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Louis Punmeister is back next week
AP via Nandotimes ^ | 4/9/02 | David Bauder

Posted on 04/10/2002 7:26:47 PM PDT by sleavelessinseattle

NEW YORK (April 9, 2002 12:23 p.m. EDT) - Ousted by PBS after 32 years, financial journalist Louis Rukeyser will return to the air on CNBC next week in a manner seemingly designed to make things difficult for his old show.

The new program, "Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street," debuts at 8:30 p.m. ET on April 19 on the cable news financial network.

That's the same Friday time slot that Rukeyser occupied on PBS, and he will directly compete with the revamped "Wall $treet Week" that fired him last month.

CNBC is also making Rukeyser's new show available to any PBS station that wants to rebroadcast it, although it won't be available on Friday nights. His CNBC show will run without advertising and with underwriter support - the same format used by PBS shows.

"The network is allowing me to maintain the integrity and standards of my program, and they have decided to put the interests of my audience first by allowing this new program to be re-broadcast on public television stations across the country," Rukeyser said.

The 69-year-old Rukeyser's ugly exit from PBS began when his producers, Maryland Public Television, said they wanted to make a new version of "Wall $treet Week" with partners Fortune magazine and include Rukeyser in a reduced role.

Rukeyser objected, and Maryland Public Television fired him after he complained about his treatment and said on the March 22 edition of "Wall $treet Week" that he was developing a new show.

There was no immediate comment by Maryland Public Television about Rukeyser's new show.

To make room for Rukeyser, CNBC is cutting its business talk show "America Now" from an hour to a half hour on Friday nights.

Terms of the deal were not released. Rukeyser will be allowed to continue his side projects, including two newsletters, a Web site, conferences and investment cruises.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: censorship; pbs; pressbias
Way to go Louis! I'm emailing my PBS provider immediately. In fairness, I got a nice response from Fortune which is taking over Wall Street Week. Still not going to watch a single episode in protest of Maryland Public Television that actually fired Louis and suppressed broadcast of his final program!
1 posted on 04/10/2002 7:26:47 PM PDT by sleavelessinseattle
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To: sleavelessinseattle
Still not going to watch a single episode in protest of Maryland Public Television that actually fired Louis and suppressed broadcast of his final program!

Everybody who has been in broadcasting for more than few seasons has been fired. The only exceptions are those sucking at the PBS teat. Socialism deposes. It rarely fires. Rush Limbaugh has been fired several times. It is no big deal. With all the sucess Bill Cosby has had, he has been fired from seveal TV shows. Even Mary Tyler Moore had been fired. They each turn burned out an audience and got fired for a new show. Then later with a new shwo you come back. That is the way it works.

The other thing that is universal is they never let you do a show after you have been fired. Only an idiot would allow that to happen. Even PBS is not that dumb.

Often times they don't even tell you that you are fired.. One of the guys who used to work for me, later made it to the big time. He is now on a major network. He got fired in medium market many years ago. He showed up for work on Monday. They told him he had been fired the previous Friday... They said they just forgot to tell him.

I don't feel sorry for Rukeyeser. He is older than God and uglier than the devil. His time has come and gone. It is time someone under 80 got a chance to work.

Some people are so attached to the limelight they just can't let go. I admire men like Jack Paar and Johnny Carson. They were willing to step aside and let a younger person have a shot at success. But some are trying for camera angles at their own funeral.

This is typical stupidity of CNBC. A commercial show with no sponsors ... just commercial underwriters. A distinction with our a what.... What a friggin joke.

2 posted on 04/10/2002 8:20:15 PM PDT by Common Tator
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