Shepard Smith: An Interview With The Hip Hop-Loving, Eli Manning-Texting Fox News Anchor

A larger part of Smith’s life, however, is his work at Fox News. Smith guesses that the network is the most scrutinized television network that has ever existed, meaning that getting things perfect is especially important, because the station is under such an intense amount of scrutiny. One element of the newscasts that Smith is especially proud of is the aesthetic style that Fox News has adopted. He has credited the look more than once for setting Fox News apart from the other stations.

Smith says that the network spends “millions and millions” of dollars on what has been labeled “Shep’s Playpen,” an assortment of technological gadgetry and eye-catching color schemes designed to grab the attention of a would-be viewer. “Look, our main thing is go out and get the news and then disseminate the information,” Smith says. “But we’ll do anything to get people to watch it. If you work in a kitchen all day and you’re making great food, you want to display it and advertise it and present it in a way that people are going to want to eat it.” He says that if he and his staff have worked on something for days, months, or even a year, they welcome the bells and whistles, especially if it means attracting viewers. “If we need to put graphics on the screen, make whoosh noises come across, make the cameras fly around, and tease you…whatever it is — short of taking people’s clothes off — we’ll do it. I’m happy to do whatever it takes, within reason, to get you to watch the hard work of my colleagues all day.”

Digging deeper into the aesthetics of the network, Smith reveals that he even considers the ties he wears for each show to be an important part of attracting an audience, saying he finds it important to look presentable every day. “You don’t go out on a first date not looking your best,” Smith explains. “Every night on TV is a first date for somebody. Somebody’s going to be watching you for the first time. You want to look as good as you can.”

Shepard Smith On Fox Report's First Day (Sept. 13, 1999)

All these first dates, however, can tend to wear a man down. Smith speaks of being “on stage” all day long, from the moment he walks into the building until it’s time to leave. The harsh light of always being on stage, he says, isn’t always fun. “So when I get out of work, I really like to put on jeans and a baseball cap and not be on stage. I always look forward to not being on stage.”

He unwinds by watching sports or listening to music, admitting he doesn’t watch too much non-sports programming on TV (although he does say HBO shows True Blood and Boardwalk Empire have made his rotation). And then the Shep Smith you think you know from TV departs from the one who relishes life off the stage. He got excited when he managed to find an antenna strong enough to penetrate his New York apartment’s metal makeup and begin receiving hip hop stations Hot 97 and Power 105, even though, he says, “you hear the same damn songs every day.” That’s right, Shep Smith is a hip hop head. He counts Ludacris, Rihanna, Big Sean, and Kanye West among his favorites.

“I love the beats,” he says, essentially capturing his life in a nutshell. “I think life has a beat and I love these beats.”

Shepard Smith can be seen weekdays on Fox News on Studio B at 3 p.m. and FOX Report with Shepard Smith at 7 p.m.