Fox News host Glenn Beck and the news channel announced today that Beck is going to be quitting his show. The following statement was put out to the media:
(New York, NY) 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. Glenn intends to transition off of his daily program, the third highest rated in all of cable news, later this year.
Roger Ailes, Charman and CEO of Fox News said, “Glenn Beck is a powerful communicator, a creative entrepreneur and a true success by anybody’s standards. I look forward to continuing to work with him.”
Glenn Beck said: “I truly believe that America owes a lot to Roger Ailes and Fox News. I cannot repay Roger for the lessons I’ve learned and will continue to learn from him and I look foward to starting this new phase of our partnership.”
Joe Cheatwood, SVP/Development at Fox News, will be joining Mercury Radio Arts effective April 24, 2011. Part of his role as EVP will be to manage the partnership and serve as a liasiaon with the Fox News Channel.
Roger Ailes said: “Joe is a good friend and one of the most talented and creative executives in the business. Over the past four years I have consistently valued his input and advice and that will not stop as we work with him in his new role.
“Glenn Beck” is consistently the third highest rated program on cable news. For the 27 months that “Glenn Beck” has aired on Fox News, the program has averaged more than 2.2 million total viewers and 563,000 viewers 25-54 years old, numbers normally associated with shows airing in primetime, not at 5pm. “Glenn Beck” ahs dominated all of its cable news competitors since launch.
Unmentioned in the release is the pressure that Beck has been under from far left extremists trying to censor all conservative voices on television regardless of their opinions or demeanor. Also not mentioned is that Beck has long wanted to have a prime time slot on FNC. That does not appear to have been in the cards considering the strong ratings for FNC's current nightly anchors Bill O'Reilly, Shepard Smith, Sean Hannity, and Greta Van Sustren.
Beck's departure from daily television for his own financed products is strikingly similar to Oprah Winfrey's ending of her daily syndicated show.
