Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is expected to announce whether or not he will run for president on his Fox News Channel show Saturday evening, a major moment in the nascent 2012 contest.

“Governor Huckabee will announce tomorrow night on his program whether or not he intends to explore a presidential bid,” said Woody Fraser, the executive producer of “Huckabee” in a statement. “He has not told anyone at Fox News Channel his decision.”

While Huckabee’s Saturday show is always taped, his announcement about 2012 will run live, according to an informed source.

For his part, Huckabee said Friday that he would make a “very important announcement”. Neither he nor Hogan Gidley, the executive director of the former governor’s political action committee, would expand on just what the announcement would be.

“We'll have an interesting show. I'll be announcing to the Fox viewers what my intentions are,” Huckabee told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto this afternoon. “We’ll find out... what I’m going to do.” He said only his family members know his plans.

Others in Huckabee’s broader political orbit suggested that the planned announcement didn’t bode well for those who want him to run — even as they noted that what he would actually say was a closely guarded secret.