Louis Rukeyser

Louis Rukeyser, who for 32 years presided over PBS' Wall Street Week, a landmark financial advice show developed in Owings Mills and distinguished by his keen insights, wry puns and idiosyncratic musings on the market, died yesterday at his home in Greenwich, Conn. Mr. Rukeyser, who was 73, died of multiple myeloma, a rare cancer of the bone marrow, said his brother, Bud Rukeyser. An imposing but likable on-air presence with deep voice, silver-white hair and mischievous smile, Louis Rukeyser left the airwaves in October 2003 when he started undergoing treatment for cancer.

For more than three decades, Maryland Public Television produced "Wall $treet Week" with Louis Rukeyser. It was a resounding success, pioneering a format that paved the way for the cable financial news shows of today. Then several years ago, MPT fired Rukeyser as part of an effort to revamp the show to compete against cable competitors. Rukeyser, who has since died, went to CNBC. "Wall $treet Week" eventually went off the air. And the station has never been able to replace its content and the millions in revenue it brought in. Now MPT news host Jeff Salkin is trying to bring back the venerable "Wall $treet Week" brand — at least to the Web. Salkin has licensed the "Wall $treet Week" name from MPT, which has owned a kind of trademark on the show since 1982.

There are several programs and even a few cable channels covering financial news in-depth today. But 20 years ago, there was only one: the one with Louis Rukeyser.Maryland Public Television's "Wall $treet Week with Louis Rukeyser" celebrates its 20th anniversary with specials tonight and Monday.Tonight's broadcast -- live from New York's Tavern on The Green -- airs at 8:30 p.m. on MPT (Channels 22 and 67). Monday's broadcast, "Twenty Years of Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser," airs at 10 p.m. on MPT.Monday's show is a well-produced hour of highlights hosted by the wry Rukeyser.

The woman who invented financial television doesn't live in Manhattan, doesn't own a fabulous stock portfolio and, truth to tell, never did make much money from the medium that turned Jim Cramer, Suze Orman and Louis Rukeyser into multimillionaires. Anne T. Darlington lives in a nice townhouse in Lutherville. She is as decorous as CNBC's Cramer is obnoxious, as soft-spoken as personal-finance guru Orman is hectoring. This underappreciated pioneer thinks financial TV has let the country down in recent years.

Maryland Public Television is denying a published report that it is angry at "Wall Street Week" host Louis Rukeyser because MPT is not sharing in profits from a financial newsletter Rukeyser recently launched."

Maryland Public Television, which had decided to force Louis Rukeyser from the anchor's chair on Wall Street Week With Louis Rukeyser, fired him yesterday after his caustic remarks about the broadcaster. MPT President and CEO Robert J. Shuman told the Associated Press: "We were surprised and saddened that he chose to use the show as a medium to air contract disputes and promote his new show. The purpose of the show is anything but that." The broadcaster announced last week a partnership with Fortune magazine for a new generation of the show.

Louis Rukeyser, who has been absent from his CNBC financial news show since last fall, is taking an indefinite leave because of health concerns, the cable network announced yesterday. Rukeyser, who was last on the air on Oct. 31, underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for surgery to relieve pain in his back several months ago. In a statement released by CNBC yesterday, Rukeyser wrote that further tests revealed "a low-grade malignancy" that requires continued treatment. He did not return a call left at his home yesterday seeking additional comment.

The stock market has always been a rough ride for investors. For every boom to thrill us there is a bust to send us scrambling for the exits. Yet today, perhaps more than ever, average Main Street Americans are riding the Wall Street whirlwind without much of a safety net. Between our 401(k) and IRA retirement funds, our 529 plans and brokerage accounts, there are bonds and indexes to ponder, hedges and commodities to analyze. What's needed is a clear-headed adviser to give some reason to this chaos.

After struggling for three years to regain the audience and underwriters it lost since firing star Louis Rukeyser, Maryland Public Television will announce today that it is canceling one of the longest-running national franchises in TV history, Wall Street Week. The final episode of the 35-year-old, landmark PBS series - produced at MPT's Owings Mills studio and considered the prototype for financial advice programming (including entire cable channels) - will air at 8:30 p.m. June 24. For 32 years, the imposing Rukeyser presided over the hourlong Friday-night program interspersing financial insights with wry puns and idiosyncratic musings on the market.

Louis Rukeyser made clear his disdain for his former employers at Maryland Public Television on CNN last night, saying they had acted "stupidly and deceptively and gracelessly" in forcing him from the anchor's chair he had held for 32 years on Wall Street Week. As his contract's end neared, he told Larry King, MPT officials never suggested a single specific change and didn't inform him of the intent to team up with Fortune magazine on the new version of the show. He said that the program had remained relatively strong in the ratings and that the desire to overhaul the show made little sense.

