 PM against a largely dominant Rachel Maddow, but it was still competitive in the advertiser-friendly 25-54 demo. News coverage with a rotating crew of anchors has been airing in the 5 PM timeslot since The Fox News Specialists in the wake of Eric Bolling leaving the network. The personalities on The Five (Jesse Watters, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, and Juan Williams) will not change with the timeslot move.
Fox News says that the program will focus on working Americans and the impact federal actions will have on them. In addition, there will be an emphasis on the role of faith in the United States.
“After a decade working at FOX News with a team of television pros, I am thrilled to be joining the primetime line-up as a host of the 10 o’clock hour. Martha, Tucker and Sean have proven that they understand the pulse of America across the political and the cultural spectrum. I look forward to informing and entertaining the audience and introducing new voices to the conversation,” Ingraham said in a statement.
“We are delighted to unveil this new primetime schedule for both our current and future generation of loyal FNC fans. Over the last decade, Laura’s extraordinary insight, expertise and strong voice have connected with our viewers across the network’s programming. We look forward to her providing the audience with her exceptional commentary, engaging insight and spirited debate,” Fox News president of programming Suzanne Scott said in a statement.
Ingraham will continue to host her radio show, but she will be stepping away from a day-to-day role at LifeZette, the online news organization she founded two years ago.
The schedule change puts Fox News’s most fervent supporter of President Trump against MSNBC’s biggest star, Rachel Maddow, who is fiercely anti-Trump. Hannity has seen recent ratings success (oftentimes increasing viewership from The Five), but it remains to be seen whether he loses any of that audience with the new timeslot. However, it is certainly counterprogramming to the nth degree.
The Five and Hannity will begin their new timeslots starting on September 25. The Ingraham Angle will not begin until October 30 however so there will be rotating hosts in the 10 PM hour until Ingraham’s program starts.