Colmes Departs Hannity & Colmes

[DarthAve]

FOX News Channel’s (FNC) Alan Colmes will relinquish his role as co-host of Hannity & Colmes at the end of the year.

 

In announcing his decision, Colmes said, “I approached Bill Shine (FNC’s Senior Vice President of Programming) earlier this year about wanting to move on after 12 years to develop new and challenging ways to contribute to the growth of the network. Although it’s bittersweet to leave one of the longest marriages on cable news, I’m proud that both Sean (Hannity) and I remained unharmed after sitting side by side, night after night for so many years.”

 

Colmes will continue to have a presence on FNC as he will serve as a liberal commentator on a variety of FOX News programming, including Foxnews.com’s The Strategy Room and continue hosting his radio program, The Alan Colmes Show on FOX Talk, a division of FOX News Radio. He will also begin developing a weekend program.

 

Shine said, “We’re very sorry to see Alan reach this decision but we understand his desire to seek other creative challenges in his career. We value his incredible hard work in making Hannity & Colmes the most successful debate program on cable news and we’re going to miss him on the show. Thankfully, he will begin developing a weekend pilot for us.”

 

FOX News Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Roger Ailes added, “Alan is one of the key reasons why FOX News has been such a remarkable success. We’re sad to see him leave the program but we look forward to his ongoing contributions to the network.”

 

Hannity & Colmes is the only FNC program which has remained in the same timeslot for 12 years, catapulting to number one in 2003 and never relinquishing the top spot. The second highest-rated program in cable news behind only The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes averaged 3.3 million viewers nightly for the Nielsen month of October and is poised to mark 60 consecutive months at number one at the end of November.

 

Hannity added, “Not only has Alan been a remarkable co-host, he’s been a great friend which is rare in this industry — I’ll genuinely miss sparring with such a skillful debate partner.”

 

Throughout his 12 year tenure on Hannity & Colmes, Colmes has interviewed numerous key political figures, including: President Elect Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), DNC Chairman Howard Dean and former Vice President Al Gore.

 

FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour general news service covering breaking news as well as political, entertainment and business news. For nearly seven years, FNC has been the most watched cable news channel in the nation. Owned by News Corp., FNC is available in more than 90 million homes.

 

Article

 

I heard breaking up hurts, especially after 12 years. I hope Hannity feels okay....

[jrrtoken]

Well, it's not a big loss to Hannity. Colmes was just there to be a liberal puppet in a conservative dominated news agency. I've always known the show by the name Hannity & Colmes.

 

Actually, I feel a bit sorry for Colmes; it must be lonely being the only liberal over at Fox News. So what will the show be called now? Hannity and Liberal to be determined?

[Arcesious]

They're going to have to start saying: "Not so Fair & Balanced" with Colmes off the show...

[JediMaster12]

You know I found it odd that Fox News Channel would even have a liberal commentator. From what I've seen FNC has managed to butcher people who dare espouse liberal views on their programs. I saw the clip regarding a professor who analyzed Sept 11 evidence and concluded that we were not being told everything and he was really beaten up by the FNC interviewer.

 

I wonder if it was more or less a gimmick to show that FNC can play fair by having a liberal commentator. Still it is Colmes decision to want to leave and pursue other activities relevant to his career choice. Hey everyone deserves a break to change up their routine.

[EnderWiggin]

Well, it's not a big loss to Hannity. Colmes was just there to be a liberal puppet in a conservative dominated news agency. I've always known the show by the name Hannity & Colmes.

 

Actually, I feel a bit sorry for Colmes; it must be lonely being the only liberal over at Fox News. So what will the show be called now? Hannity and Liberal to be determined?

 

Firstly, I'm sad to see Colmes go. I liked his sparring with Sean.

 

Secondly, you're wrong, Pastrami. I don't think he was a 'puppet.' I'm a liberal and I never felt that Colmes was controlled by Hannity.

 

_EW_

[jrrtoken]

Secondly, you're wrong, Pastrami. I don't think he was a 'puppet.' I'm a liberal and I never felt that Colmes was controlled by Hannity.

True, but whenever I've watched the show, it always seems that Hannity gets the spotlight, while Colmes is more or less "just there". It also seems that even though Fox touts Colmes as an ultra-liberal, Colmes himself said "I'm quite moderate" in a USA Today interview.

[Jae Onasi]

So Colmes is going to be Obama's press secretary?

 

Seriously, I'll miss Colmes--he was a great foil to Hannity's conservatism. He'll do a great job on his own show and I wish him great success.

[GarfieldJL]

True, but whenever I've watched the show, it always seems that Hannity gets the spotlight, while Colmes is more or less "just there". It also seems that even though Fox touts Colmes as an ultra-liberal, Colmes himself said "I'm quite moderate" in a USA Today interview.

 

Really it could of fooled me, and to be frank if the Mainstream media considers people like Colmes not to be anything other than a Moderate, I'd hate to see their definition of a Liberal Nutcase because it sounds like people like Bill Ayers would be within the Mainstream as far as most of the Media is concerned.

 

 

Anyways I wish Alan Colmes well, and hope that Fox News can find a replacement.