Could it be really be true? Will Glenn Beck implode sooner than later?
We, among many, have been reporting it for months. Despite he’s trouncing his competition — Beck's numbers are way down: he's lost over a hundred advertisers.
Since last August, when he summoned more than 100,000 followers to the Washington mall for the “Restoring Honor” rally, Mr. Beck has lost over a third of his audience on Fox — a greater percentage drop than other hosts at Fox. True, he fell from the great heights of the health care debate in January 2010, but there has been worrisome erosion — more than one million viewers — especially in the younger demographic.
He still has numbers that just about any cable news host would envy and, with about two million viewers a night, outdraws all his competition combined. But the erosion is significant enough that Fox News officials are willing to say — anonymously, of course; they don’t want to be identified as criticizing the talent — that they are looking at the end of his contract in December and contemplating life without Mr. Beck.
His radio "empire," of 3 million listeners while not too shabby, is not Limbaughic. He's certainly set for decades with the book royalties, the garage band, and the Saturday morning cartoons.
But Fox News is the gold standard for right-wing media... separation from Murdoch's world would be a severe blow to his winger cred, what's left of it.
As Carr notes: "The problem with predicting doomsday is that if you’re wrong, you have to figure out what to say the next day. And if you’re right ... well, the ratings will be terrific, for what that’s worth."
Beck has survived worse. I suspect he will survive this attack also. The only reason i listen to him, as i 've said before, is his love for America and its Constitution. No other radio or TV host does a better job in rooting out the communist connection in the current Administration.
Posted by: Progressive Blog Junkie | March 07, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Please, if FOX News started letting people go just because they are paranoid and delusional, they wouldn't have anyone on other than Sheppard Smith.
Posted by: JDB | March 07, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Typical liberal bullshit: When there's no story, make one up.
Posted by: Fred | March 07, 2011 at 03:03 PM
Beyond ratings and revenue (which are still prodigious), Beck performs several valuable political functions for Fox. He whips the most gullible of the Republican base into an actionable lather, and makes the rest of Fox's lineup seem like the voice of sensible moderation. That said, all of Fox's biggest current stars (Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly) are getting stale, doing the same schticks over and over. It's about time for a new circus act to be rolled out. One of the biggest keys to Rush's longevity is his use of humor, which is notably lacking in the Fox stable.
Posted by: Pete | March 07, 2011 at 03:06 PM
This is why the term "float" was created.
Posted by: JimF | March 07, 2011 at 03:56 PM
Booys & girls, ya know what I want? I want a solid hour of news at 6 PM that just covers the news of the world outside of stupid United States politics. I don't want to listen to Paul BeGalla's take on anything. Or Donna Brazzile. Or Bill O'Reily. I don't want to be told how to think. Just give me the durn story.
Posted by: Ryder | March 07, 2011 at 04:48 PM
Yes, he's on a lot of radio stations but many are peashooters in small markets. He lost affiliates in several major markets including the biggest one, New York City. With very few exceptions, his ratings across the board are lower than before. Beck's performance here in Seattle is below par by any measurement although his supporters would likely point to KTTH as being a sub-par signal.
Posted by: casual observer | March 07, 2011 at 05:10 PM
"Beck has survived worse. I suspect he will survive this attack also. The only reason i listen to him, as i 've said before, is his love for America and its Constitution. No other radio or TV host does a better job in rooting out the communist connection in the current Administration."
There was no attack, more of a retreat actually . Viewers and advertisers decided they weren't buying.
Beck is a train wreck that will be gone soon enough.
Posted by: ExPatBrit | March 07, 2011 at 05:43 PM
Beck is too outrageous even for Fox. Maybe he can hire Charlie Sheen as a publicist to improve his image.
Posted by: saintrudy | March 07, 2011 at 08:06 PM
"Booys & girls, ya know what I want? I want a solid hour of news at 6 PM that just covers the news of the world outside of stupid United States politics. I don't want to listen to Paul BeGalla's take on anything. Or Donna Brazzile. Or Bill O'Reily. I don't want to be told how to think. Just give me the durn story."
Watch PBS Newshour then, and quitcherbitchin
Posted by: Mike D | March 07, 2011 at 11:26 PM
If they don't have Beck, who they gonna use to get the loonies to shoot politicians?
Posted by: Itchy | March 08, 2011 at 05:10 AM
Hey Fred,
Know how I can tell you're a Republican? The only reason you come over to visit is to take a crap in the pool.
Posted by: Ensign's Mommy | March 08, 2011 at 11:53 AM
Well heck, old Fred is just leaving them where they belong. It is a cess pool is it not?
Posted by: Right Leaning and Right | March 08, 2011 at 12:09 PM
The republican party doesn't stand for much anymore according to one of Reagan's cabinet members Paul Craig Roberts
Roberts explained in an email what he's seen change since the Reagan era:
"The GOP has changed. Under the influence of the neoconservatives, the GOP is becoming a Brownshirt party.
I am a constitutionalist, a civil libertarian who believes that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the FIRST things to be defended, not the last to be defended or that can be pushed aside in the name of "national security." Without the Constitution and the civil liberties that it guarantees, there can be no security.
When it comes to the market economy, I am a realist. I understand that, compared to a nation of farmers and artisans, a market economy--especially under free trade, jobs offshoring globalism--subjects people to massive economic insecurity and requires a strong social safety net. The idea that Republicans are espousing that the social safety net can be sacrificed in the name of deficit reduction in order to pay for wars of hegemony is insane, inhumane, and evil.
Such Republicans have nothing in common with President Reagan."
Posted by: Coiler | March 08, 2011 at 12:50 PM
I would be surprised to see him off of Fox; he has an unique cult of personality following that may not be huge in numbers, but if I were gonna advertise on Fox, I bet on many products that his personal endorsement carriers a lot of sway. I was quite impresssed with his ability to draw a crowd in DC. Hell, he may get axed...CNN would just pick him up again. I was really shocked that MSNBC sacked Keith Olbermann, so you never know. I have never really listened to or watched Glenn Beck--too much like trying to make sense out of a Qadhafi speech. Seriously!
Posted by: Jason Andersen | March 09, 2011 at 01:36 AM
Beck has survived worse. I suspect he will survive this attack also. The only reason i listen to him, as i 've said before, is his love for America and its Constitution. No other radio or TV host does a better job in rooting out the communist connection in the current Administration.
Yeah, I know. Haven't been around to witness this new curiosity.
So is PBJ a wingnut parody (ala Colbert) or the real McNut?
Posted by: mercifurious | March 09, 2011 at 09:39 AM