ShopNBC’s Watch Geek Host Jim Skelton Is Gone, Did JTV Shed Married Hosts The Rookes?

One of our Facebook friends, Lisa, tipped us off today that ShopNBC watch geek Jim Skelton is no longer a part of that happy home shopping family in Minnesota.

We e-mailed ShopNBC marketing maven Anthony Giombetti to confirm this tidbit, and never got a response. So we checked and saw that Skelton’s photo was no longer posted on the No. 3 home shopping network’s host page on its website.

Then a quick glance at Skelton’s Facebook page confirmed the news.

“I have been the ‘Watch-Specific’ On-Air Host at ShopNBC since October of 2004 (wow how time flies),” he wrote on Facebook. “I have now left ShopNBC, March 2011.”

Here is something he must have posted in happier days.

“I am blessed in the fact that I am in a rare position where I can do what I truly love for a living,” he wrote. “I eat, sleep and breathe watches from morning to night and beyond. If I’m not on the air demonstrating watches, I am reasearching them, designing them, or photographing them.”

And for his Facebook photo, Skelton has posted an “off the air” on-screen billboard that TV stations usually put up when, no surprise, they are off the air.

And even though ShopNBC didn’t get back to us, they had posted this on their Facebook page: “We wanted to inform you that Jim Skelton is no longer with ShopNBC. We wish him success in his future endeavors.”

Anthony, you couldn’t have picked up the phone and told us that? The ShopNBC notice had sparked 60 comments when we looked, and most people were not happy.

We don’t know if this signals a change in ShopNBC’s strategy, because they have made a point of becoming the home shopping destination for higher-end watches, especially for men.

Our Facebook friend also said that Jewelry TV hosts Katie and Craig Rooke are gone, but we didn’t have time to check that out with the network’s honchos. But the Rookes are still listed on JTV’s website.