When Sean Hannity handed off his Fox News program to Laura Ingraham last Thursday night, he had company. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes tried doing his Friday-night program in front of a live crowd in 2019. And one executive at a rival TV-news operation likens the live “Hannity” to “The Morton Downey Jr. Show,” the late 1980s sensation in which the host excoriated “pablum-puking liberals” and chain-smoked cigarettes. Fox Corp. is in the midst of a cycle of negotiations for carriage of Fox News, Fox Business Network, Fox Sports and affiliates of Fox broadcasting with about a third of its distribution partners. Hannity warms up the live crowd himself, doing a mix of jokes and celebrity impressions.

Source: Fox News July 17, 2023 15:50 UTC