Fox News Axes Howard Kurtz Media Show to Launch New Program From White House Stars
Fox News is revamping its weekend programming, with White House correspondents Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich launching a new hour-long show, The Sunday Briefing, which will air at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sundays.
The dominant news channel is making a handful of other big changes, including giving former Trump White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany a new program and expanding Tomi Lahren’s role.
Doocy and Heinrich’s show will replace Howard Kurtz’s Media Buzz, which has occupied that time slot for the past 12 years. Media Buzz had been the last media criticism show on cable news for the past few years, following CNN’s cancellation of Reliable Sources. Kurtz will remain a contributor at the channel and continue as the host of the Media Buzz podcast.
“I’m extraordinarily proud of the program, which was number one for over 12 years and built a loyal audience that liked our down-the-middle approach of contrasting viewpoints and tackling sensitive subjects, with great independence, but time marches on,” Kurtz said in a statement to Variety.
Kurtz, to point to a few recent topics on his show, said “not much was accomplished” by President Donald Trump’s Alaskan summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and in July, he said the president’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal was drawing more attention to the report he penned a “bawdy” letter to Jeffrey Epstein. Kurtz, following Neil Cavuto’s leaving, was one of the last remaining voices on the network to voice criticism of Trump when he found it to be justified.
The Sunday Briefing will rotate Doocy and Heinrich as the hosts each week and will debut on Saturday, Sept. 20.
Several other notable changes will take place that day as well, with Tomi Lahren and Johnny “Joey” Jones being named the permanent co-hosts of The Big Weekend Show, which is also adding an extra hour to its program. The Big Weekend Show will now air from 5:00-8:00 PM ET on Saturdays and Sundays, and previously had a rotating cast of Fox talent as hosts. Lahren currently hosts Tomi Lahren Is Fearless on OutKick, while Jones has been a longtime Fox News contributor, with an emphasis on military matters.
McEnany, meanwhile, will begin hosting her new program dubbed Saturday in America, which will air from 10:00 a.m. to noon ET. Her solo show comes after she has been co-hosting Outnumbered on Fox News since 2021.
The final change is that Fox News Live co-anchor Griff Jenkins will be joining Fox & Friends Weekend as a co-host. The Fox News veteran will join Charlie Hurt and Rachel Campos-Duffy, who both currently co-host the weekend show.
