Sean Hannity is getting ready to show his fans a very different facet of his personality.
When his new podcast, “Hang Out With Sean Hannity,” debuts Tuesday, followers will get to see the garrulous Fox News Channel host — who also leads a multi-hour radio program each weekday in addition to his primetime slot on cable — tilt back and forth with interesting guests, and not just the commentators upon whom he relies on TV. Among his coming guests: ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, Team USA hockey player Matthew Tkachuk, and, Hannity says, at least two Democrats — Senator John Fetterman and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“We will talk about personal stuff, real stuff, politics, sports, cultural issues,” Hannity says during a recent interview from his base in Florida. And the talk can be more loose and long-form than anything he might say on the mainstream media outlets that have carried him for more than three decades. On a podcast, says Hannity, “I can say bullshit, and no one is going to yell at me. I do talk like that in real life.” He can, he says, also wear causal clothes rather than the sports jacket required of TV hosts.
Hannity tested this format in the not-so-distant past. In 2024, he launched a long-form interview program on the Fox Nation streaming service that had him talking things over with Smith and celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels, among others. That show, “Sean,” will end, and the decision to put Hannity out via podcast makes him available to people who may not pay for cable or streaming outlets — a big move that will make one of Fox News’ truly signature personalities available to consumers off its traditional subscription-based platforms, yet with its corporate backing.
Fox News, and its parent, Fox Corp., have rushed into the world of so-called creator-based media, which relies on smaller-scale shows to reach sizable, younger audiences. Many of the company’s efforts have relied on crafting alliances with personalities who haven’t resided under the Fox umbrella. Fox struck a deal last year with members of the popular conservative “Ruthless” podcast that makes them contributors to Fox News, and Fox Corp. has expanded its reach into upstart conservative media by acquiring Red Seat Ventures, a digital-content studio that works with Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson, among others. Fox News has already placed some of its talent, including Will Cain and Tyrus, into podcasts with its imprimatur.
People who tune into “Hang Out” might not see the Hannity they expect. The host says he is looking for more freewheeling conversation than he is oratory on “the Biden crime family” or “the liberal media,” two favorite targets in years past. In his own survey of podcasts, Hannity notes, “I see a lot of people that are very angry, attacking,” with some hosts who have “scores to settle. I have no scores to settle.”
An off-camera conversation between Hannity and Stephen A. Smith might go into the wee hours of the morning. Hannity now hopes to bring such an exchange into the spotlight. “I do a hard-hitting news show every night. You do it in like six- or seven-minute blocks and you have to take a break.” He would like the podcast interviews to be less regimented and “go everywhere.” He even says he’s open to doing the show with more than the twice-a-week cadence for which it is currently scheduled.
Hannity expands his media palette at an age, 64, when some personalities tend to stick to what they know already works. He says he’s not looking for immediate success in the podcasting field and won’t emulate others to find it. “I always maintain my own identity, ‘he says. “It’s not that I’m arrogant enough to think I can’t learn something from other people, or do things in a better way. I am always open to ideas. But honestly, I want to be uniquely myself and not pick up what other people are already doing.”
He says he’s grateful for the success he’s had, because when he first landed at Fox News, such an outcome was not guaranteed. Longtime viewers may recall that Hannity, once a regional radio host, was initially paired with the liberal commentator Alan B. Colmes in the hopes sparks would fly between the pair on TV. “At one point, I was so bad at it,” he says in a candid exchange. “I was a radio guy trying to do TV. I was struggling a little bit.” Years later, he asked why he wasn’t taken off the schedule. “The answer was, ‘Nobody was watching and we figured you’d get better at it.’” Such strategy probably would not be followed today.
Hannity says he wants to keep at it. “I feel more passion today than I’ve ever felt in my career,” he says. Now he will have a chance to see how his energy translates to a less strait-laced medium.
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