Alan Colmes To Leave "Hannity & Colmes," Will Not Be Replaced

Update: While the blogosphere has been buzzing with suggestions for who should replace Alan Colmes, who is relinquishing his role as one half of Fox News' 9PM duo, Colmes' co-host will be moving forward with the program solo, reports the New York Times' Brian Stelter:

While the network remained quiet about its plans for the political debate program, two people close to the network said that Sean Hannity, 46, Mr. Colmes's conservative counterpart for the last 12 years, would become the sole host of the hour. The people requested anonymity while speaking about private deliberations.

Original Post: Fox News host Alan Colmes will leave his role as co-host of "Hannity & Colmes" at the end of the year, the network announced Monday.

Colmes, who has co-hosted the program with Sean Hannity for 12 years, will remain with the network as a liberal commentator and will develop a weekend program, in addition to his radio show.

"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," Colmes said. "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."

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."

Earlier this year, Colmes debuted his blog, Alan Colmes' LiberalLand.

Update: Colmes tells TVNewser that Obama's victory plus wide Democratic margins in Congress paved the way for him to leave:

"It's a great creative opportunity for me. I feel as though we have a Democratic President, House and Senate; I feel like my work is done," he tells TVNewser. "I can't think of a better time to make the transition."

Full press release below:

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ALAN COLMES TO DEPART TOP RATED HANNITY & COLMES

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.

Comments

[grf67]

Excellent - That will mean that no one at all will watch and than hannity can be terminated.

[Tugar]

GOOD LUCK ALAN...

Whoever replaces Alan Colmes had better have a strong stomach. To be able to sit in every night with S. Hannity to give balance to an interview with this guy on the other side will give most people a double ulcer within days.

So, Good Luck Alan. And I must say, I don't watch H/C too much, because I cannot take S. Hannity for very long. And I can completely understand your wanting to move on. He's quite a card. The word or name: "Conservative" is too mild a term for that guy.

[quizh]

I am very happy with where the Faux's programs are heading. I can sense an ennui by just watching the possible future shows that effectively emit the same feeling I've received from juvenile programs air on CNN. If Faux keeps this up, surely, over time, their viewers will get bored and stop watching the cable channel for good.

[Subversive]

Alan Colmes will go down as being the Zeppo Marx of Fox.

[essy1]

It's about time for Alan to dissociate himself from hateful extremists such as Sean Hannity.

Sean is tailor made for the Ku Klux Klan.

Imagine Hannity talking about other extremists such as Hamas.

Remember Irish terrorism? In case readers don't know, Sean is the holder of both the Irish and US passports. Why? Where does his loyalty lie if he has to choose between his fellow Irish and his fellow American?

Imagine Obama holding Kenyan and US passport! Fox News will paint the town red!

[JayDDrew]

You mean there was a liberal on that show with Hannity??
Seriously, Colmes was a very weak contrast to Hannity, at best. At worst, he failed to defend the left against Hannity and other rightwing nuts as they ranted on the show. Colmes clearly is a knowledgeable fellow, but the personality contrasts clearly kept the left on the defensive. An Ed Schultz-type would be better in that slot.
Good luck to Mr. Colmes, but he was such a non-integral part to the show, he will not be missed.

[ceasespin]

This is what we're going to change - help by signing the petition
http://www.FixNewsNow.org/fcc_petition/fcc_petition.php

[northcan]

This would be so awsome. Allen is too good to be working side Hannity. I swear he has satan's angels all around him (hannity) daily.

[Mr. Cobb]

I doubt anyone notices.

[Coattails]

Hannity might have a show for a couple months bashing Obama, but when the fairness doctrine gets implemented, he may be required to once again have a partisan counterpart, and this time, one that is a bit more intelligent.

Colmes seems like an OK guy, I've watched that show before, he has a hard time getting his point across in my opinion, he often presents a smorgasbord or questions and ideas at once which can be confusing to guests and viewers who want to take one question at a time and get their point across.

