Fox News Schedule Without Bill O’Reilly: ‘The Five’ Moves to 9

Bill O'Reilly Fox News, Fox News schedule, The Five time, Tucker Carlson time

(Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)

Fox News has fired Bill O’Reilly, after the network’s star personality faced mounting accusations of sexual harassment from women. The network quickly issued a brand new schedule for its primetime line-up, which will now be without its major 8 p.m. anchor: The O’Reilly Factor. The biggest surprise is the network’s decision to move The Five all the way to 9 p.m. ET. The new schedule kicks in on Monday, April 24.

“After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the FOX News Channel,” 21st Century Fox, Fox News Channel’s parent company, said in a statement on April 19.

Dozens of advertisers dropped O’Reilly after an April 1 New York Times report revealed that Fox News and O’Reilly reached settlements with five women who accused O’Reilly of sexual harassment. The settlements combined for a total of $13 million. O’Reilly denied the claims, saying he reached the settlements to avoid negative publicity.

Although O’Reilly hasn’t released a statement since Fox News dropped him, his attorney, Marc E. Kasowitz, told CNN on April 18 that his client has been the victim of a “brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America.”

By taking O’Reilly out of the mix, the network has moved Tucker Carlson to 8 p.m. ET. Carlson already replaced Megyn Kelly, who left last year to join NBC News. Now, Carlson, who was at 9 p.m. ET, is replacing another big Fox News star.

The 7 p.m. ET slot will still be held by Martha MacCallum. Her hour will continue to be called The First 100 Days until April 28. Her show will then be called The Story with Martha MacCallum.

The biggest change is moving The Five from 5 p.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET. The show got its title from the fact that it features five hosts at 5:00 p.m. Despite the time change, it will still be called The Five because there will only be five hosts on-set at one time. However, regular O’Reilly contributor Jesse Watters will replace Eric Bolling, who is getting his own 5 p.m. show, beginning on May 1.

From April 24 to April 28, Special Report with Bret Baier will fill the 5 p.m. slot.

The only host who gets to stay in his seat during this game of musical chairs is Sean Hannity, who is keeping his 10 p.m. ET slot. Sources told New York Magazine that Hannity likes the 10 p.m. timeslot and didn’t want to move to an earlier time.

Bret Baier will also go back to having a single hour on May 1.

Here’s a look at the new schedule:

Time (all times Eastern) Show Host(s)
5 p.m.

April 24-28: Special Report with Bret Baier

Starting May 1: The Fox News Specialists

April 24-28: Bret Baier

Starting May 1: Eric Bolling, Eboni K. Williams and Katherine Timpf

6 p.m. Special Report with Bret Baier Bret Baier
7 p.m.

April 19-28: The First 100 Days

Starting May 1: The Story with Martha MacCallum

Martha MacCallum
8 p.m. Tucker Carlson Tonight Tucker Carlson
9 p.m. The Five Kimberly Guilfoyle, Dana Perino, Bob Beckel, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters and Juan Williams
10 p.m. Hannity Sean Hannity