Weeks after Fox News original Neil Cavuto shockingly revealed that he was immediately leaving the network he’d called home since 1996, the conservative cable giant announced that it had decided to tap Fox & Friends Weekend host Will Cain as Cavuto’s mid-afternoon replacement.
Unveiling a series of programming changes across the weekday and weekend schedules of both Fox News and Fox Business Network, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott boasted about the upcoming The Will Cain Show, along with the host’s credentials and experience.
“As the media landscape continues to evolve, we are always looking to innovate our programming lineup to meet the needs of our viewers, and we are confident the new lineup will best position FOX News Media for the future,” Scott said in a press release. “Will Cain brings years of experience to the 4 PM hour as an accomplished broadcaster and a lawyer and we look forward to adding his insights to what will no doubt be another historic news cycle ahead this year.”
Cain added that it was “an honor to wake up with America these past four years” as co-host of the network’s weekend morning show and that he looked forward to helping Fox viewers “understand the headlines through thought-provoking content and analysis every weekday afternoon.”
According to the network’s announcement, Cain will take over Cavuto’s old 4 p.m. ET Fox News weekday slot on January 21. This also means that Cain, who also hosts a podcast for Fox News, will step down as co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend on January 18. Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt will replace Cain.
Fox is also expanding Fox Business Network’s The Big Money Show to two hours on January 27, taking over the weekday noon hour previously hosted by Cavuto on the channel. Dagen McDowell, who will continue to co-host early evening Fox Business show The Bottom Line, will join the program.
Additionally, the network is expanding the weekend programs The Fox Report and The Big Weekend Show to two hours, beginning on January 18. The Fox Report, anchored by Jon Scott, will air from 3-5 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday, while The Big Weekend Show will broadcast both nights at 6-8 p.m. ET.
The network still hasn’t landed on a permanent replacement anchor for Cavuto’s Saturday morning time slot. For now, Fox News will continue to air live news coverage from 10 a.m. to noon and feature a rotation of substitute anchors.
A former ESPN sports pundit, Cain was once a critic of President-elect Donald Trump, calling for “the right to denounce Trump” over his “protectionist nonsense.” He’s even noted that he did not vote for Trump in 2016, something he pointed out when he joined Fox in 2020. However, since becoming a Fox News host, Cain has morphed into a MAGA culture warrior, railing against vaccine mandates, critical race theory and anti-white racism while defending Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.
Cain has also rallied to the defense of former Fox News colleague Pete Hegseth, whom Trump nominated as his defense secretary and is facing a tough confirmation over allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking. Following reports that Fox News staffers expressed concerns about Hegseth’s alleged drinking on the job, Cain reacted by calling the stories “100 percent bulls***.”
Meanwhile, Fox News inserting Cain — who they said would approach his show “in a signature podcast style” — in Cavuto’s former mid-afternoon time slot suggests the network is looking to further expand its MAGA-friendly weekday opinion programming. Especially considering that Cavuto offered up the rare splash of MAGA skepticism to the network’s increasingly pro-Trump tenor.
Though it may seem that Cavuto’s departure from the right-wing network was due to his occasional anti-Trump stance, something that sparked regular outrage from the president-elect and his supporters, sources told The Independent that Cavuto’s MAGA criticism had nothing to do with him leaving. Instead, Cavuto rejected a new contract with the network that would have kept him at Fox News for the foreseeable future. While described as a generous offer, Cavuto would have been asked to take a pay cut, much like other veteran hosts and anchors across the cable news and broadcast landscape amid decreasing ad revenues and cord-cutting.
