| Bill Hemmer Reports | |
|---|---|
| Also known as |
|
| Genre | |
| Presented by | Bill Hemmer |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Production location | New York City |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox News Channel |
| Release | August 12, 2002 (2002-08-12) – January 15, 2021 (2021-01-15) |
Bill Hemmer Reports is an American televisionnews show onFox News Channel hosted byBill Hemmer. Episodes aired at 3 p.m.ET on Monday through Friday. The show focuses on the day's events with interviews, current event updates, and comprehensive reporting. The show was part of the Fox News program lineup since January 20, 2020, and was the number-one cable news broadcast in its time slot.
The program continues coverage of stories followed during prior hours of Fox News programs. The show often takes a swifter pace compared to the network's other programming, making a larger focus of the program onbreaking-news events with live correspondents. The coverage includes correspondents on location, in studio, in addition to analysis frompundits or experts.
The program's relaunch included the conclusion of the weekend edition ofStudio B, hosted byTrace Gallagher, which was started in February 2006.Studio B replaced the 3-4 p.m. ET hour ofFox News Live (also hosted by Smith) in 2002, and the weekend hour ofFox News Live in 2006. The weekend editions were discontinued in May 2007, when the 3-4 p.m. timeslot was replaced by reruns ofWar Stories with Oliver North, or other taped programming. Trace Gallagher hostedStudio B as a fill-in anchor whenever Smith was absent.
Also in 2007, Smith revealed that the program would soon get a more expansive overhaul, which may include name and format changes. This is partly because FNC's physical Studio B is no longer available for the network's use. In February 2008,Studio B moved to Studio E, the set used byFox & Friends and theFox Report.
On January 9, 2009,Studio B moved to Studio 12H, the set used by theFox Report due to its move to the high definition Election Night set used byFox. Despite the actual studio name, Shepard Smith stated that this studio will be the new Studio B, "because that is the name of the program". WhileStudio B moved to the aforementioned HD set, it continued to broadcast in4:3 with the Fox News HD wing at the side, until March 23, 2009, when the show began broadcasting in full16:9.
During the week of September 26 – October 2, 2011, theFox Report moved into its former studios, Studio E, which was used from September 2007 to December 2008 at the same time,Studio B moved into the newsroom and Shepard Smith announced on the September 28 broadcast that theFox Report andStudio B moved into a new set on October 10, 2011. On that date,Studio B and theFox Report introduced a new look and graphics featuring the new lower-thirds graphics for the show as seen on other Fox News Channel shows,The Five andHappening Now. Shepard Smith presented the show from a modified Studio 12H featuring more monitors and retaining "The Cube" but the overhead platform and accompanying staircase, which had been part of the set since 2008 had been removed.
On October 7, 2013,Studio B was relaunched asShepard Smith Reporting with new graphics and a new state of the art studio called "The Fox News Deck" in Studio H.[1]
The program was temporarily rebrandedFox News Reporting on October 14, 2019, upon Shepard Smith's departure from Fox News.[2]
On January 20, 2020, Bill Hemmer, who was previously co-anchor ofAmerica's Newsroom, took over as the new anchor of this program, which accordingly changed its final title toBill Hemmer Reports. The show ended on January 15, 2021, after Fox News announced a new programming lineup.The Story with Martha MacCallum took over the time slot.
On September 28, 2012,Studio B inadvertently broadcast thesuicide by gunshot of 33-year-old JoDon F. Romero, whocarjacked a vehicle inPhoenix, resulting in an 80-mile (130 km) police pursuit that ended nearSalome, Arizona. Shepard Smith implored his technical staff to cut off the helicopter feed from Fox-owned stationKSAZ-TV after the suicide made it to air during live coverage.[3][4][5] Following an abrupt commercial break, Smith issued an on-air apology for abroadcast delay failure made by the channel'smaster control operators.[6][7] In a statement, Fox News Channel executive vice president of news editorial Michael Clemente, acknowledged the error in broadcasting the suspect's suicide: “We took every precaution to avoid any such live incident by putting the helicopter pictures on a five second delay. Unfortunately, this mistake was the result of a severehuman error and we apologize for what viewers ultimately saw on the screen.”[8] Fox News was sued for unspecified damages by Romero's wife due to this incident. She claimed that her children had seen the video of Romero's suicide and subsequently became traumatized.[9] In February 2014, the lawsuit was dismissed by Judge John Rea, who ruled the coverage was protected by theFirst Amendment and the plaintiffs were unable to "satisfy the essential elements of claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress."[10] In August 2015, the verdict was upheld in an Arizona appeals court.[11]
Shepard Smith Reporting was broadcast from Studio D (The Fox News Deck) at1211 Avenue of the Americas (also known as the News Corp. Building) in New York City.Bill Hemmer Reports also broadcast from the Fox News Deck studios.