The Fox News Channel’s temporary replacement for Glenn Beck will be a talk show featuring a rotating panel of opinionated people.
The channel announced the new show, called “The Five,” just two hours before Mr. Beck’s final broadcast. Since April, when Mr. Beck and Fox reached an agreement to end his 5 p.m. political talk show, there has been speculation that the channel would schedule an interim news or talk program in its place.
Fox News said “The Five” would feature a “roundtable ensemble of five rotating FOX personalities who will discuss, debate and at times debunk the hot news stories, controversies and issues of the day.”
By bringing on a rotating group of people, Fox avoids any direct ratings comparisons between Mr. Beck and any single replacement host.
By bringing on a rotating group of people, Fox avoids any direct ratings comparisons between Mr. Beck and any single replacement host.
Mr. Beck often attracted more than two million viewers to the channel’s 5 p.m. time slot, a rating that no cable news channel had ever regularly seen at that hour before.
Among the people involved in “The Five:” Greg Gutfeld, who is host of an overnight talk show for Fox; Juan Williams, who is a regular on Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor;” Dana Perino, a former spokeswoman for the Bush White House; and Andrew Napolitano, the host of a libertarian talk show on the Fox Business Network.
The others named by Fox in a news release were Geraldo Rivera, Andrea Tantaros, Eric Bolling, Monica Crowley, Bob Beckel and Kimberly Guilfoyle.
“The Five” will start on July 11. For the week of July 4, Fox will repeat some of Mr. Beck’s old shows.