Sean Hannity shaking up new Fox News show

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Barack Obama may be moving into the White House and the Democrats tightening their grip on Congress, but conservative talk show host Sean Hannity is looking on the bright side.

His self-titled Fox News Channel program premieres on Monday, and he hopes some of the 57 million Americans who voted for Republican candidate John McCain will tune in.

"This is an incredible time in our nation's history and as a fiscal and social conservative . . . I won't be hesitant to share my views with my audience," he says.

Hannity is flying solo in the 9 p.m. time slot for the first time in 12 years following the departure of his liberal co-host Alan Colmes. Not that he isn't used to being a solo act. He's got a popular syndicated radio show and, for the past two years, "Hannity's America" has played weekends on the Fox News Channel.

"This is not new territory for me," Hannity said. "But the format and the show itself will be entirely different."

For starters, viewers will notice that the new show will have more time in general.

"I'm really excited by the fact that we don't have to rush through guests," he told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday. "We'll be able to go into far more depth with the topics, especially the more serious topics."

The first segments will continue to be the news of the day and a newsmaker interview. "We're going to continue to do the big interviews, that's not going to change," he said.