He’s not leaving the network, just the anchor gig, but it’s still the end of an era. Like I said in July when the news first broke:

I’m always surprised by how much respect Hume commands among conservatives, not because he doesn’t deserve it but because you’d think he’d be drowned out by the O’Reilly and Hannity megaphones. Not so; in my conversations with people, as genial, gentlemanly conservative journalists go, he’s second in esteem to no one but … Tony Snow, actually. Where are Fox viewers going to get their nightly shot of gravitas now?

I bet the comments to this post will bear me out. Here’s the last few minutes from tonight’s show, featuring cameos from both Presidents Bush, among others.