Fox News has announced that no one will be replacing Alan Colmes on Hannity & Colmes. Instead, Fox plans to debut a brand new show on Jan. 12th called ‘Hannity’ with of course — Sean Hannity as the host.

However, it’s not just going to be a solid hour of right-wing bloviating like some feared:

“Hannity” will include a “Great American Panel” of three nightly in studio guests — a liberal, a conservative and an “X factor.” The show will mix commentary, interviews and special segment like a “Hate Hannity Hotline.”

This is the first time in FNC’s 12-year history it will alter programming at the 9pmET timeslot.

That actually sounds like it’s gonna be a pretty good show. Instead of the same liberal every night, he’ll be mixing it up with a variety of left-wingers. The Hate Hannity Hotline should be interesting as well.

-Chris Jones

HuffPo is reporting that Alan Colmes will be leaving Hannity & Colmes at the end of the year. Colmes says he will remain with Fox News as a liberal commentator, and will soon unveil his own weekend program on the channel. In addition, Alan will continue hosting his radio program on Fox News Radio.

“I approached Bill Shine (FNC’s Senior Vice President of Programming)
earlier this year about wanting to move on after 12 years to develop
new and challenging ways to contribute to the growth of the network,”
Colmes said. “Although it’s bittersweet to leave one of the longest
marriages on cable news, I’m proud that both Sean (Hannity) and I
remained unharmed after sitting side by side, night after night for so
many years.”

Sean Hannity had this to say about the split:

“Not only has Alan been a remarkable co-host, he’s been a great friend
which is rare in this industry — I’ll genuinely miss sparring with
such a skillful debate partner.”

Now the big question is who will replace Alan as the liberal half of Hannity & Colmes? It will be interesting to see if they choose someone from within Fox like Lanny Davis or Howard Wolfson, or if they plan to bring in new talent.

Even though I rarely agree with Alan, I think his part of the show is very important. I’m a big Hannity fan, but Sean has to have someone on the show to counter him. A little Hannity can go a long way depending on the topic being discussed. I’d like to see someone who’s as equally fierce an advocate from the left as Sean is from the right.

What makes Fox News the best cable news channel on television is the fact that you really do get to hear both sides. Unlike liberals, I actually enjoy hearing views I disagree with. Debate is a healthy thing. Debate is something you will never see on MSNBC. Unless it’s a debate between Matthews and Olbermann over who loves Barack Obama more.

For more about Alan Colmes check out his blog, LiberalLand.

-Chris Jones