Glenn Beck, the extraordinarily controversial Fox News host of “The Glenn Beck Show” is out at Fox, according to a joint statement issued moments ago by Fox and Beck’s production company, Mercury Radio Arts. His show will officially end later this year, presumably before his contract expires in December, though no date has been announced. The press release says Beck will “transition off of his daily TV program,” with Beck’s new blog, The Blaze, claiming, “The program has obviously been a great success for Beck and for Fox News, and the relationship between the organizations seems as strong as ever.”
Watch: “Olbermann: Glenn Beck Is Actually Dave Foley From 1994“
The press release begins, oddly, “Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Glenn Beck’s production company, are proud to announce that they will work together to develop and produce a variety of television projects for air on the Fox News Channel as well as content for other platforms including Fox News’ digital properties,” then adds, “Glenn intends to transition off of his daily program, the third highest rated in all of cable news, later this year.”
“The Glenn Beck Show” was a money-loser for Fox for much of its existence, having lost a reported 300 advertisers, especially after Beck labeled President Obama a “racist.” There were many active campaigns to out both Beck and communicate to his advertisers the consequences an association with “The Glenn Beck Show” would have.
Beck’s ratings were falling dramatically, some say between 30% and 40% this year.
The New York Times reported, “Mr. Beck has been contemplating an exit from Fox for some time. Two of the post-Fox options he has considered, according to people who have spoken about it with him, are a partial or wholesale takeover of a cable channel, or an expansion of his subscription video service on the Web. His company has been staffing up — making Web shows, some of which have little or nothing to do with Mr. Beck, and charging a monthly subscription for access to the shows.
“Mr. Beck also hosts a syndicated radio show in the morning. He was estimated to earn about $32 million in total revenues in 2009, the first year that he worked at Fox.”
While Beck may believe marriage equality is not a threat to society, he has surrounded himself with an army that does.
Earlier this year, one group, Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ), a charity that campaigns for social change, delivered a petition with 10,000 signatures to Fox News headquarters demanding Beck’s firing after a three-part Beck “exposé†of financier and philanthropist George Soros.
The group also provided these Glenn Beck soundbites from 2010:
• Beck likens himself to Israeli Nazi hunters: “To the day I die, I am going to be a progressive hunter.†20 January 2010
• Social justice is a “perversion of the Gospel, not what Jesus was sayingâ€. 11 March 2010
• “Charles Darwin is the father of the Holocaust.†20 August 2010
• “We have been sold a lie … that the poor in America are suffering.†November 20 2010
• Beck mocks President Obama’s daughter Malia and questions her “level of educationâ€. He later apologises. 28 May 2010
• Uncle Sam is a “child molester†who is “raping our wallets … and destroying our familiesâ€. 16 April 2010
• Beck said the prime goal of his coverage of the midterm elections was to “make George Soros cry†which was hard to do as Soros “saw people into gas chambersâ€. 2 November 2010
• “Women are psychosâ€. 20 January 2010
• Putting the “common good†first is the kind of thing that “leads to death campsâ€. 28 May 2010
• “God will wash this nation with blood if he has to.†25 August 2010
Beck also was losing major markets for his radio show, including the highly-influential New York City market recently.
One activist, Angelo S. Carusone, aka “StopBeck” on Twitter, made a career of his desire to end the pundit’s reign, having been hired by Media Matters to do just that.
Beck is regarded in many circles, from progressive to liberal and even by many conservatives as erratic and even “a fraud,” according to Bob Cesca, who said Beck was a “dangerous faker who deliberately manipulates his audience.” Many prominent voices have called Beck “dangerous.” That “The Glenn Beck Show” is ending does not make him any less dangerous, and possibly, even more.