Hannity And Colmes
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''Hannity & Colmes'' was a
live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching vide ...
show on
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
in the United States, hosted by
Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...
and
Alan Colmes Alan Samuel Colmes (September 24, 1950 – February 23, 2017) was an American radio and television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. From 1996 to 2009, Colmes served as the co-host, along with Sea ...
, who respectively presented a
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. The show offered Hannity's conservative views and Colmes's liberal views incorporated into a current news story, or in conjunction with a featured guest. In addition to politics, the show featured debate about non-political stories, such as the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team scandal or the death of Anna Nicole Smith, or one-on-one interviews with politicians, commonly with the host who most closely shared the guest's political ideology. The show's format resembled a former
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
show called ''
Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...
'', which similarly had co-hosts on both the left and right. Fox announced on November 24, 2008, that Alan Colmes would leave the show at the end of the year, but he remained a commentator on Fox News, ran the blog Liberaland, and made occasional appearances on other programs like ''The O'Reilly Factor'', and Shovio.com's ''TalkBackTV'' up until his death on February 23, 2017. On December 11, 2008, it was announced that Hannity would take over the time slot alone with a new show simply titled ''Hannity'', which would have a format closer to his weekend program '' Hannity's America''. January 9, 2009, was the last airing of ''Hannity & Colmes'', with January 12, 2009, marking the beginning of the new ''
Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative television political Talk show, talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that ai ...
'' program.


Guest hosts

When either Hannity or Colmes were not available, a guest host replaced the missing host while using the same political ideology. Some guest hosts were normal contributors to the show, while others became regular fill-ins.


Reception

The show was both praised and criticized by viewers and organizations for the concept and production of the show. Ratings-wise, it was long the second highest-rated program in U.S. cable news behind ''
The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'' and averaged 3.3 million viewers nightly for the Nielsen month prior to the 2008 presidential election.
Alan Colmes Alan Samuel Colmes (September 24, 1950 – February 23, 2017) was an American radio and television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. From 1996 to 2009, Colmes served as the co-host, along with Sea ...
was touted by Fox as "a hard-hitting liberal", but stated to ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' that "I'm quite
moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...
". He sometimes took more
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
positions than other prominent liberals, such as supporting
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...
for mayor of
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and agreeing with the use of
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
techniques by the
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. He was characterized by several newspapers as being Hannity's "sidekick".An Aggressive Conservative vs. a "Liberal to be Determined"
by Steve Rendall, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, November/December 2003
Liberal commentator
Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...
lambasted Colmes in his book, '' Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them'', accusing him of refusing to ask tough questions during debates and neglecting to challenge erroneous claims made by Hannity or his guests. Franken also claimed that Colmes did not speak as much as Hannity during the show. Some critics also questioned whether or not both hosts received equal time to interview guests. Some of Colmes' liberal critics, notably commentators at
Media Matters for America Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...
, praised him toward the end of the show's run, however. He then began citing their reports in his confrontations with some of his conservative guests on the program. A study by Media Matters conducted through January and February 2006 stated that the number of conservatives and Republicans brought on as guests outnumbered the number of liberals and Democrats by margins of 72%–28% in January, and 67%–33% in February. Of the solo interviews that were conducted on the show, 80% of the interviews were with conservatives and Republicans.Unfair & imbalanced: Republicans and conservatives dominate on ''Hannity & Colmes''
Media Matters for America Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...


References


External links


Official ''Hannity & Colmes'' website (now redirects to ''Hannity''s website)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannity and Colmes 1990s American television talk shows 1996 American television series debuts 2000s American television talk shows 2009 American television series endings Duos Fox News original programming Sean Hannity