Fox News host Sean Hannity is the subject of this month’s interview in Playboy magazine (potentially not safe for work link). While the bulk of the interview is about Hannity’s politics, there is also some TV-related questions:
PLAYBOY: What ended Hannity & Colmes?
HANNITY: We were at the point where the format was problematic. Let’s say we had an eight-minute segment with one or two guests. Colmes and I would get in maybe one question each, and then you’re fighting to get your words in. We just felt that it had run its course, and he was happy to go to Fox News Radio.
AdvertisementPLAYBOY: How often do you see Rupert Murdoch?
HANNITY: I don’t. He has more important things to do than meet with little old Sean Hannity. But we’ve bumped into each other. I ran into him on the street once and said, “Hi, Mr. Murdoch.” And he said, “Ah.” So he knew immediately who I was, which was reassuring.
On FNC’s ratings:
I’ve been in this business a long time, and I’m not one who obsesses over ratings, but I will tell you this. There is a natural ebb and flow due to election years and major events such as Hurricane Katrina or Sandy or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Any issue of that sort will drive ratings up and down. I will tell you that after the election, a lot of people who didn’t want Barack Obama to get a second term threw up their hands in disgust, including myself. I can go back and show you all the years that I’ve been through presidential elections on radio. You see the spike, you see the decline, you see the spike—it’s part of the news cycle. It’s the story of my life.