Out With The Bathwater

Last year, FOX Business Network ended their 5 PM show "Happy Hour", for a new show with Gerri Willis, who came over from CNN. The new show is not bad, but I find it much inferior to Happy Hour. Then again, who could compete with Glenn Beck over at FOX?

Now comes word that the entire primetime lineup at FOX Business will get the axe. Not a good move in my estimation.

Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano was a very good show. Now, it should be noted this show was in competition with The O'Reilly Factor over on FOX, the top rated cable news show by far. Freedom Watch did need some tweaking, and I was getting very tired of the Judge promoting Ron Paul for President. Overall, however, Napolitano asked intriguing questions of top guests from the political and financial world. This show will be missed, at least by me.

David Asman is very professional and at the top of his game. His current show Power and Money, which evolved from America's Nightly Scoreboard, was very good and often dove into off the mainstream topics, with Agenda 21 being an example. Hannity, over on the flagship FOX, is king of 9PM, but this show worked well and I will miss it as well.

Eric Bolling is outstanding, and his show Follow The Money, had a real chance to overtake On The Record with Greta Van Susteren over on the Flagship. FTM had the big screen here at my humble abode, but the show could have used some tweaking as well. The decisions by the FOX brass to include wacko socialists as nightly panelists on FTM, like the newly hired Sally Kohn and Jehmu Green, hurt. Nobody with a brain has any care about the opinions of these Obama apologists. Anyhow, Bolling is a star and this news is most disappointing. At least Bolling falls back to focusing on The Five over on FOX, a real hit.

Melissa Francis, who jumped off the sinking ship at CNBC to come over to FBN, is slated for a 5PM show, while Gerry Willis will move to 8PM. While Francis is talented, I hope the executives at FBM are not counting on a ratings increase, because it will not be forthcoming with these moves.









Lori Rothman and Charles Payne

If FBN, is going a different direction, they should immediately launch a financial show hosted by grossly under utilized Charles Payne, and a crossover show with the lovely Kimberly Guilfoyle. Business babes Tracy Byrnes and Lori Rothman are also under utilized, but what do I know?

I know I will miss each of these programs and do not have any excitement about the changes.

Keep the Tap Open at Happy Hour

According to a handful of reports, Happy Hour is over at FOX Business Network.

Happy Hour, a program set in the Bulls & Bears Pub in the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan, covers market related business and political topics of the day, with hosts Eric Bolling, Rebecca Diamond and Cody Willard. It allows interaction between bar patrons and the hosts and guests. Although drafts are a bit stout at $8 a piece, it was fun to "be a part of the show" while having a few tall cool ones. Last time I was there I tried to turn Imogen Lloyd Webber into a conservative but failed miserably.

This decision is one of many changes that has been taking place at FBN, and I view this particular move a major mistake. Certainly, I am no television executive and I am sure they could not care what I think. But this was a quality program that had the unfortunate draw of going up against Glenn Beck on FOX News Channel, where Beck has been rewriting the record book for ratings. I watch Beck at 5PMEST, but usually caught the replay of Happy Hour. I think the show would fare much better if they moved it 6PM.

FBN has some outstanding talent on hand and I hope they have some positive plans for the future. So far I am not real keen on what has been happening. Certainly, the recent departure of the talented Alexis Glick, who is left of my taste, is a major loss. I hear Judge Andrew Napolitano is getting a weekend show, and that is good news as he is very strong. Charles Payne is a very good market analyst and I would like to see him get a show. FBN also apparently canceled the Saturday show with Dagan McDowell and Tracey Byrnes, which I think is another mistake. Eric Bolling is very good and I do like Cody Willard and his opinions as well. David Asman is top notch, and his program America's Nightly Scoreboard is great. Liz Claman and Stuart Varney are strong centerpieces for Neil Cavuto to work with.

I hope the future is bright for FBN, but I sure do wish they would keep the beers flowing during "Happy Hour"