Shepard Smith, who joined CNBC in the summer of 2020 after a long career as a Fox News anchor, will no longer appear on the financial news channel once the evening news program he leads is canceled at the end of November, according to the network.
“The News with Shepard Smith,” which airs at 7 p.m. weekdays, was meant to be a nonpartisan daily rundown of the biggest national news stories, which CNBC hoped would rival evening newscasts on the broadcast networks that have millions of viewers. But despite regularly landing interviews with key newsmakers, the show struggled to capture even a fraction of that audience.
Instead, when the show concludes, the network will return the evening period to its main offering, business news and personal finance. “Decisions like these are not arrived at hastily or taken lightly,”
CNBC president KC Sullivan said in a message to employees on Thursday that was obtained by The Washington Post. “I believe this decision will help strengthen our brand and the value we provide our audiences.”
A network staffer familiar with the incident stated that the decision was not made to save money, despite Smith’s high compensation as an evening news anchor.
Smith joined the network with a reputation as a down-the-middle anchor, which he developed throughout a 23-year stint at Fox News Channel. In late 2019, he unexpectedly resigned from the network, stating that his resignation was motivated by occasional disputes with his colleagues on the right-wing network.
Smith told The Washington Post in a 2020 interview that he was lured from Fox by veteran CNBC president Mark Hoffman, who departed the network earlier this autumn. Smith spoke with several cable news networks before opting to join CNBC, where his show replaced reruns of “Shark Tank” when it debuted in September of that year.
However, despite Smith’s prominence in the industry, CNBC did not receive high ratings. Between June and September of this year, his show was the 52nd most-watched on cable news, averaging 206,000 people each night. Despite this, the network claims that the show has more than quadrupled its viewership in the 7 p.m. time slot, drawing a relatively rich demographic that advertisers covet.
“The quality journalism Shep and his team delivered each weeknight was exemplary and not lost on us or our 7 p.m. audience,” Sullivan wrote. “At a time when misinformation and disinformation is rampant, The News succeeded in providing audiences with the clearest understanding of the facts.”
According to the network president, CNBC will explore for other options for the approximately 20 members of Smith’s crew. In the 7 p.m. slot, a replacement show focused on business news will debut in early 2023. Smith could not be reached for comment right away.