Matter of Fact was originally launched in November 2015 and was hosted by entrepreneur and political commentator Fernando Espuelas.

[1] Beginning with the 2016-2017 TV season, O'Brien succeeded Espuelas in the hosting role.

[2] A September 2017 Matter of Fact special,[3] hosted by O'Brien, aired in prime-time on stations including WCVB-TV in Boston,[4] WESH-TV in Orlando,[5] and WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh,[6] addressing the nationwide opioid-abuse crisis.

[8] In October 2020, O'Brien and the Matter of Fact producers launched a "listening tour" on race and justice with a 75-minute digital special, The Hard Truth About Bias: Images and Reality, which streamed across the digital platforms of many of Hearst's consumer media brands, including television stations, newspapers, various magazines and on Matter of Fact's website, YouTube and Facebook Live channels.

[9] This was followed in March 2021 with a 90-minute digital presentation, To Be An American: Identity, Race and Justice.