Waiting for Megyn Kelly? Thursday Fox News Channel Senior VP of Programming Bill Shine announced that FNC will temporarily replace the Glenn Beck Show this summer with The Five. According to his press release, the prosaically dubbed opinion program will consist of five constantly changing “FOX personalities” such as Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, Judge Andrew Napolitano, etc. who will be joined by various guests. On an optimistic note, Shine stated, “The Five brings together an eclectic group of FOX talent whose knowledge of key issues and unique insights will undoubtedly make for a dynamic program.”
Not too surprisingly, Shine’s decision to air this inchoate, amorphous show was not universally well received. To wit, Inside Cable News was not the least bit impressed. Rather, blogger Spud scoffed, “This is probably the most uninspiring offering FNC has put on the air….FNC is apparently out of new ideas and unsure of a future course of action regarding 5pm.” He acerbically added, “Nobody involved in this project should feel too secure about its future when the press release announcing it spells out that it has a short shelf life: This is FNC in a rare public manifestation of scramble mode…coming up with something to fill the space without regard to the suitability of that kind of programming at that time of day.
Spud appears exactly right that Shine is “coming up with something to fill the space without regard to [its] suitability.” However, in the author’s view, he may be mistaken that Shine is in “scramble mode.” Rather, Shine seems to be in the midst of a daytime shakeup.
By adopting the summer-long The Five, Shine places the spot virtually on a short hold for something–or, someone. In the author’s opinion, that someone may well be America Live anchor Megyn Kelly who is still on maternity leave. When she returns in a month or so, Shine will finally have the obvious slot for his still “rising star.”
In fact, Shine appears to have already anticipated Kelly’s move from the America Live slot to the later five o’clock hour. Since she left for maternity leave in April, Shine has appeared to prepare for the possible transition by auditioning Kelly’s fellow FNC female daytime anchors for the America Live anchor seat. To wit, he has showcased Martha MacCallum (America’s Newsroom), Alisyn Camerota (Fox & Friends Weekend), and Gretchen Carlson (Fox & Friends weekday) in Kelly’s chair, not in the usual short rotations, but for long stints instead. In doing so, he has already acclimated the AL audience to their presence and their respective audiences to their absence. Not to mention, he has already brought in “the new girl,” Molly Line, to Fox & Friends Weekend to fill the empty seat in any future musical chairs.
Scramble or shakeup? Time will tell. Soon.
Tags: Bill Shine, Dana Perino, FNC, Fox News, Glenn Beck, Glenn Beck Show, Greg Gutfeld, Inside Cable News, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Megyn Kelly, Molly Line, Spud, The Five
Carpe Diem 
July 2, 2011 at 5:36 am
You mean Ainsley Earhardt instead of Molly Line, don’t you Jake?
July 2, 2011 at 2:36 pm
All these changes…and Huddy is nowhere to be seen or heard from.
July 2, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Geez….how long do the give for maternity at Fox? If they are planning on keeping The Five through out the summer until Megyn comes back that is a really long time for her to be gone.
I really hope Molly Line is who they choose to replace Allisyn with if she goes to AM. I think Allisyn does a great job with Hemmer. Martha is great on her own in Megyns spot.
July 3, 2011 at 12:12 am
You could be right that they’re trying out the various ladies to replace Megyn Kelly so she can get a new show in another timeslot. Equally plausible, however, is that they are doing nothing more than rotating their ‘A’-team female talent in order to make up for one who is on maternity leave.
The rotation schedule they’ve been using is pretty much standard for replacing anyone on maternity leave. Pick any hospital job, for example, and put one person from one of those professions or trades on an extended leave. The rotation used to temporarily fill that void would look very much like what FNC is now doing.
Why would they only be trying out female talent to replace Kelly’s existing slot If Kelly goes to another programme? Wouldn’t have to be a female, you know.
July 3, 2011 at 10:07 am
Say what you will about Molly but if you watched F&F today it’s obvious Molly has nothing over Ainsley. Ms. Earhardt came out with ‘guns blazing’ as evident per her super-hot dress major cleavage and all! Let the weekend competition contine!
