‘We are Fox News, and we are here and we are coming’

When Fox launched Fox News Sunday, it planted a flag that said, we are Fox News, and we are here and we are coming," said Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume. “And boy, have we ever come.”

When Fox News Sunday debuted on Fox Broadcasting stations and Fox affiliates in 1996, most Americans had hardly heard of “Fox News.” Fox News Channel had yet to launch (it made its debut five months later), and it would be years before Fox would become the dominant force in both cable news ratings and agenda-setting in American politics.

“Thirty years ago, Fox News Sunday and other Sunday morning shows set the agenda for the week ahead in national politics - especially Washington politics. It was THE place where a politician was given time to get a point across. Put on your Sunday best suit because this was “Appointment TV,” for newsmakers and the news audience.”

But getting the most important voices in politics to put on their best suits and sit down on Fox wasn’t easy at first. What’s ‘Fox News Sunday’? To ensure that anyone who knew their way around Capitol Hill would know the face across the table at Fox, the network hired a well-respected and universally-liked insider.

The show’s first host, Tony Snow, had just left the White House and brought badly-needed gravitas for an upstart public affairs show taking on some of the most storied programs in television, NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’ Face the Nation, both dating to the early days of broadcast TV, and considered essential viewing for Washington insiders and politically-savvy viewers.

And at first, Fox News Sunday had all the trappings of a shoestring operation, remembers senior political analyst Juan Williams. “The show started in a Georgetown garden--Dumbarton Oaks,” Williams said. "I remember sitting out there with Tony Snow and the first executive producer Marty Ryan. We hoped to do well enough to get an indoor studio."

Fox News Sunday got its indoor studio.

And the program quickly earned a reputation as an unbiased show where Republicans and Democrats could each get a fair interview. “Fox News Sunday stood apart from the three other network Sunday shows because Republicans came on the show," Williams said. "Often the other shows were viewed as hostile settings for Republicans and conservative thinkers. Our show forced the other Sunday shows to become more hospitable to Republicans. Today, that dynamic shows signs of a shift. Now top Democrats come on Fox News Sunday to reach broader audiences.”

‘We don’t push any agenda or pull any punches’

When Tony Snow left in 2003, Fox turned the franchise over to Chris Wallace, who was nationally known and perhaps the most respected journalist at the network. “When I came on [in 2003], I wanted to put Fox News Sunday at the forefront of the conversation, that it would be taken as seriously and make as much if not more news than any of the other Sunday shows,” Wallace told me in 2021 when Fox News Sunday marked its 25th anniversary.

“I think it’s gotten easier to the extent that newsmakers who you’re trying to book understand the difference between Fox News Sunday and the opinion side,” Wallace told me. “They understand that we play it straight down the middle, we don’t push any agenda or pull any punches. So I think as you build up a reputation and you do interviews, you treat people fairly, they remember that.”

Shannon Bream gets her ‘dream job’

When Wallace left Fox after 18 years in 2021, the network faced a huge challenge: who could possibly step in and keep Fox News Sunday competitive and influential? And who at Fox--or outside the network--would be seen as a fair and impartial host, able to hold politicos of all stripes accountable?

The answer was Shannon Bream, who covered the Supreme Court and hosted the Fox News @ Night newscast. For her, getting the nod to replace Wallace was a dream fulfilled. “I remember someone asking me what would your dream job (at Fox) be, and I just sort of blurted out, it would be really exciting and interesting to do Fox News Sunday," Bream told me after her debut in 2022. "But honestly, in the 15 years since then, I never really worked towards that aim, or lobbied (for it.)”

“I remember when I received the offer to become the anchor of Fox News Sunday," Bream said this week. “I was working in the home office my husband and I share when I got the call. While I had filled in on the show, along with many of my talented co-workers, I wasn’t expecting to land there in a more permanent way. My husband can attest it was one of the rare moments in my life when I was speechless.”

“I feel enormous gratitude and responsibility to shepherd something that Tony and Chris spent decades building,” Bream said. "I want our viewers to come away every week thinking: I learned something new and that was a respectful conversation.”

Rattlesnake corndogs and an angry John McCain in the green room

From its upstart debut three decades ago until today, where Bream fires up the studio with 80’s music like Van Halen’s Jump, Fox News Sunday has navigated days of massive news and long roadtrips--along with a few memorably amusing moments for the show’s hosts, panelists and show team.

“Every show feels like a gift, from eating rattlesnake corndogs at the Iowa fair while chasing around presidential candidates to our deep dive shows on AI, the farming industry, education, defense and crime," Bream said. "Because I also cover the Supreme Court for Fox, I’ve especially loved our interviews with Justices Breyer, Gorsuch and Barrett. As far as memorable, those tend to be the toughest – just because tragedy sears itself into your brain. Waking up to the atrocities of the October 7^th attacks and scrambling to put together a totally different show is just one example.”

“We have been on the ground in Iowa for primaries, at debate sites, even at the Reagan Library to focus on defense issues,” said Juan Williams. “We have broadcast from the Super Bowl. Among the guests, John McCain stands out in my memory. During the 2008 presidential primaries he was way down in the polls. I said it might be time for him to hang it up. He was still in the green room outside the studio when I came out and he was furious with me.”

'We’ve always aimed to go beyond the Beltway and look for stories our competitors won’t cover’

As Fox News Sunday begins its fourth decade Sunday, viewers won’t see dramatic changes, even as the program evolves to meet the changing habits of viewers in a fragmented media landscape.

“In the world of tweets, podcasts and streaming, Fox News Sunday remains relevant as a place to hear smart questions based on good research and reporting," said Williams. “The audience gets their fill of ‘brain food.’ They feel good after watching the show.”

“The trust in Fox News Sunday is high,” Williams said. "The level of analysis is elevated from the sea of other platforms because of the quality of the panel - yes, I know I’m on it, but that’s the truth. The panelists are more about informing the audience that shouting at each other. That creates an important space for Fox News Sunday in as the news universe continues to shift.”

That means the DNA of the show born in 1996 hasn’t changed when it comes to covering political news, hosting fair conversations, and driving the major stories that will dominate the coming week. What has changed and will continue to change is how Bream and her show find and engage with viewers.

‘We set the standard’

“Sunday shows remain agenda-setters," said senior executive producer Jessica Loker. “There’s plenty of room under the journalism tent for podcasts and other new media. In fact, we’re embracing that evolution.”

“At the same time, Sunday shows still hold a unique place,” Loker said. "When a cabinet official or elected leader appears on a Sunday program, it carries a different weight and consistently makes news in a way few other platforms do. That’s ultimately what we do at Fox News Sunday — we set the standard. We cover the news -- and also -- help make it.”