Shepard Smith joins CNBC

Shepard Smith, a longtime anchor on Fox News, is joining NBCUniversal’s CNBC, where he will helm a new nightly newscast in a bid to broaden the cable network’s audience.

Smith will have his own hourlong program, “The News With Shepard Smith,” airing weeknights at 7 p.m. EDT, the business news channel announced Wednesday.

The program, set to launch in the fall, will be a newscast of record, with none of the political commentary that has become a staple of cable news.

While CNBC focuses on financial news and market coverage during the day, Smith’s program will have a broader mandate, although it will depend on reporting from CNBC correspondents.

The channel has a far smaller audience than CNN, Fox News or NBCUniversal’s MSNBC, but its ability to reach high-income executives who have it on in their offices all day makes it valuable to advertisers.

Smith’s program will air against right wing commentator Lou Dobbs, who draws the largest audience on Fox Business Network and more viewers than any show on CNBC.

Smith, 56, will be based at the CNBC studios located in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. He will also hold the title of chief breaking general news anchor and handle coverage on major stories during the day.

The veteran news anchor was one of the best- known names at Fox News for more than 20 years until his sudden departure in October. He fronted breaking coverage of nearly every major story during much of his tenure at the cable news channel.

He anchored a daily afternoon program and was long touted for his credentials as a nonpartisan journalist amid the right-leaning hosts that draw the largest audiences at the network.

While Smith generally avoided presenting his views on the air, he became more outspoken in recent years regarding the opinions presented by other Fox News hosts during the Trump era, pointing out when they varied from the truth.

Smith’s frustration over the commentary led to a request to be released from his contract in October.