Mike Huckabee announces launch of his new talk show on TBN

Former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has announced the fall debut of his new hour-long talk show that will air on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

Huckabee, who recently went on a trip to Israel with President Donald Trump, announced the show from TBN's Jerusalem studio on May 24.

He said that those who watched his show on Fox News Channel will be familiar with the new show which he hopes will "encourage, edify and even entertain." The program included political commentary, conversation and some music played by a house band comprised of network staffers when it aired on Fox News.

The hour-long talk show, simply titled "Huckabee," will be broadcast live from the heart of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, according to TBN Chairman Matt Crouch.

"We are excited to add 'Huckabee' to our lineup at TBN, as the first of many new developments at our network," said Crouch in a press release.

Crouch praised Huckabee for the success of his Fox News talk show, which ran on the network from 2008–2015. TBN will schedule the new show on the same weekend time slot as his old program, which drew two million viewers when it aired on Fox News.

Huckabee left his show on Fox News Channel when he sought the Republican nomination for U.S president in 2015.

According to Variety, Huckabee hoped to return to Fox News after the end of his presidential campaign in February 2016, but the executives had other ideas about how to use his former weekend time slot.

The former governor remains a Fox News contributor, and he is still under a contract with them for another two years. But the 21st Century Fox-owned outlet allowed him to take his program to another network, as long as it was not a direct competitor.

"TBN is the perfect home for this new television offering," Huckabee said. "I am grateful to Matt Crouch for sharing the vision of a weekend destination on TV where we talk to newsmakers and celebrities in a civil and respectful manner as well as introduce America to some not-so-famous people whose stories remind us that the greatness of our nation is about the people who love God, raise their families, and serve their neighbors," he added.

Apart from his television show on Fox News, he also hosted the syndicated radio show "The Huckabee Report," which aired three times daily on nearly 600 radio stations across the U.S. from 2008–2015. The former governor also plays bass guitar for a cover band called Capital Offense, and he has authored numerous books including the New York Times bestsellers "God, Guns, Grits and Gravy," and "Do the Right Thing."