Fox News Cancels Glenn Beck Show, Alliance Remains

by Wayne Friedman , April 6, 2011

Beck

Confirming what industry analysts have been speculating for months, controversial TV host Glenn Beck will be ending his three-year stint at Fox News Channel, according to the network.

However, Fox News says it will continue an association with Beck's company, Mercury Radio Arts, for different projects, including some digital efforts. Fox and Beck said the "Glenn Beck" show will end in December, when his current contract is due to expire.

Although Beck's ratings have dropped to around 2 million viewers per night -- from a high of around 2.7 million just after his start in January 2009 -- the numbers are still much higher than other cable news programs.

Beck was a lightning rod for conservative-minded political observers. Still, some of his controversial remarks sent scores of big consumer TV advertisers running -- about 400, according to some press accounts.

Many advertisers buy cable networks, as well as Fox News Channel, on a ROS buy -- run-of-schedule, which includes a wide-ranging package of Fox News programs. Few advertisers buy single cable TV programs. Many Fox TV marketers that didn't want to be in Beck's show simply shifted to other Fox shows.

Many direct-response and financial advertisers remained on his show, including one where Beck had a close association, such as Goldline International.

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2 comments about "Fox News Cancels Glenn Beck Show, Alliance Remains".

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Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, April 7, 2011 at 10:45 a.m.
We should all pause to remember what happened to the career of Rush Limbaugh after his TV show was canceled.
Nothing.
Reply

Thomas Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA, April 7, 2011 at 11:09 a.m.

Mr. Ferguson's comment would suggest that Limbaugh built his career on television and not radio, which is completely incorrect.

Beck built his brand on television, not radio, and it a much more magnetic (for better and worse) presence on screen than Limbaugh -- obese and unappealing -- ever was.

Also, Limbaugh, no matter how you feel about him, is actually clever and funny, and has a core optimism and spirit that is not at all similar to Beck's constant paranoid carping and "we're all doomed" persona. That gets to be a drag.

My bet is that even the claims of occasional specials from Beck are a smokescreen. Maybe we'll see one or two, so Fox can test the waters on ratings, but the more likely bet is he's just gone.