• In January, Bill Hemmer took over Shepard Smith’s slot on Fox News and now hosts “Bill Hemmer Reports.”
  • He plays an important role as the chief news anchor of the president’s favorite TV channel.
  • He’s been on-air for the last 25 years, getting his start in local news in Cincinnati before moving to CNN and working his way up the ranks. In 2005, he jumped to Fox News.
  • After 15 years since joining the network, he’s now leading the station’s news coverage.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Bill Hemmer chooses his words carefully.

In January 2020 he took over Fox News’ 3 p.m. hour-long news slot. He was taking over from Shepard Smith, who resigned from Fox after reporting for the station since its start in 1996.

Hemmer has been an anchor at Fox News for 15 years, but this is the first time he’s had his own show. In his career – much of it also at Fox’s rival, CNN – he’s covered atrocities like the Boston Marathon Bombing, the Haiti earthquake, and the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. He’s also covered a number of presidential elections.

It’s a high-stakes gig. Fox News is the president’s favorite TV channel. And at times, there’s been tension between Fox employees on the news side of the station, like Smith, and on the opinion side, like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity – to name two of President Donald Trump’s favorite personalities. And Hemmer has been an important voice in informing Fox News’ viewers about the coronavirus, interviewing the likes of Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases.

In an interview with Insider in January, Hemmer was enthusiastic about his role but careful about talking about whether he was nervous about taking over Smith's high-profile slot.

"Well," he said, "I want to get it right."

"I've felt for a long time that your best preparation - sorry, your best defense - in this industry is your own preparation," he added.

He's been preparing for quite some time. His life, he said, was full of "data points." There was the German professor who convinced him to get out of the US and move to Luxembourg. There was watching the Iran-Contra deal unfold on CNN in 1987, as well as the impact of an early "mid-life crisis" that saw him quit his job and travel the world, sending back dispatches that later won him two Emmys.

Despite being in the public eye for 25 years, and unlike the opinion hosts he works alongside with at Fox News, he's managed to avoid controversy.

On his Twitter, his most common tweet appears to be a simple, uncontroversial weekly reminder: "Friday, folks." And as he told the Washington Post in 2010, "Knock wood, I think I've been lucky to, as my mother would say, be careful before you speak."

Here's what his life and career have been like so far.


On January 28, as President Donald Trump's defense team argued in his impeachment trial, I traveled to Fox News' New York headquarters to interview the recently promoted newsman Bill Hemmer.

Foto: In this image from video, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Source: Associated Press

Fox News sits in a unique place in America's media landscape.

Foto: The news ticker at Fox News headquarters scrolls headlines before Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation, May 29, 2019 in New York City. Source: Drew Angerer / Getty

It's the most-watched cable news network in the country, although it's biggest personalities host opinion shows.

But Hemmer, taking over from Shepard Smith, has a job delivering straight news.


A member of the Fox News public relations team escorted me up to Hemmer's studio. Cartoonishly large screens beamed out his name.

Foto: Bill Hemmer studio. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

A few minutes later, Hemmer appeared.

Foto: Fox News host Bill Hemmer discusses "Walk of America" with Jill Biden as she visits "America's Newsroom" at Fox News Channel Studios on September 6, 2018 in New York City. (Photo Source: Roy Rochlin / Getty

He looked good at 55 - far more energetic than me. He came striding in without makeup, wielding a plastic water bottle and an iPhone.

And he was focused: Over the next 45 minutes, he rarely drank or checked his phone.


He took his time in the interview, answering carefully.

Foto: Bill Hemmer. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

I was reminded of a 2003 New York magazine profile, which said Hemmer, after most shows, descended to his office to rewatch his show, analyzing how he appeared on-air. The profile also mentioned how he used to do his own makeup, but we'll get to that later.


Hemmer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 14, 1964, as the third of five children in a Roman Catholic family.

Foto: Bill Hemmer in third grade. Source: Fox News

He joked that he thought for the longest time that he was a Valentine's Day baby - until, at some point, he realized that wasn't mathematically possible.


In an old profile, his father said he hoped Hemmer would be a priest. But Hemmer's parents mostly let them decide their own fate.

