'Fox & Friends': Behind-the-scenes of 'the most powerful TV show in America'
Amanda McKelvey
Upstairs in the two-floor studio of "Fox & Friends", hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade are about to return from break.
Their phones are tucked away and papers are placed on the coffee table in front of them, while producers usher in directions through earpieces.
"Has the president tweeted yet?" Kilmeade asks the room.
The anchors return from the break before the question is quite answered.
In June, The New York Times called Fox & Friends "the most powerful TV show in America" due to its No. 1 fan: President Donald Trump.
Business Insider visited the"Fox & Friends" studio on September 12. Here's what it's like behind the scenes:
"Fox & Friends" airs with Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Kilmeade weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET (other hosts handle weekends), but the staff starts prepping for the show far earlier than that.
Preparations for the next show begin when the last one ends. The hosts return to their offices and get ready for an editorial meeting at 9:30 a.m. ET.
"Everybody's got an idea," host Steve Doocy said. "Oftentimes, during the day, the day before, we'll send a text or tweet link on a great item that may be perfect for the next morning's conversation."
Producer Gavin Hadden encourages everyone to have a say in shaping the show — from the production assistants to the talent.
"We definitely feel that the more people that have a say in the show, the better it will be, and so we have a really strong staff of hardworking, smart people who are coming from every demographic, every age group," he said.
"We have a diverse team of people who are contributing to the show and finding out what they care about, because if they care about it, then most likely our viewers will, too."
Most of the hosts begin their days in the early hours of the morning. Each have their own routines for getting ready for the rundown of the show.
Doocy, who is a 20-plus-year veteran of Fox News, gets in at 4:30 a.m. "In the early days I actually used to make the coffee for the entire channel," he said.
When he gets to the station, Doocy reads through a 200-item packet of news items that is whittled down to 95. Then the team spends 30 or so minutes finding sources the hosts can cite about each of the items.
Kilmeade, who travels from Long Island, spends most of his commute studying and reading the news. He prepares for both "Fox & Friends" and his three-hour radio show, which he leaves for a few minutes after he gets off the air.
Ainsley Earhardt's process begins at 3 a.m. (After she snoozes her alarm once or twice.)
Once she arrives in the office at 4 a.m., Earhardt's off to hair and makeup. She spends her time in the makeup chair similarly to her co-hosts, studying her material for the show that will begin in just a few hours.
"From someone who spent years and years on TV doing my own hair and makeup, it's so nice because I can really focus on what I need to be telling the audience, and that's the news of the day," she said.
Earhardt joked that on the local news, she would add some part of her makeup during each commercial break. "I would start with lip liner and in the next commercial break I'd add a little lipstick and then the next commercial break a little lip gloss."
After she's done with hair and makeup, Earhardt returns to her office, usually in Lululemon sweats, to pick out her dress and heels for the show.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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