‘One Nation With Brian Kilmeade’

This weekend, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade will add yet another hosting duty to his already expansive plate at the network.

The longtime Fox News Channel host is moving into the 8 pm ET Saturday slot vacated by Jesse Watters, after the erstwhile Watters’ World host got his own primetime weeknight show, starting on Jan. 24, with Jesse Watters Primetime. It’s part of a bigger weekend programming revamp by the network, the particulars of which include new airtime starting this weekend for not only Kilmeade but also 29-year-old Lawrence Jones, another familiar face from Fox & Friends.

The title of Kilmeade’s new show is One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, and the 25-year Fox veteran told me that it will cover not only “the most impactful issues of the day but also ways in which we can come together to solve those problems and challenges. We will always be striving to bring context to the stories. Case in point — we know tension is rising in Ukraine. Well, what is their true history with Russia? 

“We all have seen the temperatures rise on both sides of the aisle on the filibuster, but how many know how it started, how it has been used and why it needs to stay, no matter what party is in power?”

According to Fox, Kilmeade’s new show, debut on January 29, will offer perspective on the big stories of the week in addition to “context and solutions.” Continued Kilmeade: “We all can use a stress relief by the time the weekend comes along, and our goal will always be to inform in a fun, entertaining and patriotic way.”

In addition to co-hosting Fox & Friends — the highest-rated morning program on cable —  Kilmeade also hosts The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio weekdays from 9 am until noon ET. His radio program covers everything from news to politics, pop culture and sports. 

And besides those aforementioned hosting duties, Kilmeade also helms a show on Fox’s streaming service, Fox Nation. That program, What Made America Great, embarked on its eighth season this week (with a first episode on January 26). During the new season, Fox says Kilmeade will travel to Ellis Island and explore New York City’s first urban renewal project, Mulberry Bend. Also during the season, Kilmeade will be joined by special guests including immigration attorney Michael Wildes, former NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and historian and Columbia University Professor David Eisenbach.

Seven hours of weekly Fox News programming

Setting aside Kilmeade’s Fox Nation show for a moment, since it doesn’t produce new episodes on a regular schedule, Kilmeade’s new weekend TV show means that he will be on Fox TV for a total of 16 hours each week. And he’s live, across TV and radio, for six of those hours every day, via Fox & Friends and his Fox radio show that immediately follows. More specifically, he’s live each week fox six consecutive hours.

Needless to say, the network is looking partly to Kilmeade to continue its tradition of ratings dominance during primetime on Saturday, which in 2021 saw Watters’ World garner a little more than 1.8 million total viewers — and 224,000 across the key 25-54 demo. That was the weekend’s highest-rated program last year, in terms of total viewers.

Kilmeade, meanwhile, won’t be the only new addition to Fox’s weekend lineup starting tomorrow. As part of the tweaked schedule, Unfiltered with Dan Bongino is moving to 9 pm ET, which will be followed by a new one-hour program at 10 pm: Lawrence Jones Cross Country.

About this new show from Jones, who Fox says will continue as an enterprise reporter with Fox & Friends, the network explained that it “will focus on newsmakers from across the political and cultural spectrum, spotlighting the leading concerns facing Americans nationwide. (Jones) will travel across America to highlight key stories such as the border crisis, crime in big cities, and the COVID pandemic.”

In a statement about Jones, FOX News media CEO Suzanne Scott lauded him as “an impact player” since joining the network in 2018. “And we are thrilled to add his critical insights to our weekend lineup.”