Tucker Carlson is the new co-host of the weekend editions of “Fox & Friends,†the Fox News Channel’s popular morning talk show.
Mr. Carlson’s promotion was announced on Wednesday. He will start on April 6, one week before a new host takes over the talk show that MSNBC telecasts at the same hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
Mr. Carlson, a paid contributor to Fox for the last four years, is well-known in political circles for founding and editing the conservative Web site The Daily Caller. He has been a frequent fill-in host on “Fox & Friends Weekend†this year. He will succeed Dave Briggs, who left the show in December for a position at NBC Sports.
“We’ve been impressed with Tucker’s lively and thought-provoking appearances on our air and are pleased that he is joining the ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ team where his vibrant personality will be a great addition to the show,†Bill Shine, an executive vice president at Fox News, said in a statement.
Fox’s news release noted that “Fox & Friends Weekend,†which sometimes has a conservative bent, just like Mr. Carlson, outperforms the competing shows on MSNBC and CNN in the ratings, a fact that is equally true for the channel’s schedule seven days a week. MSNBC’s “Up,†a show on weekend mornings hosted by Chris Hayes for the past year and a half, will be taken over by a new host, Steve Kornacki, on April 13. Mr. Hayes is moving to weekdays at 8 p.m.
Fox said Wednesday that Mr. Carlson would remain a contributor to other programs on the channel.
With the promotion, he becomes the rare television figure to have achieved a cable news trifecta. In the early 2000s he was a co-host of “Crossfire†on CNN. Then he leapt to MSNBC, where he led a show called “The Situation With Tucker Carlson.†He exited MSNBC as it started to emphasize progressive-themed programs in 2008.
