Media Critic Howard Kurtz Leaves CNN for Fox News

Fox News said on Thursday that it had hired Howard Kurtz, the reporter who for 15 years has hosted the Sunday morning media criticism program “Reliable Sources” on a rival network, CNN.

The media critic Howard Kurtz is leaving CNN for Fox News.

Mr. Kurtz will take over “Fox News Watch,” the network’s media criticism program, which is broadcast on Saturday and bears some resemblance to “Reliable Sources.” Fox News said in a news release that the program would have “a new format.”

Mr. Kurtz said in a statement: “I’m excited to be bringing my independent brand of media criticism to Fox News. I want to thank CNN for giving me such a prime opportunity over the years and was tempted to continue, but the chance to create a revamped program and establish a strong online presence was too good to pass up.”

“Reliable Sources” and “Fox News Watch” are among the few regular televised forums for discussion and debate about news media practices. Mr. Kurtz will host “Reliable Sources” for two more weeks, then join Fox on July 1. CNN said in a statement that “Reliable Sources” would continue on Sunday mornings and would be “hosted by a variety of people in the coming months.”

The network switch came about six weeks after Mr. Kurtz left his other job at The Daily Beast and Newsweek, where he was the Washington bureau chief. His sudden departure was announced the same day that The Daily Beast retracted a blog post he had written about the basketball player Jason Collins, saying that “the piece contained several errors, resulting in a misleading characterization of N.B.A. player Collins and the story he co-wrote in Sports Illustrated in which he came out as gay.”

The seeds of his departure had been sown before that blog post, though; he was highly paid by The Daily Beast but was spending time writing and promoting a small, unaffiliated Web site called Daily Download, much to the chagrin of some of his colleagues.

Mr. Kurtz subsequently apologized for the errors in the blog post about Mr. Collins and said that the Daily Download had “always been a limited venture for me,” mainly consisting of Web video appearances.

Since the scrutiny that flared up in early May, Mr. Kurtz has not made any Web videos for Daily Download or promoted it on Twitter. While he has continued to host “Reliable Sources,” he has not been under a long-term contract; CNN executives have said that they were not interested in signing him up for another term. They wouldn’t say that publicly, however, lest they anger someone who, as a media reporter, covers CNN and other television networks.

In a statement on Thursday, a CNN spokeswoman said: “Howie Kurtz has served as host of ‘Reliable Sources’ for 15 years, developing it into a leading source for commentary and critique on the media. We thank him for all his contributions to CNN, and wish him all the best in this new opportunity.”

Along with his “Fox News Watch” duties, Mr. Kurtz will appear on other Fox News programs and write a column for its Web site.

Michael Clemente, the executive vice president of news at Fox News, said in a statement: “Howie is the most accomplished media reporter in the country. He’s also a master of social media trends, information good and bad, and a veteran political reporter. Altogether, he will add even greater depth to a very accomplished team of reporters and anchors.”