Fox News announced a sudden shake-up of its morning show “Fox Friends” on Tuesday night, hiring Elisabeth Hasselbeck from ABC’s “The View” to replace Gretchen Carlson, who has been a co-host of the morning show for seven years.
Ms. Hasselbeck’s last day on “The View” will be Wednesday. She will start on the three-hour “Fox Friends” in mid-September, and Ms. Carlson will then move to Fox News at an unspecified daytime hour.
Ms. Hasselbeck, who as the lone conservative on “The View” sometimes came under attack from her more liberal co-hosts, will not feel that way on “Fox Friends.” The morning show is reliably conservative; the co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade seem to compete to one-up each other’s critiques of the president and Democrats.
A Fox News spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. But in a statement published by several Web sites, the network’s chief executive, Roger Ailes, said of Ms. Hasselbeck, “She has proven to be an excellent conversationalist and I am certain she will make a great addition to our already successful morning franchise.”
Mr. Ailes is simultaneously making changes to his network’s morning and evening lineups. Last week he confirmed that he planned to move Megyn Kelly, the anchor of the two-hour afternoon program “America Live,” to prime time this summer. It is unclear what time slot Ms. Kelly will take over, but speculation has revolved around 10 p.m., the hour held by Greta Van Susteren.
Ms. Kelly’s promotion will free up time in the afternoon, potentially for Ms. Carlson.
ABC indicated that the decision to leave “The View” hastily was Ms. Hasselbeck’s. Her departure began to be rumored some months ago, but she and the show’s creator, Barbara Walters, have sidestepped the issue in interviews and in conversations on the show.
Ms. Walters and another longtime co-host, Joy Behar, have previously announced that they planned to leave “The View” as well, leaving two hosts remaining, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd.
In a statement on Tuesday night, ABC thanked Ms. Hasselbeck for her 10 years on the show. It noted her “passion and strong beliefs,” saying in part, “She stood behind her political views even if they were not the most popular opinions at the table, never shying away from voicing a difficult question.”
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/business/media/conservative-voice-hasselbeck-goes-from-view-to-fox-news.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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