Fox News announces temporary post-Beck plans

Joe Pompeo
·Media Reporter

Fox News Channel has announced a provisional replacement for outgoing host Glenn Beck--five of them, actually.

Starting July 11, a news and opinion show with a rotating round-table of five personalities from the network will move into Beck's soon-to-be former time slot. (His final show airs in less than two hours from the time of this posting.)

The program, aptly titled "The Five," will serve as a replacement for Beck through the summer. There's no word yet on who or what Beck's permanent replacement will be. Fox is running encore "Glenn Beck" episodes all next week and a special hosted by correspondent John Stossel tomorrow.

The varying co-hosts "will discuss, debate and at times debunk the hot news stories, controversies and issues of the day," according to a press release. They include Greg Gutfeld, Juan Williams, Dana Perino, Andrew Napolitano, Geraldo Rivera, Andrea Tantaros, Eric Bolling, Monica Crowley, Bob Beckel and Kimberly Guilfoyle. "The program will also feature added guests, including politicians, celebrities, sports figures and key newsmakers," the press release states.

Two names on the list, Napolitano and Bolling, have already been floated as potential successors to Beck in a full-time capacity.

"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," said Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, in a statement.

Beck's departure from Fox today marks the end of a fractious two-and-a-half-year relationship between the controversial anchor and network brass. His audience and advertisers have diminished over the past year, but he nevertheless significantly bolstered the channel's 5 p.m. ratings, so his successor (or successors, as it were) will have much to live up to in terms of winning eyeballs in the run up to prime time.

Beck, meanwhile, isn't wasting any time moving on to his next venture. After leaving the Fox studios today, he plans to immediately head over to the Manhattan headquarters of his new web network, GBTV, for the subscription product's debut broadcast.