Less than six months after the former GOP VP candidate departed from Fox News Channel, Sarah Palin is coming back to the News Corp-owned network next week. “The power of Fox News is unparalleled. The role of Fox News in the important debates in our world is indispensable. I am pleased and proud to be rejoining Roger Ailes and the great people at Fox,” said Palin today in a statement. “I’ve had several conversations with Governor Palin in the past few weeks about her rejoining FOX News as a contributor. I have great confidence in her and am pleased that she will once again add her commentary to our programming. I hope she continues to speak her mind,” added FNC boss Roger Ailes Thursday. FNC says that the former Alaska Governor will be a paid contributor to the news network’s daytime and primetime shows as well as appearing on Fox Business Network.
Palin’s first return appearance on FNC will be on the morning show Fox & Friends on June 17. That date is no accident. It is also the same day that Jeff Zucker’s CNN launches its new morning show New Day. Among the cable news networks’ morning shows Fox & Friends commonly has more viewers than CNN, MSNBC and HLN put together. Before leaving FNC in late January, Palin had been a frequent contributor to Fox News since 2009. While FNC reportedly paid Palin more than $1 million a year and even built her a home studio in her Wasilla home, the relationship between the former candidate and the news network was sometimes rocky. On August 29, 2012, Palin took to her Facebook page to complain about FNC removing her as a talking head for the network’s GOP convention coverage. Fox News said later it was a scheduling issue and not a slight. Palin showed up on Sean Hannity’s show the next night.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.