The stock market has always been a rough ride for investors. For every boom to thrill us there is a bust to send us scrambling for the exits. Yet today, perhaps more than ever, average Main Street Americans are riding the Wall Street whirlwind without much of a safety net. Between our 401(k) and IRA retirement funds, our 529 plans and brokerage accounts, there are bonds and indexes to ponder, hedges and commodities to analyze. What's needed is a clear-headed adviser to give some reason to this chaos.

Louis Rukeyser, who for 32 years presided over PBS' Wall Street Week, a landmark financial advice show developed in Owings Mills and distinguished by his keen insights, wry puns and idiosyncratic musings on the market, died yesterday at his home in Greenwich, Conn. Mr. Rukeyser, who was 73, died of multiple myeloma, a rare cancer of the bone marrow, said his brother, Bud Rukeyser. An imposing but likable on-air presence with deep voice, silver-white hair and mischievous smile, Louis Rukeyser left the airwaves in October 2003 when he started undergoing treatment for cancer.

After struggling for three years to regain the audience and underwriters it lost since firing star Louis Rukeyser, Maryland Public Television will announce today that it is canceling one of the longest-running national franchises in TV history, Wall Street Week. The final episode of the 35-year-old, landmark PBS series - produced at MPT's Owings Mills studio and considered the prototype for financial advice programming (including entire cable channels) - will air at 8:30 p.m. June 24. For 32 years, the imposing Rukeyser presided over the hourlong Friday-night program interspersing financial insights with wry puns and idiosyncratic musings on the market.

Louis Rukeyser, who has been absent from his CNBC financial news show since last fall, is taking an indefinite leave because of health concerns, the cable network announced yesterday. Rukeyser, who was last on the air on Oct. 31, underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for surgery to relieve pain in his back several months ago. In a statement released by CNBC yesterday, Rukeyser wrote that further tests revealed "a low-grade malignancy" that requires continued treatment. He did not return a call left at his home yesterday seeking additional comment.

John T. Potthast, the senior executive responsible for overseeing all original productions at Maryland Public Television, is leaving to accept a similar position at WETA, a Washington-area public broadcasting station. Potthast, who lives in Washington, said yesterday that the move was fueled by the desire to work closer to home after commuting to Owings Mills for three decades. He starts the job at WETA, based in Arlington, Va., in February, when he becomes eligible for a significant retirement package from MPT. "It was based on what is the best thing for me, at this stage, for my personal and professional life," said Potthast.

The president of Maryland Public Television is a soft-spoken man with sleepy eyes,dark, feathered hair and matching mustache. Despite his job title, pressed shirt and tie, Robert J. Shuman's laid-back affect and circular speaking style suggest someone holding forth at a neighborhood picnic, not in a boardroom. Little about him hints at the corporate heavy now known as The Man Who Fired Louis Rukeyser. Before last month, in fact, Shuman had a relatively low profile even as he worked to transform the 33-year-old station from a second-tier national player to a regional powerhouse.

Maryland Public Television and Fortune magazine are poised to enter into an arrangement to create the next generation of the weekly financial program Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser, but that appears likely to occur without Louis Rukeyser. As things now stand, the show would lack the man who has been its trademark anchor for all of its 32 years. Instead, it would feature two co-hosts, one selected by MPT and another plucked from the ranks of senior Fortune editors. Rukeyser's contract with Maryland Public Television lapses in June.

"Wall $treet Week," the weekly Maryland-produced show about money, will reach a significant milestone tonight. In other matters, cable shows review the Million Man March and the Republican presidential campaign. Also, Barbara Walters natters with celebrities.* "Disney's Aladdin on Ice" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- The week's second ice show -- and the second Friday night skating special in a row on CBS -- has the Disney touch, with Kurt Browning and Kristi Yamaguchi portraying the lead characters from the animated film.

Cut loose by Maryland Public Television, Louis Rukeyser will be appearing instead on cable financial news channel CNBC at 8:30 p.m. Fridays in a show that will compete directly with Wall Street Week - the PBS show he anchored for 32 years. In an unusual deal, commercials will be placed solely at the top and close of the new half-hour show on CNBC, just where the underwriting spots highlighting corporate sponsors appeared on the MPT program. That's meant to tailor the format for public television stations, which will be offered the opportunity to broadcast the show the weekend after it's aired twice on CNBC each Friday.

Louis Rukeyser made clear his disdain for his former employers at Maryland Public Television on CNN last night, saying they had acted "stupidly and deceptively and gracelessly" in forcing him from the anchor's chair he had held for 32 years on Wall Street Week. As his contract's end neared, he told Larry King, MPT officials never suggested a single specific change and didn't inform him of the intent to team up with Fortune magazine on the new version of the show. He said that the program had remained relatively strong in the ratings and that the desire to overhaul the show made little sense.