Fox News has named Bill Hemmer to succeed Shepard Smith as the anchor of its afternoon program "Fox News Reporting."
Hemmer has been with Fox News since 2005, joining from CNN, where he made his reputation covering the Gulf War. He has been co-anchor of the Fox News mid-morning program "America's Newsroom." Hemmer will move to the 3 p.m. Eastern broadcast on Jan. 20, when the program will be renamed "Bill Hemmer Reports."
Hemmer, 55, steps in for Smith, the longtime lead anchor of Fox News who stood out as the nonpartisan voice on the conservative channel. Smith abruptly but amicably left the network on Oct. 11. After years of peacefully coexisting with the conservative opinionated hosts on the channel, Smith had grown weary of their contradicting the facts of the investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election.
Hemmer has been a steady daytime presence on Fox News, presenting stories largely without a political bent, although he does not have the high profile that Smith attained over his long run at the channel.