Hannity is established on the radio, so even if his show bombs as a one man conservative ideologue hour, he still will be a top radio personality.

My real question is, how come Conservative Talk Radio has so many viewers while Liberal talk networks have gone bankrupt (see Air America) from lack of ratings and endorsements?

I see the Fairness Doctrine as unfair in a way, there would be no discussion of it if Liberal talk radio had equal listeners, I could care less, but to silence an opposition when the Liberal wing of the Democratic party has a power they have not seen in many years, they might try to do such a thing.

[ceasespin]

Even if the Fairness Doctrine comes back, which is unlikely, it will only last until the balance of power shifts again. When the Fairness Doctrine was in place it was constantly challenged in court. There's no reason to think that it will survive a second chance at life.

The alternative to the Fairness Doctrine is a news rating system that is similar to any other consumer rating system: MPAA, RIAA, TV rating system, USDA Grade A, CFSAN's food labeling, etc. It opens up a new front in the battle to make news serve the public interest. It is a non-partisan solution that is anti-censorship in structure, a better mouse trap...

A news rating system requires newsroom editors to tell the public whether their product is top shelf journalism as the profession is taught in Universities/Colleges or bottom shelf stuff peddled by tabloids.

learn more at http://CeaseSPIN.org or http://FixNewsNow.org

[Tunghoy]

The reason for Alan Colmes' presence (such that it was) on the show was one of the worst-kept secrets in the media. Fox Noise wanted a liberal who wasn't very bright or skilled at making his points -- someone Hannity and most guests could roll over with little difficulty, making it appear to low-information viewers that the right-wing usually won their arguments. Liberals have a reputation for being intelligent and well-informed, and Colmes could convince viewers that maybe liberals weren't so smart, after all.

The image contrast between the pair helped reinforce that image. As a slight, geeky-looking guy, Colmes was a foil to the good-looking, all-American image of Sean Hannity. This was no accident.

I hope Colmes just goes away. Better to have no liberal at all than a wimpy one who makes the rest of us look like putzes.

[johnmeeks1974]

Many times on the show, colmes would also join HANNITY in bashing liberals. It's like colmes only wants to please his boss - HANNITY.

BTW, you are spot on about colmes being perfectly cast as the misfit liberal to make HANNITY look awesome by comparion. Remember when Vivian Vance was required to weigh more than Lucille Ball? FOX News will never hire a real liberal with balls.

[trinidadgirl]

Hannity...good-looking?!!!!!!!!. Naw! Not that squishy chipmunk face!

[tossytosser]

I think it may just be that Hannity is a total wanker

[zbig]

Given Hannity's penchant for hate-mongering, I predict he'll be in a major accident or contract a debilitating disease or suffer a major, humiliating embarrassment--oops, already happened: he opened his mouth.

[Smoothsail]

I guess Rev. Wright , Farrahken and Ayers aren't hate mongers??
Huh????

[naeldwyck]

If you're referring to Wright's "God damn America" sermon, and the last 20 years of Ayers's career, indeed, they aren't. But you may not have been able to keep your attention up long enough to listen beyond the Faux news soundbites, that's o.k., reality is hard to cope with when you have the attention span of a goldfish. As for Farrakhan, I'm no fan either, but I'm not sure who you think is?

[JayDDrew]

None of these are thought of as strong leaders on the Left. Farahkan leads a relative small faction, Wright previously led a single church, Ayers is not a leader at all. Hannity is front-and-center one of the mouthpieces of the Right. Apples and oranges, or, more aptly, apples and asparagus.

[Querent]

This reminds me of when Edgar Bergen died and left Charlie McCarthy as a solo act.

[wiseraven]

Wow, Hannity had a co-host? Funny, never noticed him...

[Raminovsky]

Again, Hannity is the kind of guy who needs a one-two punch in the face and then when he comes to, another punch right in the mouth again.