Bret Baier will be tied to Fox News Channel through for several more years to come.
Fox News and Baier have extended his contract, which was last renewed in 2021 for a five-year term that was to keep him at the cable-news outlet through at least 2025. “We are thrilled to have Bret continue leading our political coverage as we head into the 2024 election season and beyond,” said Jay Wallace, president and executive editor of Fox News Channel. The deal was renewed earlier than expected and is a sign of confidence in Baier’s work. Baier is represented by UTA.
Baier will continue his role as chief political anchor, and anchor and executive editor of “Special Report,” his early-evening newscast, and will continue to co-anchor 2024 election coverage and host The Bret Baier Podcast on Fox News Audio.
The Washington-based anchor figures prominently in some of Fox News’ most-watched broadcasts, namely those associated with Republican debates and national election results. Last month, Baier co-moderated the first Republican presidential primary debate of the current election cycle with Martha MacCallum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two-hour debate averaged 12.8 million viewers across Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, making it the highest-rated non-sports telecast of the year in viewership.
Baier has also been the anchor of “Special Report” on since January 2009, which he inherited from its founding anchor, Brit Hume. The program, seen as a means for Fox News to counter-program against the traditional evening-news shows on broadcast TV, has been on its schedule since 1998.
Baier is the author of five New York Times bestsellers and will be releasing his latest book “To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment” in October. He was Fox News’ chief White House correspondent, covering President Bush from 2006 to 2009, and served as national security correspondent from 2001 to 2006. He launched his television career with WJWJ of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, before joining WRAL-TV, then a CBS affiliate in Raleigh, North Carolina.