Rukeyser out as host of 'Wall Street Week'

By Thomas A. Fogarty
USA Today

Louis Rukeyser, the first and only host of PBS' 32-year-old "Wall StreetWeek with Louis Rukeyser," broke ties with the show yesterday rather than take a diminished role in a revamped format next season.

Rukeyser learned Wed-nesday of plans to bump him from the lead role on his namesake financial program. Rather than become a "senior commentator" under the new format, Rukeyser will leave the show when his contract with Maryland Public Television expires in June.

"I decided I didn't want to have anything further to do with them," Rukeyser told Reuters.

Rukeyser, 69, virtually invented in-depth broadcast coverage of financial markets and the economy. Yet when specialized business networks like CNBC sprung up in response to a surge of public interest in investments, neither Ruk-eyser nor his show seemed to notice.

The 30-minute format, set in concrete, called for witty, pun-laced commentary by Rukeyser on the preceding week's market activity, viewer's questions to his weekly panelists, and a round-robin interview with the week's special guest — typically a fund manager or analyst.

The show, whose weekly audience exceeded that of any of its cable rivals, created a legion of loyal viewers, many responding to Rukeyser's ability to maintain a dapper sophistication while making even the most arcane financial subjects accessible.

Beginning next fall, the show will re-launch in the 8:30 ET time slot as "Wall Street Week with Fortune," a cooperative venture between Maryland Public TV and AOL Time Warner's premiere financial magazine.

Rukeyser began his journalism career as a 16-year-old sportswriter in his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y. A 1954 graduate of Princeton University, He joined ABC News in 1965, working as a correspondent in Paris and London.