Foto: Bill Hemmer's family in 1994. Source: Fox News

"They allowed us to step on our own pile, to figure out how to clean it up on our own," he said. "I don't think there were a lot of course corrections for any of us. Only when they deemed it truly necessary."

One sibling works in public relations, one is a paralegal, one is a teacher, and one is a full-time mother.


In 1983, he graduated from the all-male Elder High School. While there, he and his friend Doug had broadcast "bad rock and roll" from a "cheap little turntable" at the top of a radio tower to the school.

Foto: CNN anchor Bill Hemmer at CBS Sports' "The NFL On CBS" Fall Season media day event at the CBS outdoor studio at 59th St. and Fifth Ave. in New York City. August 6, 2002. Source: Evan Agostini/Getty

They played artists like Bruce Springsteen and Molly Hatchet.


The radio station lasted about three weeks. But the dabble in broadcasting triggered something in Hemmer.

Foto: Bill Hemmer in 2003. Source: Fred Prouser / Reuters

"I figured, you know what, maybe I could talk for a living," he said.

From that point, Hemmer figured he could succeed in broadcasting if he was persistent enough.

"Even today, if you at least pick a path, if you have a direction, you will find yourself years ahead of your colleagues. So pick a path, make a decision."


Between the ages of 16 and 20, Hemmer said he had "19 different jobs."

Foto: Bill Hemmer in 2004. Source: Mike Simons / Getty

He worked with his hands: in a produce department, at a garden center, mowing lawns, trimming hedges, and sweeping floors at his high school.

"You take a job, you quit a job, you take a job, quit a job. I did everything," he said.


He was trying to figure out a way to keep working while also playing football in high school, which meant he couldn't stick with one job for long.

Foto: Fox News Channel television news anchor Bill Hemmer throws out the first pitch before the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on July 12, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Source: Joe Robbins/Getty

He played as a strong safety. "It's a defensive back when you're not quite a free safety where you're not quite as big as a linebacker. And not quite small enough to play defensive back," he said.


After high school, he studied broadcast journalism at Miami University and kept up the intense work ethic. He hosted an overnight jazz program on 97.6TK, one of the first alternative rock and roll stations in the US.

Foto: The University of Miami. Source: Shutterstock/Barbara Kalbfleisch

He wasn't a huge fan of the music — English rock like The Smiths — but the pay was good. And by good, he said, $3.35 an hour, working from midnight to 6 a.m.

Foto: British singer-songwriter Morrissey performs during the International Song Festival in Vina del Mar city Source: Thomson Reuters

Early on at college, when he was 19, he interned at WLWT-TV, a local television station. It was all new to him.

Foto: Bill Hemmer talks with friends in 2005. Source: Matt Szwajkos / Getty

"I was looking to get knowledge about the industry and to try and figure out if it was possible to get a job," he said.

He also spent a semester abroad living in Luxembourg. He was inspired to do so after taking an 8 a.m. German class in his freshman year.


He was convinced he wanted the career on his first day, when the elevator opened and he saw the control room's blue light.

Foto: Inside Fox News' control room in February 2020. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

"It looked so inviting and so challenging at the same time," he said. "Deadlines, accuracy, live performance. I saw all of that instantly and thought I want it to be, I wanted to have that knowledge."

He decided that television, and not radio, was the path for him.


After graduating in 1987, he worked as a sports producer for WLWT Channel 5, then as a reporter for Cincinnati's WCPO for two years. He told Insider he was earning $9,000 a year.

Foto: Fox News' Bill Hemmer arrives at the Capitol File hosted White House Correspondents' Association Dinner after party at the Colombian Ambassador's residence on April 21, 2007 in Washington, DC. Source: Nancy Ostertag/Getty

Source: Cincinnati Magazine


It was during this job, in the summer of 1987, that he remembered watching CNN's coverage of the Iran Contra hearings. "I was struck by that moment," he said. "It left a mark on me."

Foto: Lt. Col. Oliver North (L), accompanied by his lawyer Brendan Sullivan, as he testifies before Iran-Contra investigators 14 July 1987, Washington, DC. Source: Chris Wilkins / AFP / Getty

At 26, he had what he called his "mid-life crisis."

