Hannity angers Fox News management by charging Tea Party demonstrators to attend show taping

[Kadie]

Yahoo News now has this story...

Sean Hannity angers Fox News management by charging Tea Party demonstrators to attend show taping

Fri Apr 16, 2:43 pm ET

Popular Fox News host Sean Hannity is reportedly in the doghouse with executives at the conservative-leaning cable network for charging admission to attend a scheduled taping of his show from a Tea Party rally at the University of Cincinnati yesterday — with the proceeds going to the rally's organizers. Fox honchos were reportedly so angry when they learned of the arrangement that they pulled the plug on the event and ordered Hannity to return to the network's headquarters to tape the show at his studio there. (Nor was that taping without controversy, as one of Hannity's guests, Col. Oliver North, who was convicted on three felony charges for his role in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, described President Obama's governing philosophy as "anti-American." )

Promoters of the Cincinnati event had pegged Hannity as its headliner, according to Matea Gold in the Los Angeles Times. The rally also featured other prominent conservatives and was expected to draw up to 13,000 people. Participants were to be charged a minimum of $5, with seats closer to the stage going for $20.

Senior Fox News executives said they were not aware Hannity was being billed as the main attraction of the event or that Tea Party organizers were charging for admission to Hannity's show as part of the rally. They first learned of it Thursday morning from John Finley, Hannity's executive producer, who was in Cincinnati to produce Hannity's show. Bill Shine, Fox News' executive vice president of programming, said that the network "never agreed to allow the Cincinnati Tea Party organizers to use Sean Hannity's television program to profit from broadcasting his show." He added, "When senior executives in New York were made aware of this, we changed our plans for tonight's show." In Gold's account, network executives were "furious" with the right-wing cable talker.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100416/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1653_5

[babylonsister]

1. What a money-grubbing POS! I guess if palin can do it, so can he. nt

[havocmom]

3. Yeah! First his 'charity' that isn't giving out much $$ to vets & their families...

now this?

But hey, if the fools wanna pay him for abusing them, they have that right, I guess. But Murdoch seems to be finding out his news network is indefensible of late. Perhaps he is finally getting enough blowback that heads will roll.

[Rex]

2. How can Fox Snews be so surprised? Did they NOT know they had hired

a fucking living peice of garbage? Loyalty, honesty, integrity...not from a Fox Snews pundit. More like; hateful, greedy and dishonest.

[MadBadger]

4. Word has it, Ailes was the one to squash this

[Ken Burch]

5. Well, he's just being consistent.

Right-wingers don't think anybody should get ANYTHING for free-even the chance to hear right-wing rhetoric in person.

(btw-Isn't there actually an FCC rule that you CAN'T charge admission to a live television taping? If so, that's probably why the Fox bigs 'n wigs freaked. They were afraid they might get a bigger fine than CBS did for Janet's Nipple.)

[Kadie]

6. I don't know about a FCC rule

but you hear about free tickets all the time. Maybe someone else will be able to answer that.

[AnArmyVeteran]

7. Something you might know about Felon Oliver North

In 1995, when Oliver North was the guest host on the Rush Limbaugh radio show he said the following: "If I knew of any harm that would come to the president, I would do nothing to stop it.". North said this to Rush Limbaugh's audience, many of them obviously unbalanced. What North did was advocate the assassination of a president of the United States. As a Col in the Marines North took an oath to uphold and protect the US against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But by telling millions of Limbaugh fanatics, many of which were probably sitting in their pick up trucks with their guns locked and loaded, was provoking a threat against the live of President Clinton.

I notified the White House and the Secret Service about what North said, but nothing was done. I suppose they couldn't do anything publicly. If they condemned North they would have made him an even bigger hero to the radical conservative extremists, and would have given them even another reason to kill the president.

Why is it that conservatives always view violence as a solution to all of their perceived problems? The same radical conservatives are actively threatening to kill members of congress and President Obama. Fox News and right wing radio are fanning the flames of violence with their irrational and insane rants to their mostly ignorant, illiterate, gullible and stupid people. And all of them love violence. I could not find one conservative who was against Bush's war against Iraq. They just love violence, killing and death, but are against people getting health care.

[Missy Vixen]

8. It's illegal to charge admission to attend a TV show taping, IIRC

If we're lucky, Hannity's in some trouble as a result.