Margaret Hoover's FIRING LINE Returns Amid Rapid Audience Growth & Considerable Media Attention

FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER returns to PBS for a second season of spirited debate focusing on the most important issues facing our democracy today. Host Margaret Hoover will once again bring together the brightest minds and freshest voices from across the political spectrum, along with thought leaders and cultural figures, to engage in a contest of ideas. FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER airs nationwide Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/firingline and the PBS Video app, with Season 2 launching July 12.

Each month, FIRING LINE reaches over 3.2 million unique television viewers and its online audience is growing, with streams up 44% in 2019. (Source: TV - Nielsen Live+7 Total U.S. average monthly P2+ reach on a 1-minute qualifier and standard monthly unification, 10/29/18-5/26/19; Streaming - Google Analytics, average monthly series streams, CY19 v. CY18.) The series is also trending upward on social media, with 2.6 million impressions on Twitter in May 2019, a more than 1,000% increase in monthly impressions from six months earlier, according to Twitter analytics.

"The response to Season 1 of FIRING LINE has been a thrill for everyone involved with the show," Hoover said. "We've found that people crave a thoughtful exchange of ideas in a long-form interview, which is why the tradition that we have inherited from the original Firing Line is relevant again. Our program has impacted the way the public understands our policymakers in Washington and beyond."

Season 2 premieres with conversations with former HUD Secretary and presidential candidate Julian Castro, Senator Ted Cruz, Former Maryland Congressman and presidential candidate John Delaney, and sponsor of the House Medicare for All Act Representative Pramila Jayapal.

Notable guests from Season 1 of FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER include Stacey Abrams, Jose Andres, Tony Blair, Caitlyn Jenner, H.R. McMaster, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rob Reiner, Paul Ryan and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Margaret Hoover's interviews on FIRING LINE have been picked up by major network TV and print/digital outlets, including CBS, CNN, FOX News, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," The Daily Beast, Esquire, GQ, The Hill, HuffPost, New York Magazine, New York Post, The New York Times, National Review, Politico, Rolling Stone, THE WALL Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA TODAY and many more.

Taped at the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family Loft Studio at the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City, FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER offers viewers an opportunity to engage in the debate about the America that we want to create for the 21st century. The show maintains the character of the original series by William F. Buckley, providing a platform that is diligent in its commitment to a balanced exchange of opinion.

In order to frame the issues and give deeper context to the discussion, the series is often complemented by archival footage from the original FIRING LINE series, which broadcast more than 1,500 episodes during its memorable 33-year run. The FIRING LINE archival collection is housed in the Hoover Institution's Library and Archives at Stanford University.

FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER is executive produced by Tom Yellin, Margaret Hoover and Alyssa Litoff. Creative News Group LLC for WNET is co-producer. Neal Shapiro and Stephen Segaller are executives in charge for WNET.

Support for FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER is provided by Stephens Inc., The Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation, Damon Button, and Rosalind P. Walter.

Margaret Hoover has served in The White House, in the Department of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill and on two presidential campaigns. A former CNN political commentator, she is the bestselling author of American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party (2011). Hoover is the president and founder of American Unity Fund, a political organization focused on achieving full freedom and equality for LGBT Americans by working with conservatives.

Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, THE WALL Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, CNN.com and FoxNews.com. Hoover serves on the boards of Stanford University's Hoover Institution, the Hoover Presidential Foundation, and the Belgian American Educational Foundation. Hoover is the great-granddaughter of America's 31st President, Herbert Hoover.

Raised in Colorado, Hoover has lived in China, Mexico, Bolivia and Taiwan, speaks fluent Spanish and studied Mandarin Chinese. Hoover lives in New York City with her husband and their two children.

WNET is America's flagship PBS station: parent company of New York's THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its new ALL ARTS multi-platform initiative, its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each month. WNET produces and presents a wide range of acclaimed PBS series, including Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NEWSHOUR Weekend, and the nightly interview program Amanpour and Company. In addition, WNET produces numerous documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings, as well as multi-platform initiatives addressing poverty and climate. Through THIRTEEN Passport and WLIW Passport, station members can stream new and archival THIRTEEN, WLIW and PBS programming anytime, anywhere.

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