OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Fox News has added a new face to its weekend show lineup, and he should be instantly familiar to viewers of the network.
According to a press release from the network on Wednesday, radio host Jimmy Failla will now become part of the weekend’s bevy of programming. Failla announced his new gig in a Wednesday tweet, revealing the title of the new show, “Fox News Saturday Night w/Jimmy Failla.”
Fox said that the show will premiere on Saturday, Jan. 13, and air weekly in the 10 p.m.–11 p.m. EDT timeslot.
“THRILLED to announce this former cabbie has been named The HOST of “Fox News Saturday Night w/ Jimmy Failla.” HUGE thanks to Fox leadership for believing in a small town gal like me. Group hug w/ everyone who forgives my Tweets from the bar later. We are going OUT TONIGHT girl!” he said.
The show intends to ‘keep America laughing with a break from the hard news stories of the week’ alongside other Fox News personalities and guests, according to the release. The program is set to ‘deliver comedic commentary on cultural, political, and lifestyle topics,’ the Daily Caller reported, quoting the Fox release.
“FOX News Saturday Night is a show for everyone who realizes that our country doesn’t need more Republicans or more Democrats; it needs more comedy,” Failla said in a statement that Fox included in its release.
Meade Cooper, the executive vice president of Primetime Programming, first announced Failla’s new show, calling the new weekend host “a classic American success story” who went from a cab driver to a cable news host.
Failla became a part of Fox News in 2016 and began hosting his own radio program in 2020.
THRILLED to announce this former cabbie has been named The HOST of “Fox News Saturday Night w/ Jimmy Failla.” HUGE thanks to Fox leadership for believing in a small town gal like me. Group hug w/ everyone who forgives my Tweets from the bar later. We are going OUT TONIGHT girl!
— Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) January 3, 2024
Without a doubt, 2023 was a challenging year for the cable news industry — which ended the turbulent year with fewer viewers as alternative news sources gained traction and cord-cutting continued to limit linear reach into American households.
For the eighth year in a row, Fox News remained the most popular cable news network as the year ended. The network’s six news programs dominated the cable news industry, with The Five making history as the first non-prime-time program to top the ratings in the crucial 25–54 age group and overall viewers.
It was Fox’s 22nd consecutive year at the top of cable news in terms of total viewers and the demo in terms of total day and prime-time viewers in 2023, Mediaite noted.
MSNBC maintained its position as the second most-watched cable network, behind Fox, thanks to the success of prime-time hosts like Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow, and the network was the only one to experience year-over-year growth in total viewers. Thanks to Trump’s heavy news cycles and the former president’s ongoing legal dramas, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and early evening hosts Nicolle Wallace and Ari Melber continue to be major ratings draws for the network.
Despite a leadership change this year, CNN’s ratings have not recovered, and the network had its worst viewership total since 2014, including a record low in the demo, at the end of the year. Still, for the tenth year running overall and for the fourth year running during prime time, CNN outrated MSNBC in the demo; this continues MSNBC’s lengthy losing streak with demo viewers.
As the cable industry continues to decline, S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates that just 70 million American households have access to Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC as of today, down from 90 million in 2016.
