Fox News’ Megyn Kelly returns to new daytime shift

Posted Jan 20, 2010 by Walt Belcher

Updated Jan 20, 2010 at 05:31 PM

Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly returns from maternity leave to begin solo anchoring a new two-hour program from 1 to 3 p.m. beginning Feb. 1.

In September, she gave birth to Edward Yates Brunt. The baby, who weighed in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces, is the first child for Kelly and her husband, Douglas Brunt.

Kelly’s new show will replace “The Live Desk,” announced Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news editorial for the network. Bill Hemmer will now be joined by Martha MacCallum in co-anchoring “America’s Newsroom” from 9 to 11 a.m. The remainder of the dayside lineup will continue in its current form.

In making the announcement, Clemente said, “We’ve been incredibly fortunate to develop two valuable assets in Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly — dividing their journalistic expertise across our daytime lineup will only serve to broaden our strength as a network.”

Kelly’s new afternoon program will focus on the top stories of the day, covering breaking news as well as showcasing interviews with key newsmakers and experts offering analysis on the day’s events.  Additionally, the two-hour block will include her signature legal segment, “Kelly’s Court,” which will showcase Kelly’s skills from her previous career as a litigator. Aside from anchoring a new two-hour program, she will continue to appear as a regular guest on “The O’Reilly Factor” every Thursday evening during her branded legal segment, “The Kelly File.”

Kelly commented, “Although I will miss starting my mornings with Bill, I’m thrilled to embark on this new opportunity and look forward to delivering the news during what is shaping up to be one of the most historic news periods of our time.”

Hemmer added, “I couldn’t have asked for a better co-anchor in Megyn, but I’m excited to lead ‘America’s Newsroom’ in 2010 and continue to kick off our daytime news lineup every morning.”

Since 2007, Kelly has co-anchored “America’s Newsroom” alongside Hemmer. During the 2008 political season, Kelly and Hemmer also co-anchored “America’s Election HQ” at 5 p.m. Throughout that election period, she reported extensively from both the Democratic and Republican national conventions and analyzed exit poll data on election night.

Prior to her role as an anchor, Kelly was a general assignment correspondent based in Washington, D.C., where she provided live coverage of the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Chief Justice John Roberts. She also reported on the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, in addition to the indictments of Scooter Libby and Tom DeLay. In 2007, Kelly reported on the rape charges against the Duke University lacrosse players and broke new details that ultimately helped exonerate the defendants.