Foto: Bill Hemmer in Kuwait City in 2003. Source: Fox News

He quit his job and traveled the world from August 1992 to June 1993, living off his savings. He researched where to go by reading, looking at photos, and watching National Geographic.

"I felt the walls in my world were going to cave in around me if I didn't get this thing done," he said.


Hemmer traveled to countries like China, Egypt, India, Europe, Russia, Vietnam, and New Zealand. It was a risky move, since he was walking away from his dream career without knowing if he could come back.

Foto: A group shot of Hemmer and Fox News staff in Vietnam in 2019. Source: Fox News

"I'm very much of a day to day person and a day to day thinker. I didn't forecast the future," he said. "The only thing I thought for sure was that I could not afford to turn the age of 30 without seeing what was out there."


Along with getting attacked by a pack of dogs in Calcutta, he had not anticipated the education he got from traveling.

Foto: Bill Hemmer travels. Source: Bill Hemmer / Fox News

"I'm going to stress, this was 25 years ago," he said. It was before email, ATMs, or social media. He was armed with nothing but traveler's checks and books.


Hemmer wanted to make sure he saw some of the world's greatest sights.

Foto: Bill Hemmer with Mother Theresa. Source: Bill Hemmer / Fox News

"So what is the South Island in New Zealand all about? I heard about it from all my friends. I wanted to see it myself," he said. "What did the Great Wall of China look like? What did the Opera House in Sydney look like? What does Kathmandu smell like, and feel like, every day?"


His travels paid off.

Foto: Dan Abrams and Bill Hemmer in 2005. Source: Patrick McMullan / Getty

He kept his hand in the game sending back monthly dispatches to the Cincinnati Post, as well as footage of his travels, which later became a documentary called "Bill's Excellent Adventure," riffing on the film "Bill and Ted's Adventures."


The footage won him two regional Emmys, for best host and best entertainment program. When I asked him what winning was like, he became emotional.

Foto: Bill Hemmer in Israel in 2006. Source: Fox News

"It was to be recognized, I think, for something that was deeply personal," he said.


For the next two years, he worked at the Cincinnati's WCPO as a news reporter.

Foto: Bill Hemmer reporting from Paris in 2015. Source: Fox News

"News reporting job is essential to everybody in the business," he said. "You have to work at a local level to understand how the city, the county, and the state works."


He made mistakes in his early appearances on television to an audience of several million.

Foto: Jeff Zucker, NBC Entertainment, News and Cable President and CNN news anchor Bill Hemmer in 2004 Source: Evan Agostini/Getty

But his family and friends didn't give him a hard time. When asked why not, he said, "I guess they were being nice."


After his documentary, he got an agent, who landed him a job at CNN.

Foto: John Hile Duke, Brad Duke, Powerball Winner, and Bill Hemmer on "American Morning" Source: Michael Loccisano /FilmMagic / Getty

In 1995, at 30, he moved to Atlanta to work for the network.


At CNN, he started by filling in for other anchors, then worked his way up the morning schedule.

Foto: CNN anchors Bill Hemmer and Daryn Kagan at CBS Sports' "The NFL On CBS" Fall Season media day event at the CBS outdoor studio at 59th St. and Fifth Ave. in New York City. August 6, 2002. Source: Evan Agostini / Getty

In 1995, he was on at 5:30 a.m. By 1997, it was 10 a.m. In 1996, he won another Emmy for his work covering the Olympic Centennial Park bombing.


But it was in 2000 that he made a name for himself, with his coverage of the 37-day presidential recount between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Foto: CNN anchor Bill Hemmer, CNN talk show host Larry King and CNN Inside Politics host Judy Woodruff attend a CNN pre-party for the White House Radio and TV Correspondents Association annual dinner June 4, 2003 in Washington, DC. Source: Stefan Zaklin / Getty

He was on-air throughout the day from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the coverage led to him being nicknamed the "Chad Lad."


In 2001 he went to Afghanistan while US forces hunted for Osama bin Laden. The trip was meant to be short, but he stayed for six weeks and thrived in rough conditions.

Foto: Bill Hemmer. Source: Fox News

Hemmer liked to be on the ground, but as his career progressed he was spending more and more time in the office, and unable to do as much in-the-field reporting.


After several years pushing for it, he co-anchored "American Morning," with Soledad Brian.