July 3, 2011 at 10:23 am
Ainsley was an angel in white this morning!!!
July 3, 2011 at 10:40 am
@Nick…so if all you noticed about Ainsley is her hot dress and b**bs…clearly her anchoring skills are under par.
July 3, 2011 at 11:09 am
Ainsley’s skills as an anchorperson are just fine, jg
What makes her special is she’s beautiful inside and out.
Just a wonderful way to start the day.
July 3, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Hmmmm, wonder if they’ll put a blonde wig on Tim Pawlenty and send him out there. They’ve been pushing him hard for president he might do better in the wig with shaved legs and showing some cleavage. AC is good they can put her anywhere.
July 3, 2011 at 11:34 pm
Memo to Mr Shine:
Whilst it is evident that a portion of your viewing audience is slobbering over Ainsley’s cleavage, may I remind you of a few facts of life.
It can be assumed that half of your viewing audience is female. As a general rule it can also be assumed that over-exposure of female anchors assets is not something that attracts them to a particular news show. What is required are anchors who are capable, knowledgeable and competent. If they also come with some sass or and ability to make a quick witted riposte, that is a bonus.
What is not required are anchors that make you wince with “I can’t believe they said that/didn’t know that” moments, or anchors that despite intensive coaching and mentoring are still nothing more than attractive airheads. We are in the world of 24 hr news, not the Shopping Channel. Suggest you tighten up your anchor selection criteria accordingly.
July 4, 2011 at 4:06 am
Memo to Mr. Shine:
Ainsley has been a good, loyal employee for your company for four years.
She has earned and deserves a promotion.
There is no one like her on television.
She is a joy to watch in the morning.
She is a breath of fresh air.
She has the best personality, not to mention the best smile, in the business.
Please give her the spot of F&FW back.
She never should have lost it in the first place.
July 4, 2011 at 7:38 am
^^^ wow, someone has it bad for Ainsely.
July 4, 2011 at 9:00 am
ABA; [Anyone But Ainsley].
She had her chance, and barely lasted six months! It takes more than big hooters and blonde hair to host.
Fox has too many better qualified than Ainsley who can host.
July 4, 2011 at 9:06 am
FW, only reason Ainsley lost the show is Fox dumped the newsreader position for F&F, so Alisyn needed a landing spot
If Aly goes back to days, Ainsley can reclaim her rightful place on F&FW.
July 4, 2011 at 11:03 am
“All these changes…and Huddy is nowhere to be seen or heard from.”
Ok, Mr. Anonymous, there’s your cue…..
July 6, 2011 at 9:53 am
I haven’t read any of the comments, so excuse me if this isn’t original – when I saw the subject line “The Five”, I immediately guessed that Alysin and 4 other Foxes were going to do a conservative version of “The View”. Now THAT could be a hit!
July 9, 2011 at 12:11 pm
[…] “plan for now” for Aly ironically will at least be longer than his plan for his new “shakeup” summertime series The Five (if she returns next weekend). However, unfortunately, for Aly’s acolytes her recently […]
July 9, 2011 at 11:37 pm
According to Aly’s twitter, she is gonna be on America’s Newsroom this Wednesday, after she returns from her vaca @ the beach. Also, according to Julie Banderas’s twitter, she will be hosting Happening Now this Monday, in for Jenna Lee who is honeymooning.
July 13, 2011 at 11:43 pm
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August 2, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Shannon Bream told America Live viewers today that Megyn Kelly will return to the air next Monday, Aug 8th. :)
August 4, 2011 at 11:13 am
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August 7, 2011 at 11:09 am
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August 28, 2011 at 3:26 pm
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September 2, 2011 at 2:11 pm
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September 27, 2011 at 3:55 pm
[…] of a “Fox personalities” panel was panned by media watchers such as Inside Cable News (including, in full disclosure, the author). However, The Five has surprised the critics: in fact, it has garnered comparable ratings to the […]
September 27, 2011 at 4:09 pm
[…] this “Fox personalities” panel was panned by media watchers such as Inside Cable News (including, in full disclosure, the author). However, The Five has surprised the critics: in fact, it has garnered comparable ratings to the […]