Brit Hume & Alan Colmes Leave FOX "News"

I've been on a FOX "News" diet. . .or i guess you should make that a fast for several months. Other than occasionally tuning it in as background noise while I'm on the computer, I've barely watched the channel since the debut of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show.

But I watched quite a bit of FOX over the last--I'm guessing--six or seven years (I don't remember when our right-wing talk radio station strong-armed our cable company into carrying them, exactly). My exposure to the channel has mostly consisted of Hannity & Colmes, but I've caught a good deal of The O'Reilly Factor, Greta Van Whatsername and most of their lineup. It's no secret that I'm no fan. I consider it opposition research.



The protestations that FOX "News" is fair and balanced, or only slightly canted to the right are of course, ridiculous. And the proofs for that are self-evident. A tip-off would be that a Las Vegas right-wing talk radio station LOBBIED to get FOX "News" on the air! And that happened in many cities in the early years, when FOX "News" was playing catch-up to CNN.

Once they got a high saturation rate, though, FOX became number one in cable news. Which is a dubious distinction, and also only accurate if you separate "cable news" from "actual news." Through all (or at least most) of their existence, two of the regulars on the channel were Brit Hume and Alan Colmes. Both are leaving the channel, and possibly just at the right time. Though, whether the timing is better for Colmes and Hume, or FOX itself, has yet to shake out.



Cable news ratings have taken a nosedive since the election, and over the holidays. Sure, FOX still beats CNN and MSNBC, but the numbers are down by half or more. Hannity (without Colmes) could be a disaster. Or, in a heavily Democratic political season, he may have so much to attack that he does great. I doubt Hume's show will lose or gain viewers, but that is the show I have the least familiarity with. But I've seen him many times on FOX "News" Sunday, and if any show needs a shakeup, that is it. Now, if they'd only dump the ludicrous name "Power Panel," for their group of pundits.

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