Fox News has canceled “MediaBuzz” and ended Howard Kurtz’s 12-year run as host of the Sunday morning media affairs show, with the longtime journalist transitioning to a political media analyst role at the network. The cancellation comes just months after President Donald Trump publicly criticized Kurtz and called for his retirement in May 2025.
The network announced the programming changes as part of a significant overhaul of its weekend lineup. Fox News will replace “MediaBuzz” with “The Sunday Briefing,” a new program hosted by Washington correspondents Jacqui Heinrich and Peter Doocy, airing Sundays at 11 a.m. beginning September 20, 2025.
Kurtz expressed his feelings about the program’s end in a statement, noting that he was extraordinarily proud of the program, which was number one for over 12 years and built a loyal audience that liked their down-the-middle approach of contrasting viewpoints and tackling sensitive subjects with great independence. However, he acknowledged that “time marches on.”
The show’s cancellation marks the end of media criticism programming on any major national television news network, following CNN’s scrapping of “Reliable Sources” in 2022. Kurtz had previously hosted that CNN program before departing for Fox News in July 2013.
Trump’s criticism of Kurtz came in May 2025 during a furious Truth Social tirade following a “MediaBuzz” panel where commentators clashed over the ousting of his then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. Trump wrote that it was time for Kurtz to retire, complaining that anchors from CNN and MSNBC were featured on the show with negative statements about him, while he was only weakly defended by Kurtz and his group.
The president added that the case Kurtz made for him was so pathetic that it would be better if he didn’t say anything. Following the criticism, Kurtz faced accusations of betrayal from Trump loyalists and defended himself on social media, stating that he had known the president for 35 years and that Trump wouldn’t keep giving him interviews if he hated him.
Kurtz continued to deliver critical assessments of the president even after the May confrontation. In recent months, he criticized Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it was clear not much was accomplished during their encounter.
The veteran journalist’s tenure at Fox News began in 2013 when he left CNN amid controversy. His departure from CNN came after he was dropped by The Daily Beast, where he had served as columnist and Washington bureau chief since leaving The Washington Post in 2010. The decision followed Kurtz publishing an inaccurate blog post about NBA player Jason Collins, who had announced he was gay, incorrectly stating that Collins had failed to note he was previously engaged to a woman.
During his career, Kurtz faced several notable errors in his media criticism work. In 2010, he claimed to have interviewed Rep. Darrell Issa when he actually interviewed a spokesperson, taking three months to correct the error. In 2011, he incorrectly attributed a comment to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Earlier in 2025, he wrongly described Fox News host Greta Van Susteren as joking about Hillary Clinton’s “immaculate concussion,” when it was actually conservative radio host Laura Ingraham who had used the phrase.
Fox News Media President Jay Wallace praised Kurtz in a statement accompanying the programming announcement, noting that for more than a decade, Kurtz had served as the lead authority for media coverage in cable news. Wallace indicated the network looked forward to continuing his analysis across their programming in his new role as political media analyst.
As part of the weekend programming changes, former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany will host “Saturday in America” from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Fox also confirmed Griff Jenkins as a permanent co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” and named Johnny Joey Jones and Tomi Lahren as permanent co-hosts of “The Big Weekend Show,” which will expand to three hours on Saturday and Sunday from 5-8 p.m.
Kurtz will continue to host the Media Buzzmeter podcast and write for Fox News Digital while serving in his new analyst capacity. The 71-year-old journalist spent 29 years at The Washington Post before transitioning to television, becoming one of the most recognizable media critics in the industry. He is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and author of five books, including the New York Times bestseller “Spin Cycle.”
