Just as if it was premature a year ago to say Rush Limbaugh would go after the air after the Sandra Fluke controversy, it’s not accurate to write off Fox News’ Sean Hannity with a new report that he’s about to lose his prime cable time TV spot. But here is the news:
When Fox News announced that Megyn Kelly was going to be moving from daytime to primetime, it did not specify what hour she would be taking over.
According to a “flash” from Matt Drudge on Thursday, that hour is 9 PM — which is better-known as the time when Sean Hannity’s show airs.
Drudge cited anonymous “top sources” in his report, and said that the announcement would be made later in August.
Fox Host Eric Bolling had some fun on Twitter with the announcement, tweeting: “ALERT! … Some bad news for Rachel!” with a link to the Drudge announcement. Rachel Maddow is the MSNBC host during the 9 p.m. hour. Bolling also went after CNN host Piers Morgan, tweeting: “Having a bad day?… Not as bad as Piers,” and again linking to the report.
Morgan responded to the news with challenge, tweeting, “Bring it on, @megynkelly”.
There’s so far no word on what will happen to Hannity, who reportedly has a contract with Fox through the 2016 elections.
Asked about the report at a 21st Century Fox investors conference, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes said he wouldn’t comment on the “rumor,” but added, “All of our stars will be back,” TV Newser reported.
Most likely this means Hannity will be in the same position Limbaugh now is in. Yes, Limbaugh is on the air and has many listeners, but he is not quite the same conservative talker titan he was a year ago. I’ve long contended that Hannity is Rush Limbaugh without the wit (Limbaugh can be funny when he isn’t in shock jock mode) and the broadcast talent (Limbaugh is a longtime veteran broadcaster who knows how to pace his show where Hannity is the most predictable talker around with his interviews of GOPers more often than not qualifying as presentations by a public relations person.).
Look for Hannity to remain a major Fox News brand name but if the reports are correct and he won’t be in that slot, his star will not be shining quite as bright as it was before today, no matter how it is spun. (If spin is needed perhaps Hannity can interview Hannity.)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.