The End of Business News on Television?

As you may or may not have heard, Louis Rukeyser, who for 32 years was the undisputed face of business news on television, has died at the age of 73. Watching him every Friday night on Wall $treet Week was a joy: he had the power to take the bad pun and just make you laugh at it, regardless of how rotten it was. Four years ago, however, the powers that be at Maryland Public Television made the rather horrid mistake of deciding that W$W needed a younger, hipper audience, and that, toward that end, they had chosen --- without telling him, Rukeyser later alleged --- to team the show up with Fortune Magazine, and bring in newer, younger hosts for the show. Clearly, Lou was not pleased. And he dared to go on the air and let his viewers know.

Well, the MPT twits freaked out over what Lou did, and fired him on the spot. Fuck you, Lou basically responded, and decided to take his ball, as it were, to CNBC. He would have flourished happily there --- had he not learned recently that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer. That diagnosis forced him to request that CNBC pull the plug on his show --- a request that they wisely honored. As for the "new" Wall $treet Week with FORTUNE, that never really caught on with PBS viewers, and the show was eventually canceled after about four months.

Way to go, Maryland Public Television! You not only alienated Lou's many friends, colleagues and admirers --- oh, let's face it, you practically ruined the man's life! There, I said it!

And I'm sure, if you loved Louis Rukeyser as I did, that you would be quite agreeable about that. But the question now comes to light: Will the passing of this icon of business news mark the end of televised business news as we know it? For one thing, I don't really see anyone obsessing with the sole national business program left on PBS, the Miami-based Nightly Business Report; and the business programs which currently run in syndication on local stations are not even recognized, let alone paid attention to! And as for the business shows on cable --- pray, get me not started!

The point is, Louis Rukeyser was to televised business news what Walt Disney was to hand-drawn feature film animation. And we will never fully appreciate what kind of legacy both men gave to us .... because, as ever, we are just too damn stupid to know the bloomin' difference!

I wanna know what you think, America. Gimme an e-mail at blackbeardian@yahoo.com.

Master Blackwolf