Foto: Cable News Network anchors Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer, co-hosts of CNN's morning news program "American Morning" in 2003. Source: Fred Prouser / Reuters

She told Cincinnati Magazine she was impressed at how nice he was. She said, "If people on the camera crew like you, that says a lot."


But in 2005, CNN had a shakeup.

Foto: Hip-Hop star P-Diddy (R) holds a "Vote or Die" T-Shirt during a television interview with CNN announcer Bill Hemmer (L) 29 July 2004 on the floor of the Democratic National Convention at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Source: Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty

Management replaced him with Miles O'Brien, to increase the "chemistry" on the morning show. Hemmer was offered a job covering the White House. But, according to the Washington Post, someone close to Hemmer said he was concerned it was a demotion.


"We were in a battle," he told Insider. "And we were losing."

Foto: Bill Hemmer with former president Barack Obama. Source: Bill Hemmer / Fox News

"I had been watching what Fox was doing and I had a decision to make: either stay in New York or move to Washington, DC," he said. "I had wanted to live here for a long time and I felt New York was more in my blood than Washington."

In the end, he moved to Fox News.


At the time, he told the Los Angeles Times that Roger Ailes and his right-hand man, Bill Shine, were among the reasons he decided to jump ship.

Foto: Roger Ailes. Source: Fox News

He said the two had a "winning track record" and "vision."

In the years since, Ailes had become the center of a storm of sexual harassment accusations and died in 2016, while Bill Shine moved to work on communications at the White House in Trump's administration, and then on his 2020 presidential campaign.


He said there isn't any confusion being Fox News' third "Bill," following Shine and O'Reilly. "They call me Hemmer. That's it," he said.

Foto: Bill Hemmer. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

In his first week at Fox News, Hurricane Katrina hit the US.

Foto: Members of the South Carolina game warden patrols on a boat during a rescue mission in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana September 7, 2005. Source: Reuters

Hemmer covered it, and went on to cover a number of on-the-ground stories, including the Boston Marathon bombing and the Fort Hood military base shooting.


The change from CNN to Fox News took him a year to adjust.

Foto: Moderators Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer wait for the beginning of the first forum of the Fox News in 2016. Source: Alex Wong / Getty

"It was more significant than I expected," he said.

CNN relied more on personality, he said. "It took me a little bit of time to get comfortable with that show."


He began as a daytime anchor alongside Megyn Kelly until she got her own show. He also worked alongside Martha MacCallum and Shannon Bream.

Foto: Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly on Fox News. Source: Pam Wendell / Youtube

For the last 10 years, he's co-hosted Fox News' morning program, "America's Newsroom." He's been one of Fox News' journalists covering presidential elections since 2008.

Foto: Former Republican presidential candidate and governor of Massachussetts Mitt Romney appears for an interview with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer in 2008. Source: Stan Honda / AFP / Getty

Hemmer has now been at Fox News for 15 years. Along with his coverage of 9/11 while at CNN, the two other stories that impacted him the most were the Sandy Hook shooting and the Haiti earthquake.

Foto: Carlee Soto uses a phone to get information about her sister, Victoria Soto, a teacher at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Source: AP Photo/Jessica Hill

"I was wholly unprepared for the emotional effect of flying into a country that has nothing to begin with and to be wrecked by mother nature in ways that felt entirely unfair to me," he said of Haiti.


He's had a low-profile personal life and few career controversies. "I don't think the story is me," he said.

Foto: Fox News host Bill Hemmer discusses "Walk of America" with Jill Biden as she visits "America's Newsroom" at Fox News Channel Studios on September 6, 2018 in New York City. Source: Roy Rochlin / Getty

What is public is that he was in a longterm relationship with model Dara Tomanovich from 2005 to 2013.

Foto: Bill Hemmer and Dora Tomanovich talk with a reporter as they arrive for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington Saturday, April 26, 2008. Source: Jose Luis Magana / AP

It appears to be the longest public relationship he's been in.


In 2004, he had a run-in with Michael Moore, documented in Moore's book "Here Comes Trouble."

Foto: Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore gestures while being interviewed at "Oscar Celebrates: Docs." Source: REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn

According to Moore's telling, Hemmer confronted Moore and said: "I've heard people say they wish Michael Moore was dead." Moore was incensed by the question.

