The Fox News debut of "Bill Hemmer Reports" saw a sizable ratings increase over the former occupant of the time slot on Monday, with the new program up 37 percent in total viewers over the 2019 average of "Shepard Smith Reporting," according to Nielsen Media Research.

Hemmer delivered 1.8 million viewers at 3 p.m. ET, a time slot occupied for years by former chief anchor Shepard Smith, who abruptly left the network in October.

MSNBC was second in the time slot on Monday with 1.01 million viewers, followed by CNN with 867,000.

In the key 25- to 54-year old demographic that advertisers most hope to reach, Hemmer registered 269,000 viewers, a 34 percent jump over "Shepard Smith Reporting." CNN was second with 199,000 viewers in the category, followed by MSNBC's 164,000.

Hemmer, a former CNN anchor who joined Fox News in 2005, had been the co-anchor of "America's Newsroom" since 2009. After he was presented with the opportunity to take over Smith's time slot, Hemmer was replaced on the program by chief national correspondent Ed Henry, also formerly of CNN.

Smith is reportedly currently in talks with MSNBC and CNN. The 56-year-old had been with Fox News for 23 years, since its inception in 1996.