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Tucker Carlson's ascension to primetime ensures that the core of Fox News Channel's lineup is reliably conservative. Tucker Carlson to succeed Megyn Kelly at 9 p.m. on Fox News

Fox News has named Tucker Carlson the new host of its 9 p.m. program, succeeding Megyn Kelly, who is departing the cable news channel for NBC.

Carlson has hosted "Tucker Carlson Tonight" during the 7 p.m. hour on Fox only for the past two months. Before that, he was an anchor on "Fox & Friends Weekend." He previously hosted programs for MSNBC and CNN.

The Drudge Report first reported the Carlson news.

His ascension to primetime ensures that the core of Fox News Channel's lineup is reliably conservative, male and generally friendly to President-elect Donald Trump. In the past, Fox has had one of its primetime programs skew more toward news than commentary, first with Greta Van Susteren (who moved to 7 p.m. when Kelly joined primetime) and then with Kelly.

Carlson has been a surprise hit at 7, where he replaced Greta Van Susteren. His program would often rate as well as the channel's primetime shows, which likely helped his chances of securing Kelly's timeslot.

“In less than two months, Tucker has taken cable news by storm with his spirited interviews and consistently strong performance," said 21st Century Fox and Fox News executive chairman Rupert Murdoch, in a statement. "Viewers have overwhelmingly responded to the show and we look forward to him being a part of Fox News’ powerful primetime line-up.”

Martha MacCallum will succeed Carlson at 7 p.m., starting Jan. 16, per Fox. MacCallum will anchor a program called "The First 100 Days," chronicling the first 100 days of the Trump administration. She will also co-anchor inauguration coverage for Fox. Shannon Bream will succeed MacCallum as co-anchor of "America's Newsroom," alongside Bill Hemmer.

In the meantime, Bret Baier will anchor from 6-8 p.m. all of next week.

In a separate move, Fox News announced that Jesse Watters, a regular on Bill O'Reilly's weekday program, will permanently take over the 8 p.m. slot on Saturday nights. Watters had hosted a series of "Watters' World" specials last year.