But according to Hemmer, the interview was cordial, and it was only later that a camera crew followed it up with him.


But he's mostly been controversy-free. The only time Hemmer was featured on President Donald Trump's Twitter feed was in 2016.

Foto: Moderators Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum take selfie before a Republican presidential primary debate, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa. Source: Chris Carlson / AP

Trump said he was "very nice in explaining the excitement and energy in the arena."


Things changed for Hemmer in 2019 when Shepard Smith resigned, and he was announced as his replacement.

Foto: Shepard Smith. Source: Courtesy of Fox News

According to CNN, their styles differed: Hemmer didn't aggressively fact-check or challenge misinformation the way Smith did.

But there are a number of examples where Hemmer has pushed back on Trump administration officials. One example, cited by The New York Times, was Hemmer following up when Former White House secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insulted an MSNBC host's looks.

"It just seems like it's entirely more personal than it needs to be," he told Sanders.


With regards to fact-checking, Hemmer told Insider, "You can learn a lot by listening. I don't feel it's necessary to take a blow torch to every argument or discussion."

Foto: Fox anchor Bill Hemmer interviews former Governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper during "The Story" at FOX Studios on August 01, 2019 in New York City. Source: John Lamparski / Getty

In the months before Smith resigned there were public clashes between him and opinion hosts, like Tucker Carlson. Hemmer respects keeping the two sections separate.

Foto: Tucker Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio, in New York, Thursday, March 2, 2107. Source: Richard Drew/AP

"I think our opinion people are outstanding," Hemmer said.

He said neither operation would tell the other how to do their job.

"That's been my experience for 14.5 years and that's what I would expect to continue. I don't expect them to get involved with what I do," he said.


Hemmer was candid for most of the interview and had good words for Smith, but kept silent about whether Smith had given him any advice.

Foto: This Jan. 30, 2017 photo shows Fox News Channel chief news anchor Shepard Smith on The Fox News Deck before his "Shepard Smith Reporting" program, in New York. Source: Richard Drew/AP

"I wished him the best of luck and he told me that it was time," Hemmer said of Smith.


As to the blurring of facts by Fox News opinion anchors, he said, "I am unaffected by the opinion-makers."

Foto: Fox News opinion host Sean Hannity. Source: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

In the final minutes of our interview, I took some photos of him. He asked to see them, and when he saw the reflection from the bright studio, he apologized and jogged out of the room.

Foto: Bill Hemmer in January 2020. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

He promptly returned with a makeup artist for a touch-up. "Not a ton," he said. Just a touch-up."


In January, Fox News launched "Bill Hemmer Reports." It started strong, with 1.8 million viewers. In contrast, MSNBC got 1.01 million and CNN got 867,000. Despite the high ratings, he said he wouldn't get complacent.

Foto: Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

A week later, I returned to the studio to watch Hemmer do his show live. This time the studio was full.

Foto: Inside Bill Hemmer's studio in February 2020. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

Five young people were typing at the cartoonishly large screens, while 10 others were behind cameras or waiting in the wings.


The slow, measured way he spoke last time had been replaced with rapid television speak.

Foto: Inside Bill Hemmer's studio in February 2020. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

He and the crew rehearsed his tone, as he said "boom" over and over again. A member of the camera crew muttered, "we'll get it right this time."


In our first interview, Hemmer said he was most comfortable in the news lane. "That's how I'm built. It's how I think, it's where I'll stay," he said.

Foto: Bill Hemmer Reports. Source: Fox News

On-air, he looked at ease. Between segments, he typed or spoke to his producer. At one point, as two cameras were steered towards him, he silently mouthed to the cameraman, "Am I that one, or that one?"

Foto: Bill Hemmer live in February 2020. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider

When he was done with his guest, he twirled his finger below the camera to wrap it up.


At the end of the first segment, after they switched guests due to a satellite issue, he said to his crew, "Good stuff, smooth stuff, all clean. Thank you." And it occurred to me that was what Hemmer was for Fox News, too — good stuff, smooth stuff, all clean.

Foto: The control room for Bill Hemmer's show, in February 2020. Source: James Pasley / Business Insider