Colmes Exiting Fox News' No. 2 Show
Will Leave ‘Hannity & Colmes’ By Year-End
By Multichannel News Staff -- Multichannel News, 11/25/2008 3:52:00 AM EST
Alan Colmes will step down from his role as co-host of Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes by year-end.
He will continue to have a presence on the cable news leader, as he will serve as a liberal commentator on a variety of programming, including Foxnews.com’s "The Strategy Room" and continuing to host his radio program, The Alan Colmes Show on FOX Talk, a division of FOX News Radio. He will also begin developing a weekend program, according to network officials.
The call on Colmes’ comes a little more than a month after his partner Sean Hannity re-upped with Fox News. Network officials said no decision has been made whether Hannity will be joined by a new liberal voice.
In announcing his decision, Colmes said: “I approached (FNC’s senior vice president of programming) Bill Shine 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.”
Noted Hannity: “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.”
Hannity & Colmes has aired weeknights at 9 p.m. for the past 12 years, and has been leading its period since 2003. The second highest-rated program in cable news behind only The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes averaged 3.3 million viewers in